4-year-old girl joins Mensa with 159 IQ
Published Apr 14 2012, 16:12 BST | By Colin Daniels
A 4-year-old girl has been accepted into Mensa with an IQ of 159.Heidi Hankins from Winchester, Hampshire, is just one point below Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
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She taught herself to read and could count to 40 when she was 2 years old, the BBC reports.
John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa, said Hankins's parents "correctly identified that she shows great potential".
"We aim to provide a positive environment for younger members to develop," he added.
The average adult has an IQ score of 100, according to Mensa.
Oscar Wrigley, from Reading in Berkshire, became the youngest child ever to join Mensa in 2009 with an IQ of 160. He was aged 2 years old at the time.
Mensa lists an unusual memory, reading at an early age, intolerance of other children and an awareness of world events as signs of a gifted child.
Matilda?
April 15th 2012 at 3:33pm
Mensa's new ad campaign then... Cute child at an age where it's impossible to judge future performance, but can be coached through the child version of the useless Mensa test (which is all about shape fitting and patterns - I sat it at aged 7 and came up as IQ 151 and I'm no bloody genius).
Mensa publicise this, remind you they exist, and for a bit of practice and a PAID subscription, you too can self declare as a genius!
April 15th 2012 at 12:37pm
hope they take it easy she has an emotional area to worry about and physical changes.
April 14th 2012 at 10:07pm
Good on her but if I were her parents I'd distance her from Mensa their membership can be rather dodgy at times.
April 14th 2012 at 8:46pm
wow well done to her.
April 14th 2012 at 4:42pm