‘Genius’ 4-year-old taught herself to read, joins exclusive genius society

18th March 2019   ·   0 Comments

(Defender News Service) — Alannah George, 4, earned her way into the elite group after achieving an impressive IQ score of 140, according to the Daily Mail.

George, who’s from Iver, Buckinghamshire, southwest of the Greater London area, is “obsessed” with words and numbers, her family says, and even taught herself to read.

Rather than sing nursery rhymes like most children, George’s parents said their daughter would recite her alphabet and times tables. What’s more, she uttered her first words when she was just seven months old and was forming full sentences by the time she reached 18 months old.

Her incredible IQ score now puts her among a class of people considered to have “superior general intelligence.” The little girl’s parents said they were overwhelmed by the discovery, calling it a “scary” realization.

“It’s exciting and overwhelming,” George’s mother, Nadine, told The Mirror. “I want to make sure she achieves her potential and manages to perform to the best of her ability. She is so young, but she lives and breathes academia.”

“She is clearly special but we just don’t know what her potential could be,” Nadine added. “She is coming in on leaps and bounds. It was the reading that freaked me out a bit to be honest.”

Having recognized their daughter’s special talents, George’s parents had her tested by top educational psychologist Dr. Peter Congdon, who determined the young girl was indeed an “intellectual genius.” As part of his assessment, Alannah was put through the rigorous Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Test, which asked a series of questions aimed at assessing her problem-solving skills, according to The Mirror.

Her remarkable IQ score was based on her test results, which put her at the reading level of a seven-year-old child. George’s spelling and mental acuity abilities were equally impressive, and on par with those of a six-and-a-half-year-old child.

George was accepted into the Mensa club, an exclusive society for people whose IQ is in the top two percent of the population, just a few months after the tests and is now recognized as a “young and gifted child.” The club was founded in 1946 by lawyer Roland Berrill and scientist and lawyer Dr. Lance Ware.

In 2009, two-year-old Elise Tan-Roberts became the youngest person to ever join Mensa. As reported by the Daily Mail, children under the age of 10-and-a-half can join the exclusive genius group by submitting proof of their IQ score being in the top two percent. Adults and children over age 10 hoping to become part of the genius club must take the Mensa Supervised IQ Test.

An average age-specific IQ is 100 and around 60 percent of the population score between 85 and 115.

George’s parents are continually impressed with their daughter’s progress and described just how special her abilities are. According to them, Alannah was reading paragraphs from her favorite storybooks at just 3 years old. Now, she “can read herself bedtime stories,” her mother said. She also enjoys watching the YouTube show “Endless Numbers,” rather than cartoons like most children.

George currently attends the prestigious St. George’s School, in Windsor Castle, where three of Queen Elizabeth’s grandchildren also attended, the news site reported. Her teachers said she’s already leagues ahead of the other students and they are now considering adopting the school curriculum to meet the standard she’s working at.

In his report, Dr. Congdon wrote that George would benefit from “being challenged and stretched” in the classroom, otherwise she may become “bored” and frustrated.

“Dr. Congdon was very im-pressed and said he felt her score could be higher,” Nadine told The Mirror. “He wants to see her again in three years time because some aspects of her abilities could be better. She needs to be stretched. Her curriculum needs to be altered so she doesn’t get bored in class.”

At the end of the day, George’s parents said they just want to see their daughter live a “fulfilled and happy life,” just like any other child.

“I just want to make sure she reaches her full potential and is happy,” said her mother. “That’s the main goal.”

George is set to start her first year of school in September.

This article originally published in the March 18, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.