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Four-year-old 'genius' joins Mensa

By T.K. Randall
April 13, 2012 · Comment icon

20 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu

Four-year-old Heidi Hankins appears to have an IQ that is only slightly lower than Stephen Hawking's.

At the age of two Heidi was able to read books intended for seven-year-olds, the staff at her nursery decided to give her an IQ test when they found themselves unable to provide her with anything challenging. "We always thought Heidi was bright because she was reading early," said her dad. "I got her the complete set of the Oxford Reading Tree books when she was two and she read through the whole set of 30 in about an hour." Heidi's IQ test score is 159.

Heidi Hankins sat an IQ test after staff at her nursery said she was so intelligent they were struggling to find activities to challenge her. The average score for an adult is 100 and a "gifted" individual 130 but the exceptional youngster impressed examiners with a staggering 159.

Source: Telegraph | Comments (20)

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Recent comments on this story

#11 Posted by Alienated Being 12 years ago

I was reading at the age of three. :\

#12 Posted by coldethyl 12 years ago

I've noticed that these so-called "genius children" all tend to be great at MEMORIZING things but never actually go on to advance anything. Knowledge and intelligence are two very different things. I understand that IQ is only a measurement of potential and I'm not trying to take anything away from this little girl - her teaching herself to read is a fantastic achievement in itself. I hope she goes on to find a cure for cancer or even the motor neuron disease that plagues Stephen Hawking. I tend to agree and it's nothing to do with jealousy. My bf's daughter was Valedictorian and goes to a pre... [More]

#13 Posted by 27vet 12 years ago

Let her go work at the Large Hadron Collider.

#14 Posted by seller2006 12 years ago

Not sure if I'd want my kid to be a genius. How do you reprimand a child who is smarter than you are? Lol, future generations will be smarter, know more so regardless of if ur kid is a genius or not that is the least of your concerns, i know more than my parents lol and they more than theirs

#15 Posted by Erowin 12 years ago

They need to nurture her in critical thinking skills, so she can solve new problems in the world instead of easily memorizing things. And they need to work extra hard to help her with social skills. Geniuses often have trouble functioning socially, so they should try to teach her while shes young

#16 Posted by ad hoc 12 years ago

cool. maybe she'll do something, maybe she won't. i remember reading somewhere that nasa used to use iq scores in its recruitment process, but abandoned the practice as it seemed to have no particular correlation to the ability to come up with real solutions to problems. (obviously we're talking within a pool of people who are all well above average smart though) stephen hawking is a case in point, he's a celebrity to the layperson and it's believed that he has this towering iq score, yet in the physics community he's not considered to have been hugely revolutionary. most don't put him in thei... [More]

#17 Posted by Socio 12 years ago

Lol, future generations will be smarter, know more so regardless of if ur kid is a genius or not that is the least of your concerns, i know more than my parents lol and they more than theirs Well once they can alter DNA of unborn children I suppose everyone will be geniuses. Curious though, what exactly are the circumstances for being born a genius? I know humans only use a portion of their brain, like 10% from what I remember being told long ago, so are children like her just born with the ability to use a percentage more of their brain or is that an overly simplified hypothesis?

#18 Posted by ad hoc 12 years ago

Well once they can alter DNA of unborn children I suppose everyone will be geniuses. Curious though, what exactly are the circumstances for being born a genius? I know humans only use a portion of their brain, like 10% from what I remember being told long ago, so are children like her just born with the ability to use a percentage more of their brain or is that an overly simplified hypothesis? yeah.. in some ways i can't wait til they start doing that. maybe while they're at it they can get rid of a bunch of the animal paranoia fear and anger that leads us to live lives of looking over our sho... [More]

#19 Posted by catfishyeah 12 years ago

Man, if only my family was only half as smart as her. . . I'm the only one in my family going to college!

#20 Posted by andy hair candy 11 years ago

i knew somebody who was dubbed a "child genious" he could speak several languages fluently at the age of four. but still he has difficulties in finding happiness in his life. that kind of brain is a blessing as much as a burden. a lonelly existance without spontanious decision making and the ability to take risks... ignorance can be bliss

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