A New Jersey six-year-old with an IQ of 138 has stunned her parents and teachers after becoming one of the youngest members of the prestigious Mensa society.
Declan Lopez’s intelligence quotient has been calculated as significantly higher than that of the general population, which usually ranges between 85 and 115. According to Psych Central, about 98 percent of people score below 130, and only 2 percent of the population score above that and are considered “above average.”
These stats mean that the elementary schooler’s IQ is closer to that of Albert Einstein — estimated at 160 — than the vast majority of the population.
Daysi Calavia-Robertson of NJ.com interviewed the girl and her parents at their Morris County home to learn more about the little genius.
The reporter found out that while Declan enjoys typical activities such as playing with dolls, she also can recite the elements of the periodic table, match flags to their countries while rattling off geography facts about them, and is already highly proficient in math and reading.
After her parents realized something was special about their daughter “almost right away,” they fostered her gift to the best of their abilities.
Dad Delano Lopez, a high school health and physical education teacher, and mom Meachel Lopez, who retired from her banking job to supplement her daughter’s education, say they realized she was advanced soon after she was born.
“But we knew it for sure when she was about 18 months,” Meachel said. “I remember she was sitting on my lap and started kind of counting to herself in Mandarin. I was like, ‘but how?!’ I thought it was gibberish. I didn’t know what she was saying but then we realized it was from the cartoons, the learning videos we’d play for her on YouTube. She’d picked it up.”
The six-year-old is the newest member of Mensa, the world’s largest and oldest high-IQ society, joining about 100 others in the U.S. in her age range.
The Lopez’s living room is full of books, educational posters, and even a globe so their daughter can study. Calavia-Robertson noted that it even “looks like a small classroom.”
One wall boasted the “class schedule” Meachel made for Declan, listing out subjects that she goes over with her daughter every afternoon after she gets out of kindergarten.
Since Declan’s first day of preschool at the Learning Experience in Denville, director Vicki Vigorito also noticed something special about the little learner.
According to the school administrator, she had “never met a kid as whip-smart” in her three decades of experience in education.
“Some of her interests and abilities left me with my jaw dropped,” she told NJ.com. “She was so advanced at math, would draw body parts that were, you know, anatomically correct and she’d remember everybody’s first and last name. I mean four-year-olds aren’t typically able to do that.”
“We’re trying our best to keep her motivated, to keep her interested and challenged,” Delano explained to the local outlet. “Unfortunately, that’s not really happening right now when she’s in school … everyone around her is learning about letters and she’s at a third or fourth-grade reading level. She finishes her classwork and asks the teacher if she can go around and help other students because she gets bored.”
Declan’s acceptance into Mensa gives her parents hope that she will have greater access to more advanced learning opportunities, as well as allow her to make other especially intelligent friends her age so “she can fully be herself.”
According to Meachel, Declan has already been the victim of name-calling and bullying from her peers.
“It’s been really tough … it can be a little tough for someone like Declan to socialize when she’s talking about gasses on Neptune with her peer group,” the mother said, visibly emotional.
“What we both want more than anything is for her to thrive in all areas of her life, to know that it’s OK to shine just being herself, that she doesn’t have to make herself small … At the end of the day, we’re her parents and we just want her to reach her potential and to be happy.”
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