Three-year-old becomes youngest Mensa member
Press Association
Monday February 14, 2005
A three-year-old boy has become the youngest member of Mensa, it was confirmed today.
Mikhail Ali has an IQ of 137, a level of intelligence which puts him in the top 2% of the population for his age.
The toddler, of Bramley, Leeds, was accepted as a member of the high IQ society after undergoing psychological tests at the University of York.
His mother, Shamsun, 26, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "We're incredibly proud of him. We knew he was a gifted child but we had no idea quite how gifted until now.
"Every day he amazes us, but underneath it all he's still our little boy, too. He still plays with his toys and demands food."
Mikhail completed a series of tests involving maths, number sequences, logic and picture puzzles during his assessment.
He also learned to read and write basic words at the age of two and understands the Arabic alphabet.
The youngster attends a nursery class and his parents would like to see him start school full-time.
But several schools have told them they feel that he may not be "emotionally ready" to start lessons.
"We really think he's ready to start school," Shamsun said. "He's progressing so quickly that it's difficult for us to keep him challenged."
His father Tahir, 37, said: "We're keen for him to get on but we also want to give him a normal life. We don't want to put too much pressure on him."
A Mensa spokeswoman confirmed Mikhail was its current youngest member and said the organisation only had 30 members under the age of 10.
