A 11-year-old child prodigy from Mexico City, has an IQ higher than Albert Einstein, she is receiving a master’s degree in engineering and hopes to one day be an astronaut for NASA.
Adhara Pérez Sánchez was three years old when she was diagnosed with autism, she grew up in the low-income neighborhood of Tláhauc and was often bullied in school for being autistic.
Sanchez has since graduated in systems engineering from the CNCI University and an industrial engineering degree specializing in mathematics from the Technological University of Mexico.
Her IQ score is reported to be 162, which is higher than Einstein’s. She is a public speaker.
In a Marie Claire interview, Sanchez’s mother revealed how she began to withdraw after she was bullied by her classmates for her condition. She also said her teachers didn’t seem to care.
‘The teachers were not very empathetic, they told me that I wish she would finish an assignment. She began to exclude herself, she did not want to play with her classmates, she felt strange, different,’ said Sanchez’s mother, Nayeli Sánchez.
‘She could be at school for a while but then she couldn’t, she fell asleep, she didn’t want to do things anymore. She was very depressed, people did not have empathy, they made fun of her,’ the mother added.
Sanchez had to change schools three times as a result of the unfavourable conditions.
But her spark remained intact. The mother noticed that Sanchez was able to memorise the periodic table in full and had even taught herself algebra.
Having assumed that her daughter was just bored, she enrolled her in therapy.
At that point, the therapist recognised the spark of genius in Sanchez and advised the Center for Attention to Talent (CEDAT), a school for gifted children, to take her in.
The school confirmed that Sanchez’s IQ was higher than both Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
‘I want to go to space and colonize Mars. If you don’t like where you are, imagine where you want to be. I see myself at NASA, so it’s worth a try,’ the 11-year-old told Goalcast.
With dreams of one day making it to NASA, she is now working with the Mexican Space Agency by promoting space exploration and mathematics to young students.
