'We want her to feel empowered': 6-year-old from Rockaway Twp. wows with genius level IQ
A 6-year-old Rockaway Township girl is wowing the world with her smarts. Her IQ, 138, is right at genius level. To put this in perspective, the highest average score for people under 64 years of age is 109.
Declan Lopez is a bubbly kindergartener interested in arts, science, math, and geography, and reads at a fourth-grade level. She has recently been integrated into the Mensa society, the oldest high-IQ society in the world.
Declan goes to school in Dover, where most teachers are "amazing and supportive," her mother, Meachel Lopez, told USA TODAY on Friday.
"Her current school offers her a once-a-week coding game to attempt to provide her with some added stimulation as they currently do not offer a gifted program until the third grade," Lopez said.
Lopez teaches her daughter at home after school to "supplement and stimulate her current learning needs." The two of them are working through fourth and fifth grade math and reading, and the family is exploring private schools for Declan where she will have access to a "more robust curriculum."
When Declan's parents first noticed her intelligence
Declan's parents started noticing her intelligence when she was just 18 months old.
"We were on a trip in the airport, and she just started to count in Mandarin," Lopez told WPVI-TV, adding that it's a balancing act to keep her daughter's intellect stimulated while also creating enough opportunity for her to just be a kid.
Declan's parents make sure she's involved in social activities like karate, soccer and music theory. The family is exploring coding classes, as well, but not all at the same time, of course.
"We try to foster a healthy and active social life as well, with events offered by Rockaway Township, playdates with her friends, trips to the mall (since she loves fashion)," Lopez shared.
Declan is showing in interest in vlogging as well.
"We want her to feel empowered and creative, so we will try any and all pursuits that spark her interest, within reason of course," Lopez said, adding that "the balancing act is a challenge," and the family is learning a lot along the way.
When asked what the 6-year-old genius wants to be when she grows up, Lopez shared that her daughter's aspirations are ever-changing. "She has mentioned wanting to be an astronomer, an actress, a surgeon, and a teacher to name a few."
There is strong evidence showing Lopez's little brother, Maddox, will be gifted too, Lopez mentioned.
Who has the highest IQ ever recorded? Here's what we know about the world's smartest people
Who has the highest IQ?
There is no distinct answer to who has the highest IQ, but it is not Albert Einstein.
Those with higher IQs outside of Einstein include William James Sidis, Leonardo Da Vinci and Marilyn vos Savant.
Sidis was a child prodigy whose IQ was estimated to be anywhere between 200 to 300. According to the University of Houston, he attended Harvard University at 11 years old and graduated at the age of 16.
Da Vinci, famed painter and theorist, is estimated to have had IQ scores ranging from 180 to 220.
Savant has the highest recorded IQ, receiving a score of 228, and was listed in "The Guinness Book of World Records" in 1985, according to encyclopedia.com. She has been called "the smartest person in the world."
Other people with some of the highest IQs are Sho Yano, who had an estimated IQ of around 200 at 10 years old, and Adragon De Mello, who had a projected IQ of 400 and graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz at 11 years old, according to Reader's Digest.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet Declan, a 6-year-old genius from North Jersey
