Two-year-old Isla McNabb is a genius. That much is hard to argue with, as the Kentucky toddler just became Mensa's youngest member.
The child's parents, Jason and Amanda, knew she was special early on, they told The Washington Post. But when she started spelling out words with plastic letters just after her second birthday, they decided to have her IQ tested.
Isla scored in the top 1% of not just toddlers but the entire population. That qualified her for membership in Mensa, an organization for people who score in the top 2% on the test.
Isla's dad, Jason, told the Post that there have been many “creepy moments” that made him think his daughter was special since her birth. But soon it became totally undeniable. Isla loved the alphabet and could sound out letters and words before she turned 2. Then her parents decided to gift her a tablet for her second birthday.
Soon, Isla wasn't just sounding out letters. She was reading. Jason tested her skills by telling her the sounds of letters, then writing down some words to see if she could sound them out. He started with writing R-E-D. "She sounded it out and said, 'Red,'" Jason said.
Then he tried "blue," followed by "yellow" and then "purple" and even "orange." The toddler got them all.
The parents were amazed. “There’s no way,” Amanda said she was thinking at the time.
“Everything we threw at her, it just seemed like she picked it up right away,” Jason said. “It was incredible.”
The child's reading ability grew exponentially. It floored their pediatrician when Isla was able to read every word of a post about the dangers of leaving babies unattended on an exam table.
Not only could Isla read — and write simple words — she could also do basic math. So Amanda and Jason decided to find a psychologist who administered IQ tests. They found one who said he didn't usually give the tests to children younger than 4, but he made an exception. The child ranked in the 99th percentile.
While Isla is clearly a young genius, her parents say that she also enjoys just about everything that other kids her age enjoy. She loves puzzles, making friends, and the book series Pete the Cat. One thing Isla doesn't like is sleep.
Doctors assured Amanda and Jason that needing less sleep is typical for highly intelligent kids. Of course, her parents aren't too thrilled that her 4 a.m. wake-ups might be around for a while. “That’s kind of disheartening for us,” Amanda said.
The tired mom also says she won't be getting an IQ test herself, saying, “I can’t have her knowing that she’s smarter than me.”
