Mensa U.K. accepts ‘genius’ girl, four, almost as smart as Einstein

Heidi Hankins is the newest member of U.K.'s high IQ society, Mensa. She has just achieved a score of 159 on an IQ test, ranking her just one point below Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

She's just four years old.

"We always thought Heidi was pretty bright because she was reading early. I happen to specialise in measuring IQs in children and I was curious about her, and the results were off the scale," the little girl's father, Matthew Hankins, told the Hampshire Chronicle.

"I got her the complete set of the Oxford Reading Tree books when she was two, and she read through the whole set of 30 in about an hour. It's what you would expect a seven-year-old to do."

The father insists that his daughter, who can write in complete sentences and has mastered simple addition and subtraction before attending kindergarten, is still very much a little girl.

"The thing is she's not precocious, she is just a little girl who likes her Barbies and Lego but then you will find her sitting down and reading a book. We are really proud of her."

Mensa is happy to welcome the little girl.

"Heidi's parents correctly identified that she shows great potential," said John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa. "We wish them well, and are pleased that they have chosen to join the Mensa network for support, where we aim to provide a positive environment for younger members to develop."

According to Mensa, the average adult IQ score is 100.

Heidi's parents are now looking into schools for their little girl. They hope that if she skips a year, she'll find the work challenging enough.