A 9-year-old Mexican girl with Asperger's syndrome is challenging preconceptions about people with developmental disorders by being accepted to a degree while still under 10.
Adhara Pérez Sánchez has been noted as having extreme intelligence and has already graduated high school. She is now working on earning two degrees, one in industrial engineering in mathematics and one in systems engineering. On IQ scores, the youngster has even scored 162, which is suggested to be higher than notable geniuses throughout history, such as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
Speaking to the Yucatan Times, Ms. Sanchez's mother said that Perez was bullied at school due to her disorder and it was at that point she decided to educate the girl on her own, she said:
"I saw that Adhara was playing in a little house and they locked her up. And they started to chant: 'Oddball, weirdo!' 'And then they started hitting the little house. So I said, I don't want her to suffer."
While her parents knew of her intelligence, teachers at the school said Perez did not work hard and that she was not advancing. As a result of the bullying, Perez fell into a deep depression that only lifted when she started getting the support at home that she required.
With her parents teaching abilities Perez graduated elementary school by age 5, middle school by 6, and high school by 8. It was then she was accepted to university after she caught the eye of Robert Robbins of the University of Arizona. He wrote to Perez, saying:
"I was thrilled to read about your incredible story online and to find out that your dream school is the University of Arizona. We have many outstanding space sciences programs, you would have many opportunities to work side by side with the world's leading experts... You have a bright future ahead of you, and I hope to welcome you on campus one day as a Wildcat."
Perez has a deep interest in space and astrophysics and hopes to make this her career. But that isn't all. The youngster has now even invented a new smart bracelet to help those, like herself, with conditions such as autism. The bracelet works by monitoring emotions that those children may not be able to easily express on their own. Peres says:
"I'm making a bracelet that measures kid's emotions and then parents will be able to see what emotion their kids have by checking a phone, tablet, or computer."
Perez is expected to start her degree course soon in the United States.
[Based on reporting by: Upworthy]
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