Vincent, 9, has an IQ of 145 – joins Mensa

Nine-year-old Vincent Borghol Mpatsiaris has a sky-high IQ.
Now he will become a member of Mensa, the association for people with high IQ.
– I am very proud to be part of Mensa, because not everyone can be part of Mensa. It’s really cool, says Vincent in Efter fem.

Vincent Borghol Mpatsiaris is no ordinary child. He has a very high IQ and he has a photographic memory. Some time ago, Vincent did a test for children that measures intelligence. There he got an IQ of 145, which means that he is extremely gifted. According to Vincent’s father Dimos Mpatsiaris, Vincent’s talent was noticed at an early age.

– He was early on with speech and it was not single words but long sentences with correct grammar. Once the words were in place, here came the questions that never ended. And they were not simple questions, but abstract questions, which were followed by a new follow-up question. He reasoned at a very mature level when he was a year and a half old.

Dimos continues:

– He was constantly curious and he wanted to understand how the world and humans work. But what stood out the most was his memory. He could say things that I had mentioned a month ago that weren’t even important. And it is still today the memory that is class.

Gets a visit from Mensa

In two weeks, a Mensa representative will visit Vincent and his father’s home to welcome him into the association. In his spare time, Vincent likes to play chess, wrestle and swim. But when asked what is the best thing he knows, he answers something else.

– Math with my father.

Criticism of the school

But being as talented as Vincent doesn’t come without problems. According to himself, schooling is far too easy and he lacks challenges and opportunities to learn.

– I never get in-depth information about what I do at school. Like when we sit with space, we only learn which planets there are and in which order they go. We don’t get any immersion and I don’t get to talk to anyone who is at my level in my classroom.

Dimos agrees that the lack of learning opportunities for Vincent at school is a problem.

– We have a boy who does not want to go to school, the school environment stresses him out, he does not feel that he is learning or gaining any in-depth knowledge. We have asked the question: where is Vincent’s school? What briefings does he receive and how do you unlearn Vincent? Instead of seeing him as a community resource, where you should be proud that you have a student like Vincent with enormous potential, they have chosen to focus on the negative.

He believes that it could bring great consequences for Vincent, instead of opportunities.

– He spends time, shreds paper and makes small talk with his mates. The consequences have been that he sits at the back of the classroom alone or that he has to sit outside the classroom, which is completely absurd for a gifted child like Vincent. What we think about is that we might get a house sitter. Others in our position end up with mental illness over the years. We have taken that to school.