This article was originally written by Isobel Williams for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
Learning disabilities don’t equate to lower intelligence — and no one is proving that point more than a 10-year-old girl from Kent, England. After Poppy O’Malley-Flack took a test for dyslexia because she’d been having trouble with spelling, she discovered she has an IQ of 136, and has since been invited to join high-IQ society Mensa International.
According to BBC Test the Nation data from 2014, the average IQ in Britain is around 100, and any number above 135 puts you in the top 1%. Poppy was invited to take the three-hour exam, which also determined that she has exceptional reasoning and problem-solving skills, ahead of her 11+, a British test many students take in their last year of elementary school.
The news came as a surprise to Poppy’s mom, 44-year-old Lucy O’Malley-Flack, who told SWNS that her daughter had always excelled at creative subjects like art.
“We never expected to come out of a dyslexic test and the lady say her reasoning skills and intelligence were exceptionally high. We were as shocked I think as Poppy was,” O’Malley-Flack said, adding: “She had never been the type of child you thought was gifted or very academic who goes up to their room and studies and loves learning. She is creative and she is very good at art. However, she is very logical and has good reasoning skills and is very good at problem-solving. We have always known that.”
She continued: “We always knew she was quite grown-up for her age. It is a perfect example of how a learning difference and giftedness can coexist. While she might have struggles with spelling, she has extraordinary reasoning skills. Dyslexia is seen as something you have when you aren’t intelligent, but that is not the case. She is actually very intelligent, she just struggles with certain aspects.”
After learning of Poppy’s IQ, O’Malley-Flack, who’s an assistant principal at a local college, approached Mensa in hopes of getting her daughter into programs with other gifted children. And shortly after her test results were sent off, Poppy received an email accepting her into the prestigious club. She joins the ranks of Geena Davis, Steve Martin, and 3-year-old Mensa member Joseph Harris-Birtill, the society’s youngest inductee.
“When the results said that she was in the top 1%, I joked that she should be part of Mensa,” shared O’Malley-Flack. “Then when I looked into it, they said that I could send through evidence. We were absolutely chuffed and really proud of her and I think she was really proud of herself. It was a shock. It is the prestige that you are part of such a high intelligence group.”
But to her mom, Poppy is “just a normal kid” when it comes down to it: “She is the most humble child you will ever meet, but she is really enjoying this prestige.” The youngster now has plenty of Mensa merchandise, including a hoodie, mug, and certificate, which O’Malley-Flack said she is very proud of.
In addition to art and fashion, Poppy also has a passion for mathematics and science. She’s hoping to get into grammar school, a type of state-funded secondary school in the U.K. which admits students based on ability, but she has no career aspirations beyond that yet, though her mom suspects that she may end up doing something in the realm of science.
“I don’t think Poppy is going to go into your normal nine-to-five job,” O’Malley-Flack said. “She will be going into something scientific or arty. Something that requires detail.”
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