Being a genius isn’t always easy, especially when you’re labeled by others as different. For Adhara Pérez, who was born in Veracruz, Mexico, not only was she smarter than everyone else, she was diagnosed with autism at the young age of three, and was bullied by the other kids in her neighborhood for being ‘weird.’ Then at four, she suffered from a horrible seizure that almost left her in a coma.
After her seizure, Adhara was left without the use of her hands for an entire year, and she needed to undergo physical therapy to gain back strength. While in therapy, she was made to undergo a number of IQ tests, which led to the discovery of her incredibly high IQ.
Apparently, Adhara had an IQ of 162, which was two points higher than two of the smartest people the world has ever known, quantum scientists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, whom only ever scored 160 on their tests.
Adhara’s mom, Nayeli Sánchez, shared in an interview with Goalcast about her disability, “Still, she never gave up. In fact, she looked to one of her heroes for guidance. Adhara followed the example of Stephen Hawking; she said that despite having a disability, that didn’t keep him from achieving great things. She will always admire him because she likes black holes.”
What her parents would eventually find out was that her seizures were caused by the fact that one hemisphere of her brain was more developed than the other.
Her mom also said, “Adhara was bullied in school, and kids thought she was ‘weird,’ but that too left her in good company. ‘When Albert Einstein was young, they didn’t believe in him; they thought his ideas were foolish, but with time he proved them and that is the reason why Adhara likes this character’.”
Despite the challenges the girl has gone through in her young life, the now 9-year old is already making a number of her dreams come true. By the age of 7, she was already ranked as one of 2019’s most powerful women in Mexico by Forbes Magazine.
Since graduating high school at the age of eight, these days, she’s moving forward towards her dream of one day becoming an astronaut by pursuing her college education, studying for two degrees, one in Systems Engineering at the Universidad CNCI, and the other in Industrial Engineering at UNITEC.
The child prodigy has even been offered to take her master’s degrees in two prestigious schools. She’s been invited by theUniversity of Miami to pursue her masters in Atmospheric Science, while the University of Israel has offered for her to pursue a physics degree.
Moreover, Telemundo also reported that she was already invited to join the Aeronautics Program in Alabama and to take up her studies in Space Science at none other than NASA.
She explained, “I want to be an astronaut to change the world.”
At the moment though, young Adhara is still learning to speak fluent English in order to prepare for her future dreams, while continuing her studies at the University of Arizona. She told NBC San Diego, “I have to stay there for three months to learn and get accustomed to hearing and speaking English.”
Just recently, Adhara was invited to travel to Tijuana for an event that was organized by the Institute of Art and Culture(IMAC) where she gave a speech on black holes. The kids that attended the talk were astonished to hear such a young girl speak so knowledgably on such topics.
Another young girl named Karen Alonso who was there said, “I’m surprised because how can a little girl know so much more than an adult? She already has two college careers.”
Aside from these accomplishments, Adhara has even written a book where she talks about being bullied and ‘the need for perseverance.’ She is also creating a device to help other children like herself cope with autism. She shares, “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.”
She also has advice for anyone asking on how to pursue their dreams. She says, “Do not give up, and if you don’t like where you are, start planning where you want to be!”
Sage advice from any age, but more so from a little girl who has proven that disabilities don’t need to define you, nor keep you from pursuing your goals in life.
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