Joshua Beckford has never been a typical child. At two years old, he quickly mastered reading fluently using phonics and was speaking Japanese by the
Joshua Beckford has never been a typical child. At two years old, he quickly mastered reading fluently using phonics and was speaking Japanese by the age of three. When he was six, his dad contacted Oxford University and he was enrolled to study Philosophy and History. The courses were designed for gifted kids between the ages of eight and 13, but, a six-year-old Beckford who is diagnosed with high functioning autism, managed to complete both subjects with distinctions.
According to blackdoctor.org, his father, Knox Daniel, said he first noticed his son was clever when he was sitting on his lap while on the computer. “I started telling him what the letters on the keyboard were and I realized that he was remembering and could understand. He could read, write and understand the alphabet and point to different colors on a chart when he was just ten months old.”
In 2011, his father wanted to challenge his son, so he wrote to the university to see if he could participate in a philosophy course for bright children between the age of eight and thirteen. They agreed, and Joshua was the youngest student ever accepted. He even passed with distinction.
Named one of the smartest kids in the world, the now 12-years-old is far too academically advanced to attend third grade with his peers and is homeschooled instead So, what does a super scholar study? Joshua excels at science, math, history, foreign languages and history. He dreams of being a neurosurgeon and is well on his way by practicing gall bladder removals and appendectomy procedures.
“Since the age of four, I was on my dad’s laptop and it had a body simulator where I would pull out organs. I want to save the earth. I want to change the world and change people’s ideas to doing the right things about earth.”
Joshua Beckford is currently writing a children’s book about Egypt. He also serves as the face of the National Autistic Society’s Black and Minority (BME) campaign.
