Gabriel Grech attends a science club, is keen on sign language and can recognise every single flag of all countries and territories around the world.
He learned to read and write when he was just two and, at three and a half years of age, he was given a reading age of over seven.
Gabriel, from Victoria, who is just four years old, has an IQ of 139, which is ranked as a ‘gifted’ IQ, just a few points short of what is ranked as ‘genius’.
A 14-minute video has emerged on YouTube showing Gabriel identifying some 250 flags placed in front of him. The list includes all the sovereign States of the world (around 206) plus all the British, French and US territories as well as other dependencies, like Christmas Islands.
Gabriel, who attends the Laura Vicuna school in Victoria, can read and write in English and Maltese and was interested in several subjects, his proud grandfather, Michael, told the Times of Malta. “It could be astronomy, geography, history, and more. He is also very good at mathematics.” After attending a science club aimed for four-to-seven year olds, Gabriel went home and asked his father for a book about flags.
“Gabriel is a very inquisitive boy and he wants to know about everything. He is very passionate about planets and the solar system,” his father, David, said.
Realising his intelligence and photographic memory, his parents took him for an IQ test. He scored 139, which is ranked as ‘gifted’, just a few points of what is described as ‘genius’.
The test also diagnosed Gabriel with Hyperlexia Type III, which means the child is able to read and write at a level well above his norm. But it also creates problems for Gabriel when he interacts with peers of the same age, which means sometimes he feels more comfortable with older children.
“When he was still a year old, before he could speak, I taught him some basic sign language like: ‘milk’, ‘mummy’ and ‘thank you’. Today, three years later, he still remembers the signs and, although he now speaks fluently, he still uses them to emphasise a point,” Mr Grech said.
Taking the cue from his mother, a teacher, and his father, a scout leader, Gabriel has now learnt a vast vocabulary of Maltese sign language.
“We are very happy with Gabriel’s quest for knowledge and we encourage him to explore different areas. He astonishes us sometimes with his observations. We are also grateful to his teachers who engage him and stimulate his hunger for knowledge.”
Meanwhile, Gabriel is still yearning to learn more. After memorising all theflags of nations and territories, his father recently introduced him to all the local council emblems of Malta and the United States.