Is my 1yr old a genius?

[Thatsmoneyhoney]

Hi all.

I was just wondering if my son is gifted or if I am just extremely biased 🤣 of course everyone thinks their child is amazing!
But...
Please can you let me know your opinions if you think my son is very smart for his age.
He has just turned 22 months so almost 2.
He knows most shapes and colours. All the letters in the alphabet. Even ones at random. He won't just sing the alphabet. He is able to say each letter in the words when we read books or out on walks he'll stop and look at road signs and pick out all the letters.
He can also count to 20. For instance if he has some blueberries. He'll move them and count 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 all the way up to 20. And he also recognises numbers. So if a road sign says 30mph.. he'll shout THREE ZERO!!
He also recognises his name in letters and will shout out his name if he sees it on his lunch box or something.
Is my boy a genius??

I have 3 children but my first was a verynkate talker. He didn't talk until 3 and our 2nd child has a disability so I don't know if my 3rd son is just average for his age....

So he's 2 not 1 then

My Dc was like this - extremely ahead until he went to school, it’s slowly plateaued out and he’s very average now. So I’d just go with it and enjoy him and not dwell too much on whether he’s super intelligent or not.

He's definitely advanced at letter/shape recognition and memory recall.

He's two OP so no that isn't necessarily an indication of genius territory. Lots of kids exposed to letters and books will learn to read when they are two. He's clearly a bright child though and you should foster that interest.

No he's not a genius.

My DD who is 5 was like that.

The problem you will have is when he goes to school he will be bored.

As we were aware of that we refused to teach DD to read. So while she could read some words when she went to school she couldn't read fluently. She very quickly has learnt.

She could also write random words before she started school. Now she writes little stories with pictures.

@Donkeyokay technically still 1. No need to be rude.

No 😂 22 months is one year and ten months. He’s one, not two.

What disability does your second have? Being ahead like this could indicate ASD. It's not uncommon for autistic kids to be hyperlexic. Whatever the case have fun with it, encourage him and enjoy - but i agree that he might be bored when he first starts school! I wouldn't refuse to teach him to read as he can learn so much from reading and he might teach himself anyway.

Why are people saying he is 2? You turn 2 at 24 months.

It is advanced, but doesn’t sound like genius territory. I say this from experience - my DD could do all that at that age, and had started saying words at 10 months, was speaking in (short) sentences around her first birthday. Long sentences within a few months of that. She taught herself to read at 3 having picked it up from us reading her stories. We had no idea until she started reading out of context words to us because to start with we thought it was simply memory. But ultimately, she is very bright yes, but not a genius. And as she gets older, while she remains ahead and is clever, the differences even out a bit more.

You should look up what actual child geniuses can do, even at this age - maths, reading etc. It’s a fascinating subject.

Agree with this, I don't understand why people do this - he's 1 until he turns 2!

Do you age yourself up in this way? 😕 Yes he's closer to his 2nd birthday than his 1st birthday but he's still 1 until he reaches it.

My eldest could. Nurture their love of learning and reading at home. (Downside is they spend a lot of time at school coasting and I think may struggle when finally face a 'challenge' academically at school). I don't think it's genius territory though!

@MoodEnhancer it's so fascinating! My son can do basic maths. He knows that 2 and 2 will make 4. Simple things like this. His speech is also very advanced I would say.
@Beth216 our 2nd son is adopted so nothing genetic between our sons but his disabilities are very complex. He has developmental delay and very low muscle tone. He is almost 4 but still like a 3-6month old baby. He doesn't have a formal diagnosis as yet.

Well I don't know if OPs child is a genius, but you sure as shit are not. 😂

He sounds very bright OP. 😊

I dunno about "genius" op, but he sounds like a bright little button. Encourage his interests (I can recommend a box of number cubes), talk to him, and enjoy watching him learn new things 😊

DC1 was like this, and is bright but not gifted.
DC4 didn't say anything except no, mama and made up words for dummy, drink and teddy until 2.5 and is gifted.

Yes he is 1, but he is much closer to his 2nd birthday than his 1st. This isn’t a big deal when talking in general about ages but when the discussion is about development, it’s relevant because the rate of development between 1 and 2 is remarkable.

Personally I would probably have put ‘nearly two’ in the title but the OP did clarify this anyway. There is a huge difference between a child who has just had their first birthday and a child who is soon to have their second- especially when we’re talking about things like counting and reading!

I suspect it’s too early to tell. It sounds like he is very much enjoying what he is doing though, which is great!

Young children don’t necessarily learn in a strictly linear way. They progress through various schemas, but the order they tackle them in varies from child to child. So they all mostly get to the same place by age 7.

Within the same cohort there obviously will be some that are at the either end of the spectrum, but probably too soon to tell yet.

clearly exceptionally clever for his age

Hate to burst your bubble but no. He has most likely rote learned patterns, number & letter & shape symbols + name. Unless he can tell you the sounds the letter names make and recognise 2 sounds together it's unremarkable, sorry. Can he look at 2 marbles and tell you it's '2' or put 3 toys together and sat 3 (not 1,2,3) yet? Best to offer lots of opportunities to play with texture, building, imagination. Share rhymes and books. Build fine motor, gross motor, feeding skills, dressing skills. Communication skills.

Hyperlexia. I was reading before three. I'm now 45, dx ASD. I'm not a genius, definitely not socially!

Because the OP thinks her child is clever so she needs to be put back in her place and told he’s nothing special <eye roll>

It isn’t a given he is a genius, autistic or will be bored at school. Most likely he’ll be just fine.

Watching with interest. My DD is 18 months, speaks in sentences and has just randomly started counting things to 10 (we never did this with her so no idea where she's picked it up - I actually think maybe Cbeebies, haha)

Our whole family is bad state schools & Oxbridge though, so I think genetically she's probably ahead.

OP's son sounds even more advanced – definitely very bright and gifted I'd say

@Thatsmoneyhoney ignore those saying ‘this child isn’t intelligent. My dc just plateauted once they started school etc….’

It’s mixing two,different concepts, intelligence and ability to do well at school.
Some children are intelligent but don’t do well at school. Or you feel they stay stagnant for a while whilst everyone catches up. It’s usually the case because they aren’t given more complex information/teaching so they learn nothing until new info arrives, when their peers are ready fur said new info/teaching.
And they still need to learn stuff too (esp as they get older and into secondary school) - something many intelligent children struggle with.

Intelligence stays and you are likely to see it from the way a child is reasoning, accessing new information or the very little effort needed for them to do well (vs their peers).

Back to how well your dc is doing.
Yep, they are ahead of their peers.
Carry on talking to them, playing, answering their questions.
Try and awake their curiosity on every subject. From science to books, litterature etc…. Teach them resilience and grit (harder when things come easily to them).
But don’t make them something special iyswim.