4-Year-Old Preemie Turns to Be a Math Genius, Outsmarts Teachers

A preemie baby beat the odds and turned out to be a genius. At 4 years old, he has already outsmarted his teachers in Mathematics and can easily calculate his mom's grocery expenses.

Preemie Baby With Only 10% Chance of Survival Lived, Became A Math Genius

Lorraine, 38, a senior police officer in Glasgow, Scotland, was told that her placenta stopped working at 20 weeks of her pregnancy. Since the fetus in her womb was no longer getting any nutrients, the doctors told the mom-to-be that her baby would not survive if brought to term. They decided to deliver the infant at 28 weeks, despite only a 10% chance of survival, Good News Network reported.

Lorraine said they did not expect her son, Jamie Mohr, now 4, to survive. However, he surprised them when he went from strength to strength. They took him home 11 weeks after he was delivered.

At 4, Jamie can do mathematics in six different languages and sum up his mom's groceries.

According to Lorraine, he was outsmarting his teachers. They just received a message from his nursery teacher telling them he was "out schooling" her, and he couldn't explain where he got it from.

Lorraine said she noticed that her son was super smart before his second birthday. She even tested him and he was able to count to 50 and then 100.

Lorraine said she was watching a show on YouTube when the character started counting on French. When she switched it off, she heard Jamie counting in French.

She wasn't convinced by her son's talent, so she had him watch other programs where they count in other languages - Spanish and Japanese. Jamie showed the same photographic memory. He could now even count in German and Mandarin.

Premature Baby Labeled With Hyperlexia

Jamie was labeled with hyperlexia, an advanced and unexpected ability in kids for reading and decoding words beyond their chronological age. The early reading itself is often preceded by an intense and obsessive interest in letters and numbers as an infant.

Many books, articles and websites consider hyperlexia as a symptom of autism or some other developmental disorder. According to SSM Health, there are other studies suggesting that it's not always the case.

There are three types of hyperlexia. However, the first one, Hyperlexia 1, is not a disorder and does not require nor warrant a diagnosis.

The differences in intervention strategies, educational placements, outcomes, and long-term consequences of an ASD diagnosis necessitate caution when applied to a child who reads or speaks early.

While early diagnosis and early intervention are to be commended in all children with developmental delays, a differential diagnosis approach should be considered before applying a definitive diagnosis of ASD if the presenting symptom is hyperlexia and ASD is a possibility. A period of vigilance will determine whether the hyperlexia is type 2 or type 3.

Preemie Child Turns Out to Be A Miracle

Preemie refers to premature births affecting 11 to 13% of pregnancies in the United States. Almost 69% of twins, triplets and other multiple deliveries result in preterm births. A preterm birth applies to a child born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, according to Healthy Children.

Recounting what her son went through, Lorraine said Jamie is a "little miracle," especially since they were told that he would have a severe disability or learning difficulty. The mother said he was so proud of her son because he is completely self-taught.

Jamie could rival 10-year-olds with equations and can even do fractions and percentages. He will start primary school later this year, where they will set out a special independent curriculum for him.

Check out more news and information on Babies and Premature Babies in Science Times.