Stories about extraordinary children often fascinate us, about a child who seems to have been born ahead of everyone else, a toddler who reads before most kids can speak in full sentences, or a young boy who talks about space and science like a seasoned professor.While most children of this age can’t even pick up books and want to spend leisure time playing with toys, some kids surpass the ordinary and seem to be endowed with the skills that even extraordinary adults can’t achieve.One such story is about Joshua Beckford
Meet Joshua Beckford
Joshua Beckford, from Tottenham in London, is one of the most famous child prodigies who started studying at Oxford University at six.His father, Knox Daniel, noticed Joshua’s memory when he taught him letters on a laptop keyboard at about 10 months old. He would point to letters on request, and then they moved on to colours. He opened up while speaking at TEDx Talks Vienna that he was speaking Japanese by three and that high-functioning autism was diagnosed at seven.
He joined Oxford when he was 6 years of age
Joshua was just six when he joined a set of courses on an online learning platform for gifted children, and he finished with distinctions in both Philosophy and History.It all began when his father, Knox Daniel, wrote to Oxford University and asked them to take his son. That was a bold step, since the programme was meant for children aged eight to 13.When Beckford was just 10 months, he could already pick out letters and numbers. At two and a half, he was reading fluently using phonics.He revealed on TEDx that he can speak in multiple languages, including Japanese, French, German, and Chinese.A fact-checking platform, Ghana Dubwa, revealed that in a 2019 interview, Joshua said he was accepted at Oxford at the age of six and studied for a year. He took Philosophy and History.He explained that an Oxford tutor spoke to his dad and suggested signing him up for an online learning platform for those subjects. After a year of study, he said, “I got five distinctions, one in each.”He also revealed that he wants to be a neurosurgeon when he grows up and had decided the same when he was 4 by playing a neurosurgery simulator on his father’s laptop.
Joshua shares a love for sports and wants the planet to be a better place
Joshua is autistic and serves as an ambassador for autism awareness. He does charity work to support people, especially in Africa. At TEDx, he spoke about how much he loves studying, why he prefers talking with adults, as he feels he learns more from them, and enjoys playing many sports, including Golf, basketball, football, and Rugby.He also read one of his own poems about Mother Earth to the audience. He cares deeply about the planet and shared simple ways people can look after it, so that it stays a safe place to live.At the time of that 2016 interview, Joshua was 11. The event’s introduction described him as a boy with autism who sees the world differently, which makes him special.
