Joshua, Youngest Boy to Attend Oxford Varsity at 6 despite his Medical Condition

Joshua Beckford is a gifted child from Tottenham Hotspur, England. Although he is now 16 years old, when he was only 6 years old, he was admitted to a professional course offered by Oxford University for gifted children aged 8 to 18.

Beckford was just 10 months old when his father, Knox Daniel, first discovered that he is not just a typical child. His son was sitting on his lap in front of the computer and he could already memorize and understand letters on a keyboard, BlackNews reports.

He was 3 years old when he started reading fluently using phonics and speaking Japanese. He taught himself to touch-type on a computer before he could even write.

At the age of four, he played on his dad’s laptop with a body simulator where he would pull out organs. He has been molded so well that he could already deliver PowerPoint presentations tackling human anatomy to audiences of 200 to 3,000 people at community fundraising events.

Daniel knew his son’s brain was too advanced for a standard curriculum. Beckford was homeschooled because he “doesn’t like children his own age and only likes teenagers and adults” and what interests him is ancient Egypt that he is now working on writing a children’s book about it.

In 2011, Daniel found out about a special program that Oxford University offers to children ages 8 to 13. Even though his son was just 6-years old then, he enrolled him to challenge his bright, young mind.

Beckford, who was two years younger than usual applicants, then became the youngest student ever accepted at Oxford University. He took courses in philosophy and history through their online program for gifted children where he got distinctions in all of his classes and was recognized with a certificate.

Joshua Beckford suffers from high-functioning autism.

FYI: Autism refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.

Beckford supports charities and fundraising activities for minorities with autism. He is the face for the National Autistic Society’s Black and Minority campaign, which highlights difficulties that minorities with autism face getting support and services.

Among his long list of accomplishments, he participated in the TEDx International Conference in Vienna and presented a poem he wrote himself titled “Saving Mother Earth,” advocating for saving the environment, he won the Positive Role model award for his age at the National Diversity Awards in 2017, and he was recognized as one of the top 30 remarkable people in the world with autism.

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His father admits that parenting a child with high-functioning autism is not always easy. According to him, his son “doesn’t like loud noises and always walks on his tip toes and he always eats from the same plate, using the same cutlery, and drinks from the same cup.”

Despite that, Daniel believes the future is bright for his son, who dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon and wants to save the earth.

“I want to save the earth. I want to change the world and change peoples’ ideas to doing the right things about earth,” he told HowAfrica.

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