When asked how it feels to be one of Mexico's most powerful women at her age, Dafne Almazan
giggles. "I'm kind of proud of it," she says. "It's a great honor." In September 2015, Dafne became
the world's youngest psychologist as she graduated from Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology
(ITESM). At just 13 years old, she's the country's most famous child prodigy. And it shows: When
she's not studying, she plays the piano, teaches Mandarin to other gifted children and she just
returned from a trip to Denmark where she presented her simulated satellite project.
Becoming a psychologist is a remarkable achievement for such a young person, even if she is a
genius. It's why Forbes named her one of the 50 most powerful Mexican women this summer.
According to the magazine, Dafne's "power" springs mostly from her capacity to inspire others.
"I'm happy with the attention," she says in an interview with GlobalPost, with a somewhat bashful
smile. "This way I can show everyone that it's worth it doing your best. And I can do something
about the prejudice that gifted children spend their time locked up in a library. We don't have to
give up our youth just because we're gifted, you know."
Her success made Dafne the poster child for the super-gifted in Mexico. Her inspiring role may
indeed be sorely needed. Most child prodigies in Mexico aren't nearly as lucky as she is. A recent
study estimates there are 1 million underage geniuses in this country of 120 million, but only 4%
of them reach adulthood with the ability to actually put their gifts to use. Here are some of the
reasons. The vast majority of geniuses are wrongly diagnosed as having a mental disorder.
They receive none of the special attention they need in a woefully inadequate Mexican education
system. And they suffer bullying at school, depression and demotivation for developing their talents.
Said study, the first and so far only one of its kind published in Mexico, was carried out in 2013 by
the Talent Attention Center (CEDAT in its Spanish initials), a private institution in Mexico City studying
the child prodigy phenomenon and offering after-school courses. Established in a mansion-like
building in the capital city's posh Del Valle neighborhood, CEDAT provides approximately 250
super-gifted children with classes like robotics, astronomy and physics, while also helping parents
deal with their genius kids.
CEDAT is the biggest institution of its kind Latin America. It's a family business of sorts: It was started
by Asdrubal Almazan, a doctor and Dafne's father. His youngest daughter is the third in a generation
of prodigies; her older brother Andrew, 20, and sister Delanie, 17, are also highly gifted.
"Establishing CEDAT began out of personal necessity, when I found out Andrew had genius-level
intellect," Almazan says. "When he was 9 years old, he was having trouble at school. He was smarter
than the other kids, would often correct his teachers and suffered from boredom and bullying." Andrew
himself now leads the psychology department at CEDAT. He entered university at age 12, back then
the youngest in Mexican history (until his youngest sister overtook him). He graduated in psychology
and education and is now developing an educational model for highly gifted students at the ITESM
university in Mexico City.
"I'm trying to prevent other children from having to go through the same experiences as I did," Andrew
says over Skype. He was attending a conference at Harvard when the interview took place. "Mexicans
are very poorly informed about what genius-level intellect in a child means. Prodigies are often wrongly
diagnosed with ADHD, and parents have no idea how to deal with them. Many are rejected by their
classmates and their teachers." Mexico's education system ranks an abysmal last among member states
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). And, according to CEDAT's
study, it has virtually no resources to identify and guide super-gifted pupils adequately.
Mexico's federal government seems in no hurry to adjust that problem. While embroiled in a seemingly
endless struggle with radical unions over teacher evaluations, the Education Department in August cut
funding to several major public universities by almost $70 million. Dafne, however, retains her youthful
enthusiasm. Despite being a graduated psychologist, she won't be treating any patients in the near
future; she just decided to pursue a master's degree in education, which will likely make her one of
the few people in the world to gain an MA while still a minor.
Source: USA Today
giggles. "I'm kind of proud of it," she says. "It's a great honor." In September 2015, Dafne became
the world's youngest psychologist as she graduated from Mexico's Monterrey Institute of Technology
(ITESM). At just 13 years old, she's the country's most famous child prodigy. And it shows: When
she's not studying, she plays the piano, teaches Mandarin to other gifted children and she just
returned from a trip to Denmark where she presented her simulated satellite project.
Becoming a psychologist is a remarkable achievement for such a young person, even if she is a
genius. It's why Forbes named her one of the 50 most powerful Mexican women this summer.
According to the magazine, Dafne's "power" springs mostly from her capacity to inspire others.
"I'm happy with the attention," she says in an interview with GlobalPost, with a somewhat bashful
smile. "This way I can show everyone that it's worth it doing your best. And I can do something
about the prejudice that gifted children spend their time locked up in a library. We don't have to
give up our youth just because we're gifted, you know."
Her success made Dafne the poster child for the super-gifted in Mexico. Her inspiring role may
indeed be sorely needed. Most child prodigies in Mexico aren't nearly as lucky as she is. A recent
study estimates there are 1 million underage geniuses in this country of 120 million, but only 4%
of them reach adulthood with the ability to actually put their gifts to use. Here are some of the
reasons. The vast majority of geniuses are wrongly diagnosed as having a mental disorder.
They receive none of the special attention they need in a woefully inadequate Mexican education
system. And they suffer bullying at school, depression and demotivation for developing their talents.
Said study, the first and so far only one of its kind published in Mexico, was carried out in 2013 by
the Talent Attention Center (CEDAT in its Spanish initials), a private institution in Mexico City studying
the child prodigy phenomenon and offering after-school courses. Established in a mansion-like
building in the capital city's posh Del Valle neighborhood, CEDAT provides approximately 250
super-gifted children with classes like robotics, astronomy and physics, while also helping parents
deal with their genius kids.
CEDAT is the biggest institution of its kind Latin America. It's a family business of sorts: It was started
by Asdrubal Almazan, a doctor and Dafne's father. His youngest daughter is the third in a generation
of prodigies; her older brother Andrew, 20, and sister Delanie, 17, are also highly gifted.
"Establishing CEDAT began out of personal necessity, when I found out Andrew had genius-level
intellect," Almazan says. "When he was 9 years old, he was having trouble at school. He was smarter
than the other kids, would often correct his teachers and suffered from boredom and bullying." Andrew
himself now leads the psychology department at CEDAT. He entered university at age 12, back then
the youngest in Mexican history (until his youngest sister overtook him). He graduated in psychology
and education and is now developing an educational model for highly gifted students at the ITESM
university in Mexico City.
"I'm trying to prevent other children from having to go through the same experiences as I did," Andrew
says over Skype. He was attending a conference at Harvard when the interview took place. "Mexicans
are very poorly informed about what genius-level intellect in a child means. Prodigies are often wrongly
diagnosed with ADHD, and parents have no idea how to deal with them. Many are rejected by their
classmates and their teachers." Mexico's education system ranks an abysmal last among member states
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). And, according to CEDAT's
study, it has virtually no resources to identify and guide super-gifted pupils adequately.
Mexico's federal government seems in no hurry to adjust that problem. While embroiled in a seemingly
endless struggle with radical unions over teacher evaluations, the Education Department in August cut
funding to several major public universities by almost $70 million. Dafne, however, retains her youthful
enthusiasm. Despite being a graduated psychologist, she won't be treating any patients in the near
future; she just decided to pursue a master's degree in education, which will likely make her one of
the few people in the world to gain an MA while still a minor.
Source: USA Today