11-year-old genius set to attend college after overcoming health disorder, bullying
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VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (NET TV) – An 11-year-old boy will be among the college freshmen attending Louisiana State University this fall.
Joe Petraro, a whiz kid with a genius-level IQ, is enjoying the summer while he can.
On the surface, he looks like a regular 11-year-old who is interested in basketball and video games.
But unlike other kids his age, he isn’t getting ready for middle school; he’s going to college this fall.
Joe graduated high school early.
“Exams, tests, it was easy,” Joe said.
It all started a few years ago.
Joe was attending Holy Name of Mary School in Valley Stream, New York.
He was struggling, almost being put in special education, until he was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome.
The neurological disorder can cause uncontrolled rapid movements and vocal sounds.
“I’ll be thinking about something and then I’ll be like, ‘OK, I’m doing that. All right, all right.’ And that would take a while because then I would tighten up the hand like my arms,” Joe described.
The school soon realized Joe was actually a genius with an IQ of 168.
He would go on to graduate middle school and high school in two years.
“I can’t believe it. I’m proud of him. I just can’t believe it. I’m still dreaming,” Ozzie Petraro, Joe’s father, said.
While school was easy for Joe, life outside the classroom was not. Having Tourette’s made him a target for bullies.
But the altar server at St. Joseph Church in Hewlett says his time in mass helped him during dark times.
“It would just calm me down and when it always takes my mind off of everything,” Joe said.
The soon-to-be college freshman knows studying isn’t the only thing that got him into Louisiana State University.
“I think the guiding force is God because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t know that I’m smarter or meet all these good people,” Joe added.
Joe plans to study sports leadership while attending classes fully remote with the dream of being a broadcaster.
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