3-year-old reads, gives medical advice

PISA, Italy, July 17 (UPI) -- Italian doctors say they're amazed by a 3-year-old prodigy who reads newspapers, operates the family's television remote and even gives medical advice.

The parents from the town of Perignano near Pisa say the boy, named Ettore, taught himself almost all these skills just by observing adults, ANSA news agency reported.

"We started teaching him the alphabet for fun. We would never have imagined his abilities would develop like this," Ettore's father Francesco Grillo, a 44-year-old artist, said.

"Then when he was about two he started to read newspapers and TV guides," Grillo said. "Initially we thought he memorized phrases and repeated them parrot-like. But then we realized he was reading for real."

Local medical experts say are impressed.

"Usually learning to read is a process that takes place at a much later stage, at school age, and it's a gradual process," said Dr. Amerigo Celandroni, head of the local hospital's pediatric clinic.

Ettore has even acquired know-how of medical matters, his father says.

"One day I was talking to my wife about a health problem I had," Grillo said. "Ettore heard and recommended a medicine. I checked up and saw that it was right for my case."