2-Year-Old UK Boy Becomes Youngest Member Of Prestigious High-IQ Society

The youngest person to join Mensa is just over two years old. The "extraordinarily gifted" boy from the United Kingdom spoke his first word at the age of seven months.

At the age of two years and 182 days, Joseph Harris-Birtill, born on November 23, 2021, has officially been accepted into the group, setting a new record for the youngest male Mensa member.

Mensa is an exclusive society for those with very high intelligence quotients (IQs). One must have an IQ of at least 132 and be in the top 2 per cent to be eligible for the elite club, according to The NY Post.

Joseph's extremely proud parents, Rose and David Harris-Birtill, hope he will look back on this accomplishment with pride when he gets older.

"It is a very unusual accolade and the credit is all his," his mother, Rose, told Guinness World Records.

Speaking of her "exceptional little being," Rose also mentioned that Joseph rolled over for the first time at five weeks, said his first word at seven months, and read aloud from his first book at the age of one and a half years.

He could read aloud for 10 minutes at a time, count forward and backwards up to 100, and count to 10 in five different languages by the time he was two and a half years old, his parents said.

Joseph's parents, who are academics, and Guinness World Records have decided not to disclose the toddler's precise IQ.

They have shared, however, that Joseph has surpassed Isla McNabb, who was 2 years and 195 days old in 2023 when she was crowned the youngest-ever female Mensa member.

The parents realised early on that their son might need more than the usual childhood setting to develop his skills. They contacted Mensa to request assistance for their son, whom they knew was "extraordinarily gifted."

Mensa has been a significant resource for Joseph, providing him with social interaction with other extraordinarily talented kids along with intellectual stimulation.

Individuals must exhibit extraordinary cognitive skills in an array of intellectual domains, such as language comprehension, logic, and problem-solving, to be eligible for Mensa membership.

The toddler recently developed an interest in the periodic table, is learning to play the piano, is studying the Greek alphabet, and is learning Morse code.

He also has a knack for learning new languages, using arithmetic, cooking, and flying paper aeroplanes, per The New York Post.

Besides making his family proud, Joseph's membership offers him a special chance to be among peers who value his passion and intellectual curiosity.