Two-year-old boy who said first word at seven months becomes youngest ever Mensa member

A gifted young boy who said his first word when he was just seven months old has become the youngest ever member of Mensa.

To qualify for the exclusive club, you need to be in the top 2%, meaning you have an IQ of at least 132.

Joseph Harris-Birtill (UK, b. 23 November 2021) was officially welcomed into the fold at age 2 years and 182 days, earning the record for youngest Mensa member (male).

It’s an achievement his incredibly proud parents, Drs Rose and David Harris-Birtill, hope he’ll look back on fondly when he’s older.

Rose and David, both 39, work in academic fields.

David is a Senior Lecturer at the University of St Andrews and Rose is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the same university and Editorial Director at the Open Library of Humanities, an academic publisher based at the University of London.

They say Joseph has always been advanced for his age, right from birth.

Rose explained: “It soon became clear that he was an exceptional little being - he first rolled over at five weeks, said his first word at seven months, and read his first book out loud from cover to cover at one-and-three-quarter years.

“By two-and-a-quarter years old he was reading out loud fluently for 10 minutes at a time, could count to 10 in five languages and could count forwards and backwards to well over 100.”

She added: “He’s learning morse code, knows the Greek alphabet, and has recently gotten interested in the periodic table – his interests are vast and varied, and he is always keen to learn more and loves a challenge.”

Rose and David don’t think Joseph has realized just yet that he’s smarter than other kids his age.

They say he’s kind and gentle and loves giving out hugs and sharing his toys with other children.

Alongside his love of reading, he’s also fascinated by music – both listening and playing – and is currently learning to play the piano.

He also loves learning new languages, solving maths problems, cooking, flying paper aeroplanes and playing with his toys.

“He is very kind and loving, confident and curious, and incredibly determined,” Rose said.

“He loves a challenge and is really exhilarated by complexity, whether learning chess or poring over new words and concepts that he hasn’t come across before.”

Rose and David decided to reach out to Mensa to get more support for Joseph after it became clear he was advanced due to how early he started reading.

Rose said: “I searched online for any further support available, and saw that Mensa offers resources and membership for highly able children. We hope that this accomplishment can give him a sense of pride when he is older – it’s a very unusual accolade and the credit is all his!

Joseph is a very fast learner and his parents are confident he’ll do well once he starts school and that he’ll go far in whatever career path he decides to take.

Rose hopes that sharing Joseph’s story will help raise awareness about highly able learners like her son, a category previously referred to as ‘gifted and talented’.

She said: “It is a common misconception that everything is super easy for gifted children. But everyone needs appropriate stimulation and understanding throughout their lives, and highly able learners can sadly have their unique talents dimmed by the pressure to fit into environments that simply haven’t been properly designed for them.

“Joseph is fortunate enough to attend a brilliant nursery and has an excellent music teacher, and in Mensa we hope to provide him with a community of peers as a source of further support as his formidable intellect continues to grow and develop.”

Joseph is even younger than the youngest Mensa member (female), Isla McNabb (USA), who was 2 years 195 days old when she joined.