At an age most children struggle to make it through the alphabet, two-year-old British toddler Joseph Harris-Birtill can already read full books.
He’s now moving on to Morse code and the Greek alphabet, as well as showing an interest in the periodic table of elements.
Recognizing their son’s exceptional abilities, parents Rose and David reached out to the British branch of Mensa for advice on nurturing Joseph’s potential.
Not only is Mensa now giving the family support, they’ve welcomed the young lad into their community, officially making him the youngest-ever member of the world’s oldest and largest high-IQ organization at 2 years and 182 days.
Joseph Harris-Birtill (UK) has earned the record for youngest Mensa member (male) at just 2 years and 182 days old https://t.co/atvcaFJLBl
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 26, 2025
In 2023, Isla McNabb from Kentucky was welcomed into Mensa at 2 years and 195 days, after her intelligence was estimated to be in the 99th percentile.
To qualify, applicants either need to pass an IQ test or provide sufficient evidence to convince Mensa’s board they belong in the top 2 percent of the population’s smartest individuals.
Joseph demonstrated his qualifications from a very early age.
“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,” Rose told Vicki Newman at Guinness World Records.
“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.”
By contrast, most newborns lack the motor functions to build head and neck control until around four months of age.
Linguistic development means children tend to utter their first recognizable word at around 12 months. Reading in a single language of any kind isn’t typically expected until a child is about five or six years old.
While Joseph’s achievements are extraordinary, this doesn’t mean life is expected to be smooth sailing. Education systems are often better resourced to support students who aren’t meeting prescribed standards than those who are well above average.
Anticipating the challenges involved with tailoring their son’s educational and developmental needs, Rose and David contacted UK Mensa for guidance.
“I searched online for any further support available, and saw that Mensa offers resources and membership for highly able children,” says Rose.
“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!”
True child prodigies are rare, a one-in-5-to-10-million event by some estimates, with the skills contributing to general intelligence emerging from a mix of genetic and environmental factors.
Whatever head start Joseph has in his academic interests, it’s evident he has love and support to continue exploring the corners of his remarkable brain throughout childhood.
