Child prodigy becomes youngest member of British Mensa aged just TWO… and he is already smarter than Barack Obama and David Cameron
- Adam Kirby potty-trained himself at one - after reading a book about it
- He enjoys reading books for seven-year-olds and learning French vocab
- He can spell 100 words and has conquered most of his times tables
- Toddler, from Mitcham, south London, got 141 in Stanford-Binet IQ test
- Parents Dean, 33, and Kerry-Ann, 31, say their son just loves to learn
A two-year-old has become the youngest member of British Mensa after taking an intelligence test that ranked him smarter than Barack Obama and David Cameron.
While most toddlers are busy learning to walk and scribbling on walls, child prodigy Adam Kirby enjoys reading Shakespeare, learning Japanese, Spanish and French, and even potty-trained himself.
Adam, from Mitcham, south London, took the Stanford-Binet IQ test and scored 141, 10 points higher that two of the most powerful world leaders and four points short of Genius level, despite not even being able to speak in full sentences yet.
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Youngest Mensa member: Adam Kirby, aged two, has an IQ of 141, just four points short of Genius level
The toddler’s parents Dean, 33, and Kerry-Ann, 31, say they realised their son was different when he’d potty-trained himself after reading a book on the subject aged just one.
MENSA: THE WORLD'S BIGGEST GENIUS CLUB
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer.
The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top two per cent of the population.
Albert Einstein apparently had an IQ of 160, while former US presidents Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and Bill Clinton also racked up very high IQs - mustering 128, 160 and 137 respectively.
Napoleon Bonaparte scored 145 and Sigmund Freud had a score of 156.
There are currently more than 1,000 members of Mensa aged under 18.
Children under the age of 10-and-a-half can join Mensa by submitting prior evidence of their IQ score being in the top two per cent.
Adults and children over the age of 10-and-a-half, take the Mensa Supervised IQ Test.
The youngest person to ever join British Mensa was Elise Tan Roberts in 2009 aged 2 years and four months.
At 29 months, Adam is able to spell 100 words, has conquered most of his times tables up to 10, has learnt his periodic table, and even mastered a world map puzzle designed for adults.
After he scored so highly in the IQ test he was invited to join British Mensa, the society for those with outstandingly high IQs, and became the youngest boy ever to do so.
The youngest British person ever to join was a girl, Elise Tan-Roberts, now six, who joined Mensa aged two years and four months in 2009; Adam joined at two years and five months.
His father, Mr Kirby, an IT consultant from Mitcham, London, said: 'Adam’s abilities are outstanding and we’ve been actively developing his intelligence since he was 10 weeks old - but we’re certainly delighted for him.
'While most children are just learning to stand up or crawl Adam was reading books, his development was just mind-blowingly quick.
'We used to show him cards with the words hippopotamus and rhinoceros on them and he could identify the right animals most of the time.'
The Stanford-Binet exam, originally developed by French psychologist Alfred Binet and revised by Stanford University’s Lewis Terman in 1916, has become renowned for being able to accurately determine a child’s intelligence levels and predict future grades.
Adam’s score of 141 - just four shy of the ‘Genius’ category - puts him head and shoulders above the average Brit’s IQ of 100.
His remarkable level means he becomes only the 19th UK child ever to join Mensa before even going to school.
Adam has already mastered most of his times tables and is reading books designed for seven-year-olds
The gifted toddler can identify countries on a map and knows the planets of the solar system
Little Adam started to read when he was just one, and can type words and numbers on a keyboard
Mr Kirby said: 'Neither my wife nor I are Mensa members. We are both bright, but Adam is significantly more advanced at his age than we were.
'I think the main reason for his rapid development is that we have found effective ways to make learning enjoyable.
'Adam is able to progress at his own pace whenever he chooses to and in areas of his choosing.
Despite his astonishing intelligence, Adam's parents say he is a happy, athletic and playful little boy
Adam's IQ score of 141 puts him above US President Barack Obama and British PM David Cameron, right
'He knows the planets of the solar system, dozens of pairs of words with opposite meanings - he has a great sense of humour and most importantly he is self-motivated, athletic, very happy and playful.'
Adam, who is reading the Oxford Reading Tree series designed for seven-year-olds, is already in the top 1.3 per cent of the population.
And his parents expect him to score even higher once his communication skills develop fully.
Bright family: Mr and Mrs Kirby have high hopes for their younger son Ethan, who is not yet two months old
Adam started reading aged just one, right, and is now reading Oxford Reading Tree books for seven-year-old
John Stevenage, British Mensa’s CEO, said: 'The members of Mensa always welcome new additions as we aim to stimulate people in an intellectual and social environment.
'We are look to help gifted children and encourage them to develop at an extraordinary.
'We look forward to Adam joining Mensa and expect him to have a very bright future.'
Adam’s younger brother Ethan is not yet two months old, but his parents are expecting great things.
Mr Kirby said: 'I expect that he will develop at a faster pace than Adam as my wife and I are now more experienced, and he has his older brother Adam to learn from.
'In addition, I’ve read that second children tend to be in a hurry to catch up with their older siblings, so I think this will keep him on an upwards curve.'
WHAT HE CAN DO: ADAM'S SKILL AGED 29 MONTHS
- Adam has a reading age of at least a five-year-old and reads books aimed at seven-year-olds
- He is able to spell over 100 words and also knows many phonics
- Knows some of his times tables (2,3,4,5,10)
- Recognises 2D shapes from a circle to 12-sided dodecagon
- Knows numerous 3D shapes
- Can count to more than 1000 in English, up to 20 in Spanish & Japanese and up to 10 in French
- Can add and subtract simple numbers
Adam can type words and numbers into a computer already, and has been able to for a while
- Knows the difference between primary, secondary and neutral colours and can name them
- Recognises words when spelt them to him e.g. if his parents spell ‘ninety seven’ he responds 97
- Can write some letters and numbers by hand and type words and numbers on a keyboard
- He can recite his favourite nursery rhymes
- Adam can read simple fractions
- Knows months of the year and days of the week, and the planets of the solar system
- Knows dozens of pairs of words with opposite meanings
- Knows some elements in the periodic table
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