Cambridge's youngest ever black professor

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Jason Arday is a highly respected scholar of race, inequality and education. When he was three years old, he was diagnosed with global developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder. His family was told he might never speak, let alone teach in a prestigious university. Until the age of 11, he used sign language, and much of his childhood was spent with speech and language therapists. By 18, he was still unable to read or write. Now 37 and days away from taking up his role at Cambridge University, Jason told BBC Newsday how he made the remarkable transition. “One of the things I was very fortunate to have was an amazing mother who really invested in me and didn’t quit on me. She always instilled in me… that I wasn’t any different. She was the catalyst for understanding the world in a different way.” “There’s a sense of beauty… of stillness in the paralysis of speech. You are able to observe and absorb the world in different ways and… it became a really useful thing when I became older.” (Pic: Jason Arday; Credit: Jason Arday)