Jamie Oliver became clearly emotional as he talked about his struggles with dyslexia in a strong new documentary on Channel 4 last night.
The 50-year-old British celebrity chef is leading Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution, where he looks into the problems faced by thousands of school children who, he says, are being left behind by an old-fashioned school system.
In the documentary, Jamie met with government members, including Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, to advocate for improved training for new teachers and enhanced dyslexia screening in schools. As part of his efforts, the TV chef visited Parliament and delivered a speech to MPs on the importance of taking action.
While giving his speech, he got emotional and found it hard to speak at one point.
Talking about his hard school days because of dyslexia, Jamie said: “I just had nothing to offer.”
So, that feeling of sadness is feeling thick, stupid, worthless, dumb, consistently. The chips on my shoulder that I’ve had about education and learning and navigating through education are gone. And I’m relieved about that.
With his voice shaking before letting out a breath of relief, Jamie added
Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that makes reading, writing, and spelling challenging, but it doesn’t affect one’s overall intelligence.
People with dyslexia might read and write more slowly, mix up the order of letters in words, and have trouble with spelling. It’s thought to affect up to one in every 10 people in the UK.
This documentary marks the latest step in Jamie’s 20-year campaign, which began with his well-known 2004 show, Jamie’s School Dinners, aimed at improving the quality of food in schools.
’10 to 15% of every class in the country is dyslexic. If you’re adding on other neurodiversities, we’re talking 25% of every class don’t really fit into the man-made system, which is education. I knew things were bad when my own six and seven-year-olds were reading better than me. As the dad reading them their night-night story, I’m the second biggest author in the country. It’s bonkers, but I really struggled to read at primary school. I read my first book when I was 33 or something like that, and it was all those feelings of just feeling s*** and that you had nothing to offer the world, and like everyone else seems to be getting it, and you don’t.
The father-of-five said later he also revealed a personal struggle in the documentary
Dyslexia is a learning difference that affects the ability to read, spell, write, process and remember information.
Jamie explained
The show also featured celebrities like Holly Willoughby and Jamie Laing, who shared their personal struggles with dyslexia off camera.
At times, the letters on the screen were mixed up or shown backwards, to help viewers understand a bit of what it’s like to live with dyslexia.
Jamie shared surprising facts, saying that 50% of people in prison have dyslexia, and those with it are four and a half times more likely to be expelled from school.
In the 1980s, when Jamie was in school, he said that being taken out of class because of a disability was seen as ‘not cool’.
It doesn’t take long for feelings such as being stupid and being dumb, even at a primary school level. I kind of wrote myself off.
He recalled
Along with reading, dyslexia also affects speaking, planning, and memory – all of which are important skills checked in school.
Forgets to hand his homework on a regular basis’, ‘easily distracted’ and ‘needs to be more consistent’.
At the end of the documentary, Jamie spoke with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to push for more changes to the school system.
One in four children being left behind by the education system is a sign that change is needed.
Ms Phillipson acknowledged the problem
She agreed to improve teacher training on neurodiversity for all new teachers beginning this September. She also promised a ‘big improvement in staff skills’ to better help students with special needs.
Now it’s over to parliament. We want some fundamental change to make our schools inclusive. I genuinely think that school is on the front line of hope and optimism and a better more positive Britain. This is just the beginning.
He concluded
Source: Dailymail.co.uk