Wouldn't it be the most ridiculous story ever told
if the boy who couldn’t read and write at 18 gets a PHD before he’s 30?
That's Cambridge Professor Jason Arday
and his story is the most ridiculous ever told.
But he didn't do it alone...
Sometimes you don't need a thousand people to want you to win,
you just need one or two.
Jason’s story got off to a tough start.
He was diagnosed with autism and global development delay
and was nonverbal.
My processing is very very slow
so, cognitively, that has always been a problem.
That’s the reason why
things happen later for me than they should have done.
Four or five hours of speech therapy a day from the age of three,
there is nothing to suggest that any of this is working.
At eleven, I go into this room,
we go through the same kind of warm up exercises we normally did.
The speech therapist said to me, “hello Jason”, as she always did
and I just responded, “hello”.
It's quite a strange thing to hear your own voice for the first time
when you're 11.
I didn't expect my voice to sound like this.
I think the first time I swore I was like 15.
That was like an experience. That was orgasmic.
Oh I use swear words, this is like, am I using them in the right context?
Jason's mother was the first to instil in him a valuable life lesson.
So she'd done a lot of research herself.
She knew that an autistic trait was repetition.
She'd normalize things a lot.
In a sport like snooker, repetition is like quite an important thing.
You assess the shot, you cue the shot, you feather.
It’s the same thing over and over and over again.
And her whole thing was that he might be able to apply it to other areas of his life.
For example, speaking
and in particular, being illiterate.
It’s hard to say if it worked or not.
Well, in terms of the snooker it did
because I became a really good snooker player.
But having a strategy to succeed in life wasn't enough.
Jason still needed something we could all do with...
A good teacher.
I think teachers who care are absolutely vital.
The caring side of education is the most important thing.
When I was with him in his classes, he just didn't make me feel any different.
And he just took an interest, he took such an interest.
He gave people the most important thing you can give any human being:
he gave them agency, and a sense of importance.
And it just always felt like he wanted me to win.
Hearing that Jason looked up to me and valued me is actually really humbling
and it just makes you very aware
that as a teacher that the impact you can have is huge.
If I hadn't met Sandro, I wouldn't be sat in front of you now.
Jason has been a special case, I think, in my life.
I met him in 2003.
He didn’t know how to write.
I felt something on the day, ‘I must help this guy’.
There was something about Sandro's approach that took Jason back to his past.
And this time, he was ready.
Sandro's whole thing was repetition.
Just doing phonics, doing literacy, doing reading and writing over and over again.
I went over and over and over the same topics
until he was mastering it.
He'd tell me every day, 'you're great, you're going to do something great.'
Every single day. But you have to be disciplined, Jason.
He needed someone to say look, you’re capable of doing things.
You can achieve it.
You know, let's do it together.
And one of the things he said to me
He was like ‘look, Jason, you have this indomitable will.
That is going to be your thing’.
Then I kind of thought, right, I'm just going to try as hard as possible.
So when I got to university, that's the approach I took.
Now, Jason being Jason,
he didn't just stop at university.
In my second year of uni, I had a lecturer who’d just got their PHD.
I kind of went back and said to Sandro, ‘like, what's a PHD?
I want to try and do one’.
And he said, ‘Jason, we can do this’.
And once Jason started, he couldn't stop.
He made it all the way to becoming one of the youngest professors ever at Cambridge.
And it might not stop there.
All of these lessons go back to being, 14, 15, 16,
being taught these things by Mr. Trace,
and then it kind of being taken to another level with Sandro
and working on the fact that my only two strengths
are that I’ve got a lot of will, determination,
and I'm good with people.
I remember standing there thinking
‘you know, you're in a situation where
you're on the cusp of doing something that you've always wanted to do.
Enjoy it.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an Seeing you right back. On the.
Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and what you do basically.
Okay. I
said it from the, uh.
My name is Jason and Jason, I and I'm officer of Sociology
at the University of Cambridge in the Faculty of Education.
Great.
I might get a quicker version where you say I am.
I'm Jason all day, and I'm the professor's.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and what you do basically.
Okay. I Seeing you right back. On the.
Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and what you do basically.
Okay. I
said it from the, uh.
My name is Jason and Jason, I and I'm officer of Sociology
at the University of Cambridge in the Faculty of Education.
Great.
I might get a quicker Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and what you do basically.
Okay.
I said it from the, uh.
My name is Jason and Jason, I and I'm officer of Sociology
at the University of Cambridge in the Faculty of Education.
Great.
I might get a quicker version where you say I am.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your Seeing you right back.
On the. Street Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and what you do basically.
Okay. I
said it from the, uh.
My name is Jason and Jason, I and I'm
officer of Sociology at the University of Cambridge in the Faculty of Education.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your full name and Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is great.
First bid, which will be down the lines.
And if you can say your Seeing you right back.
On the. Street will be easy, especially.
Hosting an event.
If you can, please. Hello.
Thank you for doing this. It's like. A dream.
And I.
It's going to be weird because I'm going to answer quietly, nodding.
Yeah.
Which I respect you.
The mostly it me accent is What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story. Like
what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
Yeah, there was no feeling.
I can remember.
It was more when you start putting sentences together.
So that was like I said, I was more like two, three years later.
And you can start conversing with people I knew, you know what they mean?
And you can What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay.
Some cool stuff going on here.
So What you want to do here.
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay.
Some cool stuff going on What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
Yeah, there was no feeling. I can remember.
It was more when you start putting sentences together.
So that was What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
Yeah, there What you want to do here.
And I want it What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like.
I think we got that What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story. Like
what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story. Like
what?
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
Yeah, there was no feeling.
I can remember.
It was more when you start putting sentences together.
So that was like I said, I was more like two, three years later.
And What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here.
So what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just wanted to.
I just want to ask about the story.
Like what?
What was going through your head when you still remember just being, like,
hello? And, like, it just suddenly connecting.
Like, what was that feeling like?
I can't even imagine.
And those, if I'm being honest, there was no feeling that I can remember.
It wasn't. I'm.
What you want to do here.
And I want it to and I want to get the interview stories for you.
Okay. Some cool stuff going on here. So
what were we just talking about, though?
Jason's first words yet?
Oh, yes.
But I feel like. I think we got that story.
Yeah, we got that.
Know, I just
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here.
People. Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Last Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is, Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready? Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Last place, I'm Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Last place, I'm going to just.
Go and introduce Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling. Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's Planning? Yes.
Okay. I'm over here. People.
Rolling. Rolling.
Do we want a little baby clap?
So if I could just do this in front of your face.
That's great.
Really? Star ready?
Okay, so first question is,
if you can say my name is Chris Chase and I am a teacher or whatever.
However you want to introduce yourself.
Last place, I'm going to just.
Go and introduce myself as actually quite tricky.
In each, did I? Or you