New Delhi: A man from the United Kingdom, has been appointed a professor of sociology of education at the University of Cambridge. who was unable to speak until he was 11 years old and could not read or write until he was 18.

Jason Arday was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and global development disorder when he was very young. Mr Arday was told eight years ago that he would most likely need to stay in an assisted living facility. That was something the man refused to do. He used to write his life goals on the wall of his mother’s bedroom. He expressed a desire to “work at Oxford or Cambridge.”

While talking to the media he said he was born and raised in Clapham, southwest London, “As optimistic as I am, there’s just no way I could have thought that would have happened. If I was a betting person, the odds on it were so long. It’s just mad.”

He added, “I remember thinking if I don’t make it as a football player or a professional snooker player, then I want to save the world.”

He received two master’s degrees after numerous rejections. He graduated from the University of Surrey with a degree in physical education and education studies. In 2016, he received his PhD from Liverpool John Moores University.

Talking about Jason Arday, Professor Bhaskar Vira, pro-vice chancellor of education at the university said, “He will contribute significantly to Cambridge’s research in this area and to addressing the under-representation of people from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, especially those from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities.”

In 2018, he published his first scholarly paper and became the UK’s youngest professor after accepting a position at the University of Glasgow’s School of Education.

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