MY SETBACKS SET ME FREE

He battled developmental delays, is on the autism spectrum and didn't speak until he was 11 - but today Jason is a professor at one of the world's top universities

- ROXANNE MOONEYS

HE'LL never live a normal life, doctors told Jason Arday's parents. Your son will need full-time care, and he'll have to live in a care home, they said.

Jason was diagnosed with global development delay at the age of three. He took longer than other children his age to reach developmental milestones such as walking, talking and interacting socially. Doctors said he'd probably need to be in assisted living until the end of his days.

They could not have been more wrong.

At the age of 37 Jason has been appointed a professor of sociology at the University of Cambridge, one of the most prestigious institut in the world.

After a series of teaching positions at various tertiary institutions in the UK, he's established himself as a leading scholar in the areas of race and inequality in education and academia. He's especially passionate about helping students from disadvantaged areas - he knows firsthand the struggles kids from these environments face.

Although Jason would also be able to add a lot more struggles than just growing up in a poor neighbourhood. He's on the autism spectrum; is deaf in one ear; and up until the age of 11 he used only sign language to communicate.

He learnt to read and write only when he was in his teens after extensive hours spent with speech and language therapists. He's never forgotten the euphoria he felt when words came out of his mouth for the very first time. "Hello, my name is Jason, were the first words he said.

"It was a euphoric moment," he recalls. "For so long I'd only had an inner voice and then it became my actual voice."

He now uses that voice to inspire others through talks as well as teaching. Jason recently became Cambridge's youngest black professor and one of a handful of black professors in the UK.

His early life battles helped him to achieve everything he has today, Jason believes.