The celebrity chef, 50, is advocating for increased dyslexia support in schools, urging early screenings and more neurodiversity awareness
Jamie Oliver has shared how filming a new documentary on dyslexia was the ‘most viscerally painful’ thing he’s ever done. The 50-year-old celebrity chef, who has faced learning difficulties throughout his life, will host a one-hour documentary on Channel 4 called Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution.
The programme will explore the challenges and difficulties that children with dyslexia encounter in Britain and question whether the Government could enhance the education system. “I’m unpacking quite a lot of stuff,” Jamie said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
“I thought I’d buried it but it’s hitting a nerve. Genuinely, of all the things I’ve ever done, this documentary is the most viscerally painful.” He added: “I’ve seen so many high-flying, talented, grown men cry about this — I’ve just done it to you — the concept of being worthless (when you’re) young is real. It’s really triggering.”
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The NHS describes dyslexia as a ‘common learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing, and spelling’. Estimates indicate that as many as one in ten people in the UK may experience some level of dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a lifelong problem that can pose daily challenges. However, people with dyslexia frequently excel in other abilities, particularly problem-solving and creative thinking.
For Jamie, this was cooking. Having left school with two GCSEs, he said the kitchen ‘saved’ him amid a number of challenges. He also described feeling ‘stupid, worthless and thick’ and developing ‘a hatred of words and a total resentment for education’.
Other children called him a ‘stupid dunce’, which gave him a deep-rooted fear of being left behind. Jamie continued: “I didn’t have any extra time in exams, there were no strategies, just a bit of extra tutoring help. There was no robust dyslexic knowledge then.”
Later, he added: “I didn’t tell mum, dad or the teachers. I just bottled it up inside. The kitchen saved me. I knew I had something to offer. I knew I wasn’t a useless piece of s***.”
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The chef and author from Essex is recognised for his cooking shows and documentaries such as The Naked Chef and Jamie’s Kitchen, as well as for writing a series of cookbooks, including Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals.
Throughout the years, he has also actively campaigned for increased government support for healthier school meals and has contributed to the implementation of a sugar tax on soft drinks.
Now, he is advocating for increased dyslexia support in schools, urging for earlier screenings and greater neurodiversity awareness. The 50-year-old explained that two to three-year teacher training courses only spend a small period focused on neurodiversity.
“I’ve only got love for teachers, we need to appreciate them more,” he said. “But they want to be trained, they want to have the tools to notice, understand and react.”
Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution can be watched on Channel 4 on June 9 at 9pm.