Fellow to give £20K book advance to charities close to heart
One of the College's newest Fellows, Professor Jason Arday, is to donate a £20,000 book advance to charities committed to support neuro-divergent working-class families.
Prof Arday is writing a book with sociologist Dr Chantelle Jessica Lewis of the University of Oxford entitled We See Things They'll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity. The rights have been bought by Princeton University Press.
The book aims to highlight their own and others’ experience of the challenges of neurotypical society for neurodiverse people, and the intersection of these issues with other marginalised identities.
Prof Arday, who is the Professorial Chair in the Sociology of Education at the University's Faculty of Education, was diagnosed with autism and global development delay in his early years and did not speak until the age of 11. He learned to read in his late teens and went on to gain a degree, two Master's degrees, a PGCE and a PhD, funding his studies by working part-time in Sainsbury's and Boots while lecturing full-time.
His research focuses on the areas of race and higher education, intersectionality and education, mental health and education, neurodiversity and cultural studies.
At 37, he became one of the youngest people ever appointed to a full professorship at Cambridge and the youngest ever black professor appointed at the University.
Dr Lewis, who is Andrew Pitt Research Fellow in Black British Studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, has ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
Prof Arday and Dr Lewis said they hoped their book would shine "a light on how challenging neurotypical society is for the most marginalised".
In a joint statement, they said: "We are delighted that Princeton University Press will be publishing our sociological reflections on neurodiversity, informed by scholarship which centres love and hope.
"It is a privilege for us to make a contribution to the global movement and long tradition of disability activists seeking to find innovative ways to make the world a more equitable place. Nothing about us, without us."
We look forward to the book's release which is expected to be in 2025.
