Jamie Oliver has opened up about his neurodivergent kids in a recent interview.
As the celebrity chef spoke candidly about his family with The Times, he revealed his children have been diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Oliver and his wife Jools, both 50, share five children – Poppy, 23, Daisy 22, Petal, 16, Buddy, 14, and River, eight. The chef didn’t disclose which children he was referring to.
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The seven of them, according to the food icon, make up a ”very neurodiverse family”.
The diagnoses, Oliver says, have encouraged him and Jools to focus on how they approach their parenting.
In conversation with The Times, he shared that he and Jools have “learnt to understand that their behaviour is because they’re seeing things differently”.
“Being aware of that allows you to be a better parent.”
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Oliver, who has dyslexia himself, appears to be very proud of his family sharing that his family is “amazing but bonkers”.
“Imagine four neurodiverse people at the at the dinner table trying to get their point across,” the added.
Neurodivergent is a catch-all term used for when someone’s brain processes, learns or behaves differently.
Oliver has long been open about the fact he struggled in school and felt he wasn’t destined for success.
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Speaking with The Times he revealed his classmates had called him a “stupid dunce” and was left with “a deep-seated feeling of constantly being behind”.
In part, he contributed this feeling to the lack of systemic support for his learning differences.
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“I didn’t have any extra time in exams, there were no strategies, just a bit of extra tutoring help,” he said.
“There was no robust dyslexic knowledge then.”
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Oliver feels things may have been different for him had his dyslexia been better understood and believes there are generational attitudes towards neurodivergent individuals.
“Older people tend to have the ‘we didn’t have that when we were young’ attitude,” he said, before clarifying, “We just didn’t know as much about our brains 30 years ago”.
Oliver’s recent comments come ahead of his new documentary Jamie’s Dyslexia Revolution, in which he unpacks the challenges children with dyslexia face across Britain.
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