Carol Vorderman has candidly discussed her son's special needs and criticised the support offered to disadvantaged kids.
The former Countdown presenter, 61, spoke about her son Cameron King, 25, who has high spectrum autism, ADD, dyslexia and ADHD, and urged more to be done to help support children with special educational needs.
He is the mum-of-two's youngest child with ex husband Patrick King. The pair also share 31-year-old daughter Katie.
Carol said: "If a child has special educational needs, like my son did, he was off the scale dyslexic, he was in special school for about five years in the end. Sadly, there is not much support for them. Budgets have been cut in local authorities.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Netmums Podcast, she continued: "Some people are waiting for years for that educational psychiatrist test. It’s not a good place at all at the moment. I can only see it getting worse right now. They end up being the forgotten ones sadly."
Due to her experiences and findings, Carol is determined to do her bit and help show what services should be available. She revealed she is "desperate to do a documentary" to try to highlight the plight to the viewing public.
The maths whizz went on to claim that a large number of those in young offender institutes are severely dyslexic. However, she was quick to also point out the big proportion of self-made millionaires who are also dyslexic, so claims it can "go one way or another".
She added: "We are wasting massive potential of young people who see the world differently. I spend my life giving back to education, giving bursaries to kids, doing reports, encouraging children from state schools, I was a free school meals kid, encouraging them to apply to some of the finer universities."
Elsewhere in the gripping podcast, Carol discussed receiving ageist comments, even when she was in her 30s.
"I went to the BAFTAs wearing a short dress, not a micro skirt," she said, talking about an experience aged 39. "They made a Kilroy Show on the BBC and they flew in this dress in from Paris, it was an Ungaro dress, and the dress arrived and this huge debate in the studio was not is this a nice dress, but should a woman age 39 wear a dress above the knee! Oh the vitriol was incredible."
But she insisted: "I’ve always rebelled. Be a bit selfish, or what we’re told is selfish, it's selfish at all, it’s just that it’s been ingrained in women’s heads that looking after yourself a bit or having a bit of time for me is selfish, it’s not but if that’s how you do then be a bit more selfish."
