Carol Vorderman, 61, discusses her son's special needs

Carol Vorderman has spoken about her son’s special educational needs and how there is a lack of support for disadvantaged children. 

Talking on this week’s episode of The Netmums Podcast, Carol, 61, spoke about her son, Cameron King, 25, who has high spectrum autism, ADD, dyslexia and ADHD.

Cameron, whose father is Carol’s ex-husband Patrick King, has completed a master’s in animation and VFX from University of Dunde 

Speaking out: Carol Vorderman, 61, has discussed her son Cameron’s (pictured) special needs and the lack of support for ‘forgotten’ disadvantaged children in a new podcast

Talking about the need for more support for children with special educational needs, Carol said more needs to be done. 

She 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.

‘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.’

Carol said she wants to do her bit to show what needs to be done. She said: ‘I’m desperate to do a documentary about it on the telly to highlight it. 

Not fair: Carol also spoke about dealing with ageist comments – she was criticised for wearing this short dress to the BAFTAs when she was aged 39, (pictured)

‘It’s a massive percentage, a majority of those in young offender institutes are severely dyslexic, yet 40% of self-made millionaires are also dyslexic, so there is a point in which they go one way or another…

‘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.’

Carol’s other child, Katie King, 31, has a PHD in nanotechnology.

During the podcast, Carol spoke about dealing with ageist comments even when she was in her 30s. 

She said: ‘When I was 39, not my grandmother, not my mother, it was the 21st Century it was the year 2000.

That’s my girl: Carol’s daughter Katie has a PHD in nanotechnology.

‘I went to the BAFTAs wearing a short dress, not a micro skirt, 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.

‘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.’

Carol also spoke about her happy memories of her time on Countdown with ex co-presenter, Richard Whiteley, who died in 2005.

She said: ‘It started 40 years ago it was a huge show.

‘Countdown grew and then this love for Countdown really grew. It was Channel four’s biggest show for about 15 years.

‘Richard and I, we loved Countdown, it was a living thing for us. We never called people who watched Coundown veiwers, they were Countdowners because we were in this family together.

‘So when Richard died very very suddenly it was the greatest amount of grief I’ve ever ever had in my life. It was tragic when he died so young, he was only 61, the same age as I am now.

‘He left the party too soon. He was a party animal. He was utterly ridiculous. Even in the days we weren’t on Countdown he was in my life.

‘Life is a series of chapters and some of them are very happy and just because they end, doesn’t negate how happy they were. I was very very privileged to work on it.’

She concluded: ‘It was happy happy happy.’

Best friend: Carol also spoke about her happy memories of her time on Countdown with ex co-presenter, Richard Whiteley, who died in 2005 (pictured in 2000)