In my former life, I handled a claim by a fantasist and when it was revealed that he was not a deep sea diver amongst other things he took his own life. It seems part of the course that once the whole tissue of lies is exposed this is the way of retaining control for what it a narcissistic character. This is almost an inevitability unless he had full urgency counselling etc. Maybe Cambridge should have done more to protect him as he was clearly vulnerable. That’s where fault lies in that being someone with such a disconnect from reality is a form of mental health issue. They made him a poster boy without checking any of his story with experts.
However I think that it is shameful to say the publicity now was because he was black. It’s because he was high profile and the whole story is extraordinary with all the lies told that were audacious and sensational. We wil never have full racial equality if race is used like this. Referencing others who plagiarised is irrelevant. They were not Cambridge poster boys and they did not create a whole world of deceit. The whole story has made Cambridge a laughing stock with commentators even in the US opening laughing ( on You Tube ) about the book eg how he allegedly was given epilepsy by a bully whom he then wrote a reference for and also became god father to his child. Yet on the other hand called the police on someone who queried plagiarism?
Foe what it’s worth I remain really confused about his medical history. He told channel 4 that he had diagnosed Asperger’s but also was diagnosed with global delay. The key definition I thought between ASD and Asperger’s is the absence of language impairment or global delay. Again this resonates with me as my son would have been called autistic not Asperger’s due to his profound language impairment. Also he referred in the same interview to motor delays yet unbelievably he taught PE. The whole thing seems a bit odd. I could see clearly the ASD in Chris Packham and he is my son’s star or hope. I never got the same feeling from this Cambridge professor who developed his talks with great ease, no mannerisms and great fluency. This is quite remarkable for someone who said they could not talk until aged 11. Moreover he inferred receptive language impairment as he said that he could not understand words he also references hearing aids so it seems squarely like my son’s life. My son had profound deafness during critical years at 80 dbls reducing to 50 dbls due to a inability to swallow and significant glue ear ( 2 sets of grommets failed and adenoids removed) You might improve your expressive language but receptive language is a cognitive deficit caused by lack of signals to the brain. The memory load can improve but to have zero deficit is quite remarkable when it was so severe. Before I thought he must have been mute but he is describing my sons issues which is severe receptive language impairment. Putting it this way, SALT laid down tools as there is little to be done for this but memory games etc. Again with receptive language you get the lack of fluency, false starts and stutters- Jason had none of these signs. I know that any SALT reading this would know exactly what o am describing. Also for more pronounced ASD keeping the person on task is something. Partly my son forgets what he is talking about. Again aids help eg writing the subject matter or question down.
I don’t know what exactly he was diagnosed with but as he said he also had cancer, had epilepsy caused by a bully whom he wrote a reference for and also had a brown tumour - did he even have ASD? Or were his lies grounded in a bit to truth and when very little he was delayed / had SEN which he outgrew without any prolonged impact on his verbal fluency?