Yeardot is a television and web production for Channel 4 by So Television and Holler. It began on 30 June 2008, and follows the lives of fifteen young people from across the United Kingdom as they go through a pivotal year in each of their lives. [1] The project ended after 12 months at the end of June 2009.
The project took place both online at the Yeardot website as well as in a series of TV programmes on Channel 4 as part of their educational schedule. [2] The fifteen participants set goals for themselves that they hoped to achieve over the following twelve months.
Participants in the show are young people who are attempting to succeed in their chosen vocation or else are attempting to overcome some challenge. Included are Jamel Haynes, an ex-homeless man, who wants to stay off the streets; [3] and Simon Jenkins, who hopes to progress as a comedian. [4] Josh Muggleton has Asperger syndrome and hopes to complete a successful first year at the University of St Andrews. Also partaking are Isobella Hatwell, who hopes to stage her play Wasted; Gilly Flaherty, who plays defense premier league football for Arsenal L.F.C. [5] and also plays for England; [6] Claire Hazelgrove, who is a prospective Labour Party candidate for election, [7] one of the youngest to do so; [8] and Chloe Spiteri, an 18-year-old with severe learning difficulties who hopes to progress as a wrestler after winning the English junior championships in March 2008 [9] as well as other young people (see list below).
Name | Age | Occupation*/Dream** |
---|---|---|
Aaron Augustus | 20 | Dancer */Open Company** |
Nicolette Ester | 16 | Leaving home for boarding school * |
Gilly Flaherty | 16 | Plays football for Arsenal ladies *and England |
Isobella Hatwell | 17 | Playwright ** |
Jamal Haynes | 19 | Stay off streets ** |
Claire Hazelgrove | 20 | Labour Candidate* for MP for Skipton and Ripon |
Jade Heusen | 18 | Classical ballerina * with major company** |
Simon Jenkins | 20 | Comedian * |
Sheila Lord | 17 | Singer/songwriter ** |
Joshua Muggleton | 19 | Student and Autism speaker, writer and consultant* |
Tom Mursell | 19 | Entrepreneur * |
Akilah Russell | 19 | Print journalist ** |
Chloe Spiteri | 18 | Olympic Wrestler ** |
Deborah Stevenson | 17 | Poet * |
Claire Ruth Hazelgrove (born 16 July 1988) was the prospective Labour candidate for parliamentary election for Skipton and Ripon. [11] [8] [12] At time of selection she was the second youngest Parliamentary Candidate in party history, Emily Benn being the youngest. [13] Hazelgrove studies Politics at the University of York and has volunteered for three years for Sally Keeble MP. [14] [15] If elected, she could have become the youngest ever MP since the Reform Act 1832. The current record holder is Esmond Harmsworth, elected on 15 November 1919 from Isle of Thanet, aged 21 years 170 days. The youngest female MP was, until 2015, Bernadette Devlin, elected on 17 April 1969 from Mid Ulster, aged 21 years 359 days. On 7 May 2015, Mhairi Black became the youngest ever female MP, and youngest MP since the Reform Act 1832, aged 20 years and 237 days old.
Joshua Thomas Bailey Muggleton (born 1989, Surrey) [16] is currently studying Psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Josh was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, in 2004, and is the youngest ever elected councillor of the National Autistic Society. He talks and lectures widely to parents, teachers and others professionals about living with autism, and has been interviewed by TV, radio and national newspapers. [17]
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome, formerly described a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The syndrome has been merged with other disorders into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a stand-alone diagnosis. It was considered milder than other diagnoses that were merged into ASD by relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
Claire Margaret Ward is a Labour Party politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for Watford from 1997 to 2010, and was a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice from 2009 to 2010.
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Asperger syndrome (AS) was formerly a separate diagnosis under autism spectrum disorder. Under the DSM-5 and ICD-11, patients formerly diagnosable with Asperger syndrome are diagnosable with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The term is considered offensive by some autistic individuals. It was named after Hans Asperger (1906–80), who was an Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician. An English psychiatrist, Lorna Wing, popularized the term "Asperger's syndrome" in a 1981 publication; the first book in English on Asperger syndrome was written by Uta Frith in 1991 and the condition was subsequently recognized in formal diagnostic manuals later in the 1990s.
Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger was an Austrian physician. Noted for his early studies on atypical neurology, specifically in children, he is the namesake of the autism spectrum disorder Asperger syndrome. He wrote more than 300 publications on psychological disorders that posthumously acquired international renown in the 1980s. His diagnosis of autism, which he termed "autistic psychopathy", also garnered controversy. Further controversy arose during the late 2010s over allegations that Asperger referred children to a Nazi German clinic responsible for murdering disabled patients, although his knowledge and involvement remains unknown.
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