Celebrity chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver said his hometown of Essex informally acknowledged his will that dyslexia is a special educational need.

Oliver, discussing his new documentary on dyslexia, claimed that the Essex County Council did not want to “spend money” in young people diagnosed with dyslexia, a neurolearning difficulty that creates difficulties in reading and writing.

"I'm disgusted with Essex," Oliver told a group Thursday, including Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. "I'm from Essex. I'm born and bred in Essex, (school) in Essex... They decided not to recognize dyslexia. They don't recognize it, they can't see it.

"And my instinct is because once you recognize it and once you've diagnosed it, then because of (Equality Act), you have to deploy resources as human rights. And I believe Essex doesn't want to spend money."

In the documentary aired on Channel 4 on Monday, Oliver said: "I went through traditional education, and it wasn't great. It's about learning and everything down on paper, it's horrible, I hate words. I have nothing to say.

Tony Ball, member of the Essex County Council Education Cabinet, said: “We welcome the focus Mr Oliver brings and hope to make our approach clear: We want to make sure that all children and young people get the help they need, rather than categorizing them into different groups of blanket solutions.

“We support some people in the same way dyslexia, while others call it severe and lasting literacy difficulties. We are committed to providing personal support to children and young people, regardless of how they describe their needs.

“Essex absolutely recognizes and supports students with literacy difficulties, regardless of what they are used to describe their needs – literacy difficulties, dyslexia or other terms, we do it.”

The documentary Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution is Oliver's latest work on more than 20 years of campaigning, including his crusade to improve school food in the 2004 series Jamie's School Dinner.

In the new documentary, Oliver calls on the government to screen children for neurodiversity earlier and improve teacher training.

"We need new systems and ways to enable these (children) (up to 25% of children) to show their genius," Oliver said in a speech to Phillipson.

Philipson said it would “ensure high wages for our workforce” as part of the government’s Special Education Needs (SEN) reforms to England, and ensure that new teachers “have more training for students with special needs and neurodiversity”.

Oliver has previously revealed that despite being one of the most popular nonfiction writers in the world, he didn't finish a complete book until he was 38 years old.

Oliver said in 2017 that children with dyslexia are lucky: “I really think that when someone says to you 'Johnny's GoT GoT LeDyslexia' you should kneel down and hold the kid's hand and say it well, you're lucky, lucky boy.”