Jason Arday grew up in a lively corner of South London as the second youngest of three boys. He was diagnosed with autism and developmental delays at age three, and experts told his parents he would never speak, write or live independently --- and should be institutionalized. His parents refused. Instead, his extraordinary mother, Giff, drawing on her faith and thinking outside the box, embraced his neurodivergence and devoted herself to helping him realize a potential few others believed possible --- using everything from the proverbs of her West African culture to music, sports and film to help him make sense of the world. In GREAT AND UNFORTUNATE THINGS, we see how Arday went from being nonverbal as a child and illiterate until he was 18 to scaling unimaginable heights as an adult.