Biography
Andrew is a member of the Public Contributor Involvement and Engagement Advisory Group of the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce.
"I have both personal and professional experience relating to my membership of the Unit. I am autistic and do a lot of work around challenging misunderstandings of autism and moving away from the deficit model of autism. I also give training on changing therapeutic practice in the field of mental health for autistic people and trying to ensure that the Autism Act 2009 is adhered to.
At time of writing, I am the Mayor of London's Public Champion for Social Prescribing. I Co-Chair the Joint Partnership Board in Haringey and Chair the Autism Reference Group.
Professionally, I have trained over 800 people in Support Brokerage, Personalisation and holistic support planning across London and the South-East. I am a strong proponent of the need for good support planning that includes all aspects of someone's life and does not just centre around impairments or disabilities. I have also worked in Direct Payments, specifically for people with a learning disability."