David Gray-Hammond is an independent advocate and mentor supporting Autistic people to achieve better outcomes, particularly in the fields of education and mental health.
He is an independent academic and co-founder of the Autistic Substance Use Network through which he has researched autism and substance use. His academic work covers the fields of Autistic mental health and neuroqueer theory.
David is Autistic, ADHD, and Schizophrenic, and is nine-years sober from drug and alcohol addiction. He has been detained in psychiatric wards, and experienced violence at the hands of the psychiatric system.
He is now lead advisor for Autistic and Neurodivergent rights at International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion and has worked with service commissioners and as an expert advisor to the Care Quality Commission.
David is a multiply-published author, with his most recent book, A Guide to Autism and Psychosis, becoming an Amazon bestseller.
David writes…
It is not easy to define Autistic mental health. Unlike other forms of neurodivergence (and mental health conditions are a form of neurodivergence) most people are okay with the pathologisation of mental health.
