The Autism Accreditation department has ten members of staff, including seven advisors who work around the UK.
North England and Scotland
Stephen Pyott
Stephen has been a teacher since 1993, working in a variety of school settings both within the UK and overseas including mainstream, generic special needs and autism-specific environments. He has also worked in both day and residential schools.
Stephen joined the Autsim Accreditation team in August 2003. He has a first class honours degree in education, a postgraduate certificate in Asperger syndrome and is currently studying for an MA in autism at Sheffield Hallam University.
Contact:
Stephen Pyott
Accreditation Advisor
Tel/Fax: 01563 559 258
Mobile: 07766 311 966
Email: stephen.pyott@nas.org.uk
Midlands and Wales
David Lovage
David has been a registered nurse for learning disabilities since 1992, working within Hospital and community settings. He has worked primarily with people who were seen to challenge services both within the learning disability and ASD field. He was part of a team which won the National Health & Social Care Awards in 2004 for work in supporting people with autism to live in supported accommodation within their local communities. He has completed his B.phil Autism (adults) at Birmingham University and more recently a PGC A.B.A. (applied Behaviour analysis) at Bangor University. David joined the Autism Accreditation team in October 2004.
Contact:
David Lovage
Accreditation Advisor
Tel/Fax: 0121 353 1753
Mobile: 07917 088 095
Email: david.lovage@nas.org.uk
South, Midlands and Northern Ireland
Paul Sullivan
Paul has 30+ years experience of working with people who have learning disabilities and/or an ASD. His interests include advocacy, relationships/sexuality, music therapy, autism and ageing, and people with learning disabilities or an ASD who offend.
Paul has worked as an Autism Accreditation advisor for eight years.
Contact:
Paul Sullivan
Accreditation Advisor
Tel/Fax: 01675 481 026
Mobile: 07764 564 661
Email: paul.sullivan@nas.org.uk
North East England
Yvonne Mellor
Yvonne joined Autism Accreditation in July 2006 as an Advisor for the North of England; she previously worked as a Project Manager for the National Autistic Society for four years managing a supported living and domiciliary care service in North Yorkshire
Yvonne is a qualified social worker and has worked within the statutory, voluntary and charitable sectors for 29 years, her main experience is working with adults and she has managed a variety of service provisions including residential, supported living, day services and short break/respite facilities.
She has a keen interest in continuous quality improvement and holds a Master of Science Degree in Organisational Change and Management Development; Masters in Autism; P.G.C.E. and a Licensed Trainers Award with the National Autistic Society.
Contact:
Yvonne Mellor
Accreditation Advisor
Tel/Fax: 01325 722 463
Mobile: 07766 315 661
Email: yvonne.mellor@nas.org.uk
North of England
Hazel Errey
Hazel joined Autism Accreditation as an advisor in September 2006. Prior to this she worked as a teacher for 25 years, specialising in the field of autism for 13 years. After working in language units in mainstream schools in London and Cheshire she took up a teaching and team leader post at Inscape House School, Cheshire, in 1993. Following this in 2001, she became assistant head teacher at Rosebank School in Cheshire, a local authority special school for primary pupils with autism spectrum disorders and early years assessment. In both posts she played a key role in preparing the schools to become successfully accredited by Autism Accreditation.
Hazel has completed a masters degree in special educational needs at Manchester Metropolitan University and a postgraduate certificate in education (autism) at Birmingham University.
Contact:
Hazel Errey
Accreditation Advisor
Tel/Fax: 0161 862 0998
Mobile: 07810 418 144
Email: hazel.errey@nas.org.uk
East Anglia and North London
Gary Beckwith
Gary has many years experience working for a combination of local authorities and The National Autistic Society in a variety of support and managerial roles. Gary has participated in Autism Accreditation reviews since 2005 as a team leader and was appointed as an advisor in March 2007. Qualified in the co-ordination of learning and development provision, Gary has a keen interest in staff development and is currently working towards the Diploma in Quality at the Birmingham City University.
Contact:
Gary Beckwith
Accreditation Advisor
Tel: 01536 516 564
Mobile: 07766 497 999
Email: gary.beckwith@nas.org.uk
London and South-East
Stephen Dedridge
Stephen has been a teacher since 1987, becoming the SENCO of a mainstream comprehensive high school in Herfordshire before working as a consultant on autism spectrum disorders for the London Borough of Ealing SENS team.
In August 2007, Stephen became an Autism Accreditation advisor. He has postgraduate certificates in both education and psychology and an RSA diploma in special educational needs. Stephen wrote a chapter on including pupils with ASD for the book Looking At Inclusion: Listening To The Voices Of Young People.
Contact:
Stephen Dedridge
Accreditation Advisor
Tel: 020 8863 3811
Mobile: 07766 311 964
Email: stephen.dedridge@nas.org.uk