Oliver McGowan training: Making an impact in Hampshire

4th February 2025

Lived experience trainers in Hampshire are tackling unconscious biases about learning disabled and autistic people as part of new training aimed at educating health and social care staff.

Last year, Autism Hampshire was awarded a contract to provide the Oliver McGowan training in Hampshire.

This pivotal training, which became mandatory in law in 2022, was named in memory of Oliver McGowan, an autistic young man with a learning disability who died at the age of 18 after being administered anti-psychotic medication against his and his parents' wishes.

Since then, the first cohort of lived experience trainers have delivered training sessions to NHS and social care teams with feedback that hearing the training from an autistic or learning-disabled viewpoint has helped squash unconscious biases and assumptions.

Lived experience in action

One of those lived-experience trainers is Matthew Dixon, who is learning disabled and is currently supported by Autism Hampshire.

Matt, 30, explained: “I wanted the job because I wanted to be the voice of people who are learning disabled and autistic.

“I like seeing many experts in social and health care sectors and I think the training matters so that I help people with learning disability and autism to get better health care for the future.”

With the support of the commissioners, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, each Oliver McGowan training session is run by a trio of experts including a facilitator and two lived experience trainers. These trainers are autistic individuals or people with learning disabilities, ensuring that the training benefits from their lived experiences.

Facilitator Sophie Curd highlighted: “The Oliver McGowan training has been really impactful on the delegates who we have trained so far. We have had so many great discussions and questions asked. It has been so beneficial to have lived experience trainers at the sessions, we have had so much positive feedback with people saying that hearing the training from an autistic or learning disabled viewpoint and their perspective has helped to squash any unconscious biases and assumptions that people make about learning disabled and autistic people.

“It is one step in reducing the number of avoidable deaths that are reported in the LeDeR and making a positive change going forward. We have had a large number of delegates who have related to the training from a personal perspective. These individuals have reported that the training has hugely helped with their understanding, acceptance, and ability to make appropriate adjustments.”

Voices for change

Another autistic lived experience trainer from Southampton has enjoyed being able to learn from the other trainers and the delegates.

They said: “I believe there are still misconceptions of gaps in knowledge and understanding when it comes to the experience of autistic and/or learning disabled people, their needs and the most appropriate ways to help.

“There is also a lack of understanding of overlapping identities and how they play a role in the wellbeing of autistic and learning disabled people. I think there might be a risk of "othering" and thinking that autistic and learning disabled people are very different from non-autistic/neurotypical people.

“The training offers an opportunity to initiate a conversation and challenging understandings, bridging these gaps in many ways.

“I love having the opportunity to discuss autism with healthcare workers - although it is also challenging! I feel like we have the potential to make small but hopefully impactful changes.”

For more information and guidance about Oliver’s Training, please visit NHS England’s The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training webpages. This training is available to all NHS and social care staff within the commissioned areas. If you are interested in attending, please speak to your line manager for more information on how to enroll.

For more information on other training opportunities provided by Autism Hampshire, visit www.autismhampshire.org.uk/how-we-can-help/training-consultancy/.