Chloe Apter (she/her)

Autistic ADHDer, mental/physical illness, iatrogenic harm, co-production, MSc Psychology & Learning Disability student. Views own, personal account.

[Lucy Easthope @LucyGoBag]

Until we stop struggling with the idea that some health setting cultures are rotten and some practitioners do not practice with compassion and dignity, we will never improve them

[Ian Birrell @ianbirrell]

So many broken promises and missed targets - so 15 years after the ‘watershed’ of Winterbourne View, autistic people & citizens with learning disabilities still suffer state-sanctioned abuse. My @theipaper column on a scandal dragging on in plain sight https://t.co/fSMScP5x3m

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

It's a sad indictment of NHS mental health services that whilst I was in crisis, my (wonderful!) counselling psychologist had no choice but to discharge me from eating disorder therapy for ARFID "as a strategic move" to get me urgent support from crisis services.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@Quiet_Shrink @RITB_ Thank you, you are so sweet - I'm feeling a lot better now, long may it last. I feel very relieved to have avoided hospital admission & got by with crisis team input. I know that you're having a rough time at the moment, I'm sorry things are so difficult. Sending lots of love xxx

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@RITB_ Staff there also couldn't comprehend that I have a job & questioned how I have any money if I'm not on benefits.

Bedrooms had locks on them but staff would unlock my door & just barge in without knocking or giving me time to open the door myself.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@RITB_ I stayed in a crisis house recently where they wanted me to stay for 2 weeks (maximum length of stay). I discharged myself after 2 nights as the "support" was filling in the DIALOG+, having your medication dispensed, being fed insipid recovery aphorisms, & seeing the crisis team.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@Myjourney31 I haven't asked as I assume they would most likely just change it to a "past" rather than "active" issue, so not really doing a huge amount.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@Myjourney31 I guess stigma-wise it varies from professional to professional. Some are weirdly (inappropriately) curious/salacious, others genuinely curious in a kind way, others have never even heard of it. But it irks me when it's mistaken for a PD because it isn't categorised as one.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@Myjourney31 My dissociative identity disorder diagnosis was coded as both "dissociative disorder" & "multiple personality disorder" - despite the latter having not been its name since the early nineties! This means it occasionally gets mistaken for a PD rather than a dissociative disorder.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@nuwandiss Double beds & TVs in bedrooms do not necessarily mean kind and compassionate care... I wrote a thread on this once: https://t.co/kvaFQZoDIc

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

🧵2 years ago today, I arrived at a psychiatric hospital: detained under the Mental Health Act.

The hospital was new, with double beds & TVs in bedrooms.

But I acquired the label of "challenging behaviour" & was subjected to a cruel regime of extensive restrictive practice. 1/8

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@Shrink_at_Large Thank you for sharing!

[Dr Jay Watts @Shrink_at_Large]

Are you Autistic and have you been given the ‘challenging behaviour’ label? If yes, and you have the spoons, please consider participating in our wonderful Chloe’s study. #ActuallyAutistic

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@RITB_ https://t.co/c5pu0899b5

I have had to fill it in via the CMHT, crisis team, & crisis house... multiple times by each service within a very short period of time. Make it make sense.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

My mental health trust's website claims that DIALOG+ is a way of "co-producing" a care plan.

Well, I guess this is it: the ultimate bastardisation of co-production.

As someone who has filled it in more times than I care to remember, nothing about it is co-produced.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

@KashmirDrarif @drstevenkapp Thank you, I really appreciate the support!

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

I am still looking to speak to more UK-based autistic adults who have been assigned the "challenging behaviour" label (like I have).

Participation in my research can be over email, video call/chat (camera on or off), or in a public place in London.

Supervisor: @drstevenkapp

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

They say: "You have challenging behaviour".

I say: "I am a multiply neurodivergent, traumatised person - who has faced immense iatrogenic harm - experiencing overwhelming distress & sensory overload in a highly activating, triggering environment. I am doing my best to cope".

[Stop Oxevision @StopOxevision]

A NHS Trust was ordered to pay compensation to a patient over use of Oxevision (LIO) - what does this mean for other Trusts? What does the guidance from NHSE and CQC say?

Plus, read our letter to NHS England asking them to take action

https://t.co/hmRrXwlBLJ

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

As a trauma survivor, I am always sceptical of someone when they deem something to be a "safe space".

It's paternalistic - who decides what constitutes a "safe space"? Professionals.

How can everyone feel safe in the same conditions?

I believe in more nuanced "safer spaces".

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

TW: suicide attempt, self-harm

Once, I was in A&E after a suicide attempt.

A man (who was there for a suicide attempt too) hugged me without consent whilst I was hurting myself.

I screamed & began to cry & shake.

Healthcare professionals chastised me for being "mean" to him.

[Chloe Apter (she/her) @ChloeSApter]

As an autistic ADHDer, I often prefer phone calls to written communication.

This is because:

a) I'm painfully impatient.

b) Written communication involves waiting for a response. I cannot cope with the uncertainty about what the response will be.

Communication is nuanced.