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Some ramblings from #TransHealthConf2019 on the trip home. Thank you to @Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw for organising such an important event, for including a segment on trans kids healthcare
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw It is so important to hear from trans positive experts in other countries, to see just how far behind the UK GIDS is. Dr Jo O-K obviously cares for our trans kids, I would trust her to care for my child
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw It is important to know Dr Jo O-K is not an exception. Another year I'd love us to invite @michelle_telfer , expert of the Australian children/youth service. Canada has good clinicians. Spain is ahead of UK. The Canary Islands are ahead of us.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer I'm looking forward next week to hearing more from Dr Jo in their livestream, as well as from @AydinOlson who is another awesome supporter of trans kids, who is taking the conversation forward on resilience and well-being of trans kids
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson The session was an important opportunity to show to a wider audience what some have been saying for ages, the UK kids system is broken, it causes harm, it is cisnormative, pathologising, outdated.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson Thank you to @NotRightRuth for live tweeting. Two areas I want to add to those tweets. Firstly @NotRightRuth perhaps took away a more positive interpretation than I did on watchful waiting. I did not hear from GIDS a move away from watchful waiting.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth I heard from GIDS the same old 'let kids be kids' message that 'allows' gender expression, does not police stereotyped behaviour or interests, but does not support affirmation of a child's gender identity. This is still watchful waiting. For kids like mine it causes harm
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth Secondly, there was a comment from Wren I jotted down. She said that sometimes socially transitioned kids come to her who are already stable or settled. They know who they are. I know these kids. I know the immense effort these kids have fought through to get to a good position
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth I know the immense effort supportive families have gone through to build a supportive world for their kids. Kids & carers battling a cisnormative world. Despite many obstacles, with support from family, youth clubs like GI, schools, friends, these kids can get self confidence
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth My kid has got a lot of self confidence from meeting other trans kids at @Mermaids_Gender residentials. She knows she is not alone. She has met awesome trans adults like @AylaHoldom like @frasercircus and so many more amazing people. This is a big difference to past generations
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Back to yesterday. Wren said that supported kids come to her clear in their identity and settled. She said, and I wrote this down- she believes that it is her job to 'rattle' that. I know exactly what she means. And it is not good.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Again and again I hear from parents, who write to me about taking their child to GIDS and clinicians 'rattling' them. Kids who have fought and battled to be supported. Who have challenged their schools and fought for ages to get to a good point in their well-being.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Kids who have developed a bit of resilience and self confidence, who come back from GIDS appointments in tears. With their self worth on the floor. Wren said it is her job to 'rattle' trans kids, 'to make sure they know what their body is'. FFS
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Our kids deserve so much better. Trans kids already live in a cisnormative world. I imagine they might benefit from 'exploring' gender & their relationship with labels & their body, but in safe trans positive spaces, with peer support. Not in a room 1-1 with Wren.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus GIDS never acknowledge the power imbalances in their assessment based model. They never understand the harm they cause. Carers regularly talk about having to help their kid recover after a GIDS session. Or preparing them to withstand one.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus They talk about feeling torn, taking their kid to an appointment that can be emotionally abusive, but feeling powerlessness as they are gatekeepers of a service their kid needs.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Dr Jo O-K showed there is another way. She believes trans kids. Does not assess them. Centres their current needs. Does not cause them harm based on a cisnormative guess about their future need.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Her service has zero wait time. This is not just funding, it is the model. Kids are treated when they need it, not assessed for years and years without end. The service is led by 4 paediatricians. Medical doctors. With most engagement with social workers, many of whom are trans
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Mental health professionals get involved when there are mental health needs. The UK is totally different. Not one paediatrician. It is led by psychoanalysts (Freudian, Jungian) who are not medical doctors!!! Our kid have to see psychologists and psychoanalysts.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus These psychologists and psychoanalysts don't event know what to do with a happy trans kid. Apart from to 'rattle them'. The service is broken, and broken in a way that is expensive. Funding is not the problem. The basic model is wrong.
@Tara_Hewitt @EnbyLawyer @PeterDunneLaw @michelle_telfer @AydinOlson @NotRightRuth @Mermaids_Gender @AylaHoldom @frasercircus Dr Jo talks about the historic pathologisation of trans kids as mentally disordered, and the challenges of getting rid of the vestigial tail of pathologisation. In the UK this tail is driving our service. We need a service that centres the current well being of trans kids. End
