1. I am so, so proud of my fellow Mad activists/allies & supporters who came to a board meeting to support a collective of us raising concerns about #LXP working during public questions. There were ten of us altogether. We had come together in the space of a week, identified >
2. shared concerns about career blocking, exploitation, deliberate exclusion of LXP staff. We gave the recent secretly turned away funding for an #LXP senior post as an example. We had three people scheduled to ask questions, but - and u couldn’t make this shit up... >
3. The third presenter, who was due to ask questions on staff wellbeing wasn’t able to due to being hospitalised over the weekend with a suspected stroke. Being mad is stressful, unfortunately. Instead, two of us covered their section. We left feeling good that the questions we >
4. asked would now be public record. Now nobody at an ultimate accountability level can state that they are unaware of #LXP issues. I left feeling buzzing, went on to smash a seminar presentation, and then it hit me. I can barely move. There was also the impact of >
5. self-disclosure. I don’t normally do that but I wanted to try and get some understanding of the real world, real life impact decisions can have on people. I bared a vulnerable part of my soul. It’s hard doing that, then gauging responses. For me was particularly difficult >
6. then having to hear that these issues are simply a case of differences of opinions, where LXPs differ from their overlords and masters, whose opinions must then prevail. The anger was palpable as people rightly questioned (away from the boardroom stage) exactly why >
7. professional advice based on literature, evidence base, case studies, experience, knowledge and qualifications was being referred to as an opinion, and why the prevailing opinion never had to justify or explain itself. What evidence base was it relying on? What experience? >
8. What about the advice of national bodies that have been ignored - are these too classed as opinions? I hear this daily, it was refreshing to hear the same when with supportive allies who were able to question the obvious fallacies in the logic. The biggest one being - even >
9. if this were a difference of opinion, whose opinion should prevail? If decisions and funding are for LXPs, surely the opinions of non-LXP staff are secondary and should not have the final say in decision making? The initial indignation and anger has subsided to tiredness, >
10. exhaustion and the cost of emotional labour. There is sadness in examining some faces and seeing nothing. No emotion. No flicker of care or concern in expression, voice or speech. There were people whose lives may have been cut short thanks to these issues who were part of >
11. the meeting. As one of them, it felt indescribable knowing I am of no worth. Had this happened, I would have been an invisible casualty. If I’d been hit on the head with a roof tile and died that would be cut and dried. But if you are mad, you are of no consequence. >
12. I don’t know how my #LXP colleagues who this also applied to felt about this specific thing. But I know it adds an additional painful slant to what was already a big, scary thing to do. I’m so tired. I’d recommend doing this - it gets issues into public documents. But take >
13. care of yourself, do it with other ppl, share the load where you can. I’m so tired. I gotta sleep methinks. The rest of the crew are shattered too. Thanks again to all of the supporters who showed up too - you know who you are! ❤️❤️❤️
@threadreaderapp please unroll ☺️
Thanks for RT @Al_Richards_786 - and we really, really appreciated your support today by attending the board meeting and giving us your thoughts and observations afterwards. They were very much valued 🙏🏽🥰❤️
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