My Brain Lanyard! It Has A Fidget, A Case Containing My Earplugs (loops Experience, Very Light Noise

My brain lanyard! It has a fidget, a case containing my earplugs (loops experience, very light noise cancellation for when I’m overwhelmed but still want to hear the prof/person I’m talking to), and an urn necklace charm containing not an incinerated loved one, but pills! More specifically, the take as needed pills that I am most likely to forget to take in the heat of the moments when I need them (panic attacks). I am more likely to remember that I have these tools when I need them when they are hanging around my neck or in my pocket every waking moment, rather than in a bag where I can’t see or feel them.

yes, doctors suck, but also "the medical ethics and patient interaction training doctors receive reinforces ableism" and "the hyper competitive medical school application process roots out the poor, the disabled, and those who would diversify the field" and "anti-establishment sentiment gets applications rejected and promotions requests denied, weeding out the doctors on our side" and "the gruesome nature of the job and the complete lack of mental health support for medical practitioners breeds apathy towards patients" and "insurance companies often define treatment solely on a cost-analysis basis" and "doctors take on such overwhelming student loan debt they have no choice but to pursue high paying jobs at the expense of their morals" are all also true

none of this absolves doctors of the truly horrendous things they say and do to patients, but it's important to acknowledge that rather than every doctor being coincidentally a bad person, there is something specific about this field and career path that gives rise to such high prevalence of ableist attitudes

and I WILL elaborate happily

As someone who volunteers with kids, is studying education and was an annoying child, I have some issues with how we talk about them and treat them. Including educators and especially parents.

Children are not good or bad. Children are learning. A child who "acts out" in anger, fear, sadness or just plain restlessness is not a bad child. Crying, shouting, fidgeting and talking too much do not make children bad children. Maybe they need help from us, the adults in their lives to manage their emotions. Maybe they need therapy; some kids need psychologists and psychiatrists. Having support needs, wether or not they’re standard, doesn’t make a child a bad child.

Discipline should be catered to the situation. If a punishment doesn’t help the child develop, it’s a bad punishment. How do you tell the difference? Do research.

Something between listening to fools like me on the internet and writing a thesis. Look into self-esteem and development, learn what is and isn’t normal and when to get help. Skim a peer reviewed paper here and there, maybe. Consensus is a great tool to make that easier. Use AI to understand them. Look up "chat with any PDF". Academia had never been more accessible.

People have a lot of hot takes. Some are great, some are abuse. Child pop psychology is shit. The amount of misinformation out there on this topic is wild. Be careful of self-proclaimed experts, because much of what they have to say is psychologically speaking, dangerous. Peer reviewed, folks.

Children are always at the centre of discourse, and yes, teenagers are children. "Kids these days," "teens these days" are still developing. Stop yelling at them on the internet. Calmly explain, if you really have to say something. Kids are people. Just people with developing brains. Patience. A little extra kindness. Even if you really don’t like children, you are free to avoid them, but never to treat them impatiently and unkindly.

Educators, you have more experience then me, but I’m begging you to stay up to date. The best things you can do for your students are to take professional development, cooperate with other professionals, especially your children’s support teams, and stay up to date on research. Advocate for your kids. Especially the bad ones. It’s okay to be frustrated. Chanel that productively. Social emotional learning is essential and your kids’ "tantrums" are opportunities to teach it. Take deep breath’s with them. Don’t get worked up back. Yelling back at children, yelling at a crying child never helps. I know most of you wouldn’t do this, but it happens. It happened to me over and over. There is no worse feeling than being five and getting yelled at or having a teacher roll their eyes at you for crying. It makes it really hard to stop crying, actually.

We often have unreasonable expectations of children and get really mad when they fall short. Developing humans. Developing.

IDK if you’re going to be around them in any capacity try to be decent or just stay away from them.

This essay is beautiful. It’s made me fall in love with reclaiming language as a queer person and realize how much society has shaped the way I see my trans body.

TW: transphobia (quotes from terfs)

"My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage" by Susan Stryker.

"yeah gender is infinite and all but you can only have 1 of 4 sexualities and if you label your sexuality in a way i deem wrong you're a bad person" genuinely how some of you sound sometimes.

The fact that leagues of smart and rational trans adults who are informed about the evidence base for puberty blockers wish they could’ve taken them in their youth seems to me pretty darn conclusive evidence that the balance of risk and benefit is favourable.