Chloe (she/her)

Hi! We are a part-time (can work alongside) online ("live" *options*; costs the same in/outside the UK, can study from everywhere) MSc course on learning/intellectual disability, autism, and neurodiversity. Students have own tutor. We are recruiting for this term:
www.port.ac.uk/study/course...

#worldpatientsafetyday2025 #patientsafety #iatrogenicharm #trauma | Chloe Apter I spent today's World Patient Safety Day 2025 co-delivering safeguarding training to PhD Mental Health Science students at UCL, funded by Wellcome Trust. I spoke about how "being safeguarded" has cau...

I shared some thoughts over on LinkedIn for today's World Patient Safety Day 2025.

www.linkedin.com/posts/chloea...

Words that make me go hmmm: Professional ‘Professional’ is yet another of the ‘us and them’ words that dominate our narrative. It’s a blanket term used to distinguish the people who work in organisations (regardless of any professional qu…

New blog post: Words that make me go hmmm: Professional
#RewritingSocialCare

rewritingsocialcare.blog/professional/

Resources - Learning Disability and Autism Research Group People with learning disabilities, erasure and social murder This resource explains more about Professor Sara Ryan’s book, ‘Critical Health and Learning Disabilities: An Exploration of Erasure and Soc...

Professor Sara Ryan's new book 'Critical Health and Learning Disabilities: An Exploration of Erasure and Social Murder' is out today. There's a Plain English summary on our website: learningmet.mmu.ac.uk/resources/

This sheds light on a childhood experience I have had to make sense of as a later dx autistic adult:

Aged ~5, I was told I was lip-reading so had a hearing test (my hearing was fine).

I couldn't understand this "accusation" of lip-reading as I was just processing the only way I knew how.

As a child growing up in the "Tumblr era", I had a blog that attracted many people seeking advice from me: a child.

Undiagnosed autistic/ADHD & experiencing trauma, I felt morally obliged to offer support to people like myself.

This has left a legacy of complicated feelings towards peer support.

Similarly, my capacity for being able to engage in peer support spaces has completely depleted.

I can carry my own trauma & bear witness to the trauma of my close friends: the latter is a privilege.

I cannot hold space for strangers.

It's self-protection.

As someone with a dissociative identity disorder diagnosis, I used to consume a lot of media related to this condition.

In recent years, I haven't been able to. It's just too painful to bear witness to the consequences of trauma that is often perpetrated by other people.

It hurts.

I most certainly will! Thank you!

I totally agree.

Once I muster up the courage, I'm going to apply again this year. I feel like I now have the emotional capacity / spoons to put up a good fight should it inevitably be rejected initially & likely lead to tribunal.

TW: suicide attempt

The irony was that I didn't have the emotional capacity or spoons to get more time for mandatory reconsideration (once the initial period of acute distress had passed) because I was detained under the Mental Health Act after a suicide attempt.

I'm sorry you were asked it too.

TW: suicide

When I was assessed for PIP in 2022, I was asked why I hadn't "successfully" managed to kill myself.

I received zero points. I was too distressed to go to mandatory reconsideration or tribunal.

The assessment (& report) is utterly dehumanising.

#TakingThePIP

I had to let occupational health send a copy of my report to my line manager.

This is all well & good but it contained *a little too much* information for my liking, including specifying how many times a day I go to the loo.

Oh, the indignity of chronic illness & disability.

I'm all for amplifying the importance of co-production.

But does having a "Co-Production Week" encourage tokenistic attempts at it which inevitably fall short?

Genuine co-production shouldn't just happen during a designated week, it should happen all year round.

Thanks for positive feedback, @chloeapter.bsky.social! The MSc in Psychology and Learning Disability is free, online and part-time, so you can complete it alongside work etc. anywhere. "Live" sessions are optional, in the UK early evening. Same cost in/outside the UK. www.port.ac.uk/study/course...

Am I proud of being autistic?

Yes.

Was I always proud of being autistic?

No.

Being proud of being autistic does not mean existing in an allistic world is easy, it just means that I am no longer ashamed of the associated struggles.

#AutisticPrideDay

As someone with ARFID, the most stressful part of going from living alone to living with family is what I eat now being constantly scrutinised (& inevitably criticised) by others.

I just want to be able to eat what I am able to eat in peace.

Honestly!

I know!

Medical professional: "Is your autism well controlled?".

Me: ...

Thank you, Kiri! Weirdly, I think it's my chronic illnesses flaring up around deadlines that makes me stressed, even if I wasn't consciously stressed about the deadlines! It's such a vicious cycle!

I have officially finished the first year of my MSc despite chronic illness flare-ups around *practically every deadline*.

For anyone interested in learning disability, autism, & neurodivergence, @uoppald.bsky.social is utterly wonderful with the most supportive tutors - do check the course out!

As an adult who has just been diagnosed with ARFID yet deemed a "fussy eater" my whole life, I feel like that expression suggests that I'm being wilfully difficult & that I'm simply choosing not to eat certain food without a valid reason.

Oh wonderful, thank you for sharing! I'll definitely email the researcher!

Research opportunity for dissociative Identity disorder poster. Do you have a diagnosis of DID? We are seeking individuals to take part in research at the MRC Cambridge cognition and brain sciences unit in Cambridge What do I do? Questionnaires An interview Computer tests Two brain scans Am I eligible? If you Are 16 or over Are native English speaker Have DID and amnesia between identities Have never experienced neurological conditions If you are interested please contact Julia beker Julia.beker@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk 01223769461

My #dissociated friends in the UK. Please consider getting involved with this research at @mrccbu.bsky.social !!
♿
@didwewrite.bsky.social @chloeapter.bsky.social

Thank you - the doctor I saw at this particular clinic (first time I've been there) was so kind, gentle, reassuring, sympathetic, & thorough that I could have cried (in a good way)!

It feels unjust that my healthcare has to dictate where I live.

I would love to live back in Brighton again. But healthcare access & service quality was so abysmal & neglectful there that it just isn't feasible.

My healthcare in London has been wonderful, fast, & compassionate.

Tomorrow will be medical appointment number 6 in just 7 days.

The appointment fatigue that comes with having chronic physical & mental illness should not be underestimated - it is truly exhausting.

I feel drained from self-advocating.

I'm triggered from procedures.

I can't sleep due to pain.

I have just been diagnosed with ARFID: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

It is endlessly validating to be told I have a legitimate eating disorder rather than just being *wilfully fussy*.

Now, a long wait for access to therapy & dietetics. But I am grateful for it.

This is wonderful!!!!!