Rosi Sexton
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton
@rosisexton.bsky.social
1.4K followers 2.1K following 680 posts
A collection of random hyperfoci held together by anxiety & sticky tape. Osteopath, climber, maths PhD, pianist, former professional MMA fighter. Dabbled in politics (Green). Passionate about health, health inequality, mental health, neurodivergence.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
If you can think of a case where I might take a different view let me know, but I think I'm pretty consistent.
rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
No, I think anyone can change, but I tend to look for evidence of how they've consistently behaved in recent years. In Zack's case, there's plenty of it.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
I'm not going to get into a debate about cherry picked second or third hand accounts of things that may or may not have happened nearly a decade ago. In the 5 years or so I've known Zack, and followed his Green Party work which is a matter of public record, he's always been very clear and consistent
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
God forbid anyone should be allowed to change their mind about anything.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
Everyone's world view is wrong in at least some respects - we all have our blind spots - but some are definitely more useful than others. 8/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
It's always easier at that point to find someone else to blame, rather than doing the hard work of unpicking & re-evaluating those opinions. In my line of work there are plenty of bad clinicians who blame their patients for not getting better, rather than reassessing what they are doing. 7/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
When someone insists on holding on to a set of opinions that don't correspond well to reality, they're likely to end up frustrated and wondering why things keep going wrong for them. 6/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
The same is true in politics. Opinions are only valuable so far as they allow us to accurately predict things in the future. So before believing someone's story about why the country is in the state it's in, have a look at how that person's predictions have stacked up against reality in the past 5/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
I'm not always right, of course (who is?), but the fact that I have a pretty successful clinic (despite being dreadful at marketing) suggests that people have often found my opinions helpful. 4/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
"I don't like telling people their doctor is wrong, but I think that if we don't rehab that hamstring properly then you're going to be very sad when you try to run on it". 3/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
When a runner comes into my clinic & tells me their GP says they have "piriformis syndrome" but I think it's an obvious hamstring strain, we don't just shrug & say everyone's entitled to their opinion. Which one we believe matters because they give us different predictions about what to do next. 2/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 1d
The thing about opinions is that they're only really useful as far as they enable you to make testable predictions about reality. 🧵1/
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
But in a world that's hell bent on fitting everyone into one-size-fits-all boxes and turning them into efficient little worker drones, that's not something people want to talk about.

Which is why neurodivergent people are increasingly struggling.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
Exams, no problem. Grocery shopping on the other hand? You guys can do this without medication? 😱

What's really needed is teachers who have the time and capacity to help kids figure out how to do stuff (learning things, admin things, life things...) in a way that works for their brain.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
How about Starmer "wins", and then any incident gets blamed on "far left antisemitism" and becomes another reason to crack down on protectors and vilify brown people, immigrants and anyone not on board with their brand of authoritarianism?

How do we think these "incidents" will be reported? 🧐
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
As someone with ADHD who absolutely does not need extra time in exams, I can reassure Suzanne that being good at regurgitating knowledge under exam conditions is a skill set with *very* limited applications to the world outside of education.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
I don't disagree with anything you're saying. The whole discourse is about a dozen different kinds of awful. I'm only addressing one problem amongst many with it!
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
Yeah. I'll confess to not having read the full article, partly due to paywall but mostly because the ADHD titration folk are monitoring my blood pressure. 😂
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
And actually, I think that lack of understanding about what reasonable adjustments are for, and what they aim to do is part of the problem - as people just tend to perceive it as an "advantage" that is handed out based on a diagnosis.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
The previous post was a reflection on the headline, and my frustration that this whole discussion so often seems to be reduced to "extra time in exams", which suggests to me that people are really not understanding the point.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
I also disagree with that point, on the grounds that the world absolutely can and should be accommodating people!
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
Also: if your exams are written in a way that just giving people extra time is a huge advantage, then I'm going to argue that you're doing it wrong.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
Overall, though, the things that have caused me the biggest problems in life were nothing to do with school. I mean, let's talk about grocery shopping. You guys can do that without medication? 😱 That's wild!

The conversation should be about so much more than who gets extra time on exams.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
I have ADHD. I absolutely don't need extra time in exams. My brain works just fine under pressure.

I would probably have benefited from shorter deadlines and more structure on essays and longer term projects though.

Other people with ADHD have very different challenges.
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rosisexton.bsky.social
Rosi Sexton @rosisexton.bsky.social · 3d
I think what this points to isn't an overdiagnosis of ADHD or autism, the problem a "one size fits all" approach to reasonable adjustments.

Adjustments should be determined based on a careful assessment of need, not diagnosis.
ka81.bsky.social Ka81 @ka81.bsky.social · 3d
Seen too many of these over-diagnosis news on autism and adhd by medical professionals. One also in TES, and I've read at least four this month.

We need a new medical professional open letter.
Extra time unhealthy for adhd and autism.
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