PGP / SPD My story:

There’s something I’ve noticed lately. People are supporting me. 🙌🏻 They’re just doing it quietly. Discreetly. In disguise. Private messages instead of public comments. Anonymous reactions. Support behind closed doors instead of standing beside me in the open. And I understand why!! When hate is loud 💥 It doesn’t just target the person speaking — it intimidates everyone watching. It teaches people that visibility equals risk. That if you show support publicly, you might get dragged into the chaos too. So they protect themselves. They support from the sidelines. They whisper encouragement instead of declaring it. They stand with me — just not where it can be seen. And that says more about the environment than it does about them. When hostility becomes performative and judgement becomes a sport, people adapt. They survive it. They move strategically. But here’s the truth: The fact that support has to wear a disguise proves the problem isn’t me. Safe spaces shouldn’t require camouflage...

Disabilities Are Not Swearwords. There is something deeply unsettling about watching adults weaponise medical conditions as insults. Recently, in a local Darlington group, children’s behaviour was criticised by throwing around real diagnoses — including Foetal Alcohol Syndrome — as if they were punchlines. As if they were shorthand for “bad”, “feral”, “wrong”. Let me say this plainly: Using conditions like Foetal Alcohol Syndrome as an insult is not commentary. It is dehumanising . It reinforces stigma that real children live with every single day. And when adults model that behaviour publicly, it normalises cruelty . Disabilities are NOT swearwords. Diagnoses are NOT insults. If children behave harmfully, address the behaviour. Call out racism. Call out aggression. Call out misconduct. But do not drag disabled children into it as collateral damage. Because when someone says, “What in the foetal alcohol syndrome…” as shorthand for bad behaviour, what they are really communicating is ...

 When people speak out, they are doing so to seek resolution and solutions. If someone chooses to remain anonymous, that is a protective and safeguarding measure. It is actually slanderous to assume that anonymous complaints are themselves slander, when the clear intent is to raise concerns, resolve issues, and highlight harm that needs addressing. When people ask for modern-day accountability, it is rarely achieved. Anonymity often provides essential protection for those highlighting genuine issues — especially in environments where people become so loyal to organisations or companies that they attack the complainant instead of allowing harm to be acknowledged and rectified. Feedback is necessary for progress. Speaking about a bad experience is never slander — it is a request for accountability. From personal experience, formal complaints processes can expose people to further abuse, targeting, and retaliation, while still failing to resolve the original issue. If someone chooses ...