Ooo, Jo Maugham isn't happy...

Pre-covid, in my area children have to wait for over two years for their initial appointment on the way to getting assessed for autism. NHS waiting times were poor then, and they're worse now.

It took 10 years for my DS to get an autism diagnosis. Much of that was trying to get him put on a waiting list for assessment because it's difficult to get professionals to take it seriously. Then roughly 3 years on the waiting list.

Whilst I can appreciate the frustration of anyone on a waiting list for any kind of treatment I get really pissed off at the insinuation this only happens for people with gender issues and therefore = deliberate discrimination. It's even more galling now the NHS has covid to deal with.

Yy re Autism, speech therapy, hip replacement, eye surgery when significant loss of vision is involved, management of near end stage cancer and the right drugs being available..... all friends and family at the moment, some of them have been on waiting lists for years. It's no different to and nothing worse than anyone else is dealing with on the NHS.

Also I remember from that case there was research done but the Tavistock had very poor excuses for why it hadn't been released yet. Those excuses are going to look even worse by the time this gets to court.

use a young female's case to argue for a treatment which only seems to benefit males

It also "benefits" females - puberty blockers mean they won't require a double mastectomy.

Why aren’t the parents advocating caution for their child?

Because then they don't get to pat themselves on the back for being oh so accepting and woke.

Why aren’t the parents advocating caution for their child?

if someone told me that my child had a condition that would require strong medication to be taken for life and major surgery (potentially multiple surgeries with terrible success rates) I would be ever so slightly worried for them and be ripping across the whole internet and every specialist I could get hold of and finding the best possible solution that would ideally avoid the most drastic treatment. But that's just me (and most other people on here obvs).

You should have seen me with my son's eczema - the doctors prescribed steriods but when they explained the side effects I thought that sounded terrible, so I researched extensively and found an alternative method that sorted it completely and he's still clear many years later. A friend of mine had been on steroids for eczema for years including as an adult and got to the point where she felt the need to stop taking them and it was horrendous - she had red raw skin for months.

My DD is 19 and only now bring assessed for ASD after I raised concerns 15 years ago.

Please be careful discussing JM personal concerns about this - threads tend to get deleted if they stray into that territory.

Particularly liked the BBC article saying, ‘the NHS needs to make a cultural decision that trans people are real and deserve the same rights to treatment as everyone else.’

So that would be evidenced based treatment then. Not based on interested bodies promoting particular pathways. No one has the right to pick which treatments they have - it is based on medical assessments. I do think child mental health services need more long term investment though.

Agree with all the other posters on the timing is shocking when you consider the impact COVID has had on cancer treatments. My mum had just started her treatment in February and I’m so glad she did. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for families who are waiting for referrals for this and other treatments.

ArcheryAnnie
I mean, one quote is "nobody else is sticking up for trans young people", which ignores, er, the vast, vast range of huge well-funded charities, the corporate capture of many corporations, and indeed the legal firm representing them, all fully signed-up to transing children as easily and as young as possible. It's hardly a quote to make anyone feel confident that this child is fully informed.

I agree, that particular quote struck me as being woefully ill-informed. Whether due to lack of knowledge, or else through the child being fed misinformation. Either way, I think it says a lot.

Maugham just loves wheeling out those debunked suicide rates, doesn't he? I'm another one waiting to find out why he's so keen to use a young female's case to argue for a treatment which only seems to benefit males.

Pre-covid, in my area children have to wait for over two years for their initial appointment on the way to getting assessed for autism. NHS waiting times were poor then, and they're worse now.

He's currently recruiting for a personal assistant if any members of his fan club here want to apply goodlawproject.org/news/assistant-jolyon-maugham-qc/

a dark money funded astro-turfed hate group

Where has JM got this idea from?

The latter description of LGB Alliance as a 'hate group' does seem libellous to me. Not being a lawyer. Presumably sensible, qualified lawyers would only say this type of thing with substantial reliable evidence to back up these assertions?

I do admire the LGB Alliance. It must be very hard to stand all this constant attack and vilification just for setting up a group for lesbians, gay men and bisexual people. Madness that it's come to this.

Kipo

Re: His choice of apparel. I think we all here know what he is about. From many an angle.

My 14yo had to wait 2 weeks before I’d let her bleach her hair, ffs. Bollocks would I let her make life altering permanent medical decisions at that age!
Why aren’t the parents advocating caution for their child?

With JM, do you think his garment choice when fox-bashing is why he’s so keen on this?

Can transgendertrend be an interested party again?

That was a joke btw, I don't really think there's a propaganda unit, just swathes of useful idiots happy to chant slogans when triggered

I can't see how a judge could rule on this without it setting a general principal that waits for pretty much any treatment is unlawful

I see one possible result as forcing the NHS to have to go into the court and discuss the desirability and the outcomes of the treatments requested. Particularly to have to discuss that the outcomes are actually largely unknown because it involves untested experimentation on children.

Eresh

No. He won't have any evidence against LGBAlliance. Absolutely none.

Bit strange for someone apparently practicing Law.

the person he is talking about is 14!! They have been gaslit for years by trusted adults and friends that they are 'really' male and must therefore fix their body to match. I remember being 14 quite clearly and there was absolutely no way that I should ever have been allowed to make life changing decisions at that age (nor most of my peers) - that's why 14 year olds are children and the age of majority is not 14.

It must be luck of the draw on waiting times. Many cancer treatments and treatments for life limiting or altering conditions have huge waiting times so as wellthats points out there is no difference there.

The person I know who realised they were non binary seemed to get an appointment with the gender clinic during lockdown pretty much straightaway (either that or they realised they were nb after the gender clinic appt, I'm not sure) but they started taking testosterone 3 months later so hardly a significant amount of time considering the life changing impact of the treatment (which is already causing changes).

Bev Jackson makes such reasonable points about self-diagnosis and it is nice to see a non-derogatory reference to LGB Alliance (is this new DG Tim's influence?)

I've never been able to take Jolyon seriously since he beat a fox to death with a baseball bat, while wearing a kimono

I don't think anyone else in the country has.

Astro turfing is when something is disguised as a grass roots movement when actually it is being funded top down.

I assume he's got some evidence for this claim against LGB Alliance?

ArcheryAnnie

I've never been able to take Jolyon seriously since he beat a fox to death with a baseball bat, while wearing a kimono. I'd happily bung in a fiver to help pay m'learned friends if the LGB Alliance want to send him a stiff letter about his libellous tweets.

I'm sure many here will agree.

Grass roots action.