🖋 SWANK Dispatch | 23 November 2024
YOU KEEP TREATING ASTHMA AS AN ATTITUDE. IT’S A CONDITION.
Filed From: Flat 22, 2 Periwinkle Gardens, London W2
Author: Polly Chromatic
Filed Under: Respiratory Prejudice · Paediatric Neglect · Hospital Disbelief · School Blame Loops · Disability Disregard · Access Failure · Asthma Stigma · SWANK Respiratory Defence Files
To:
Kirsty Hornal
Cc: Fiona Dias-Saxena, Sarah Newman, Laura Savage, Simon O’Meara, Dr Philip Reid, Gideon Mpalanyi
Bcc: Harley Street Mental Health, Nannette Nicholson
🧬 THREE SIMPLE FAILURES (THAT DESTROY BREATH AND DIGNITY):
Hospital staff who argue instead of assess
Inaccurate measurements used as emotional cudgels
Lifelong disbelief masquerading as protocol
You’ve mistaken medical emergency for personality flaw.
Our lungs don’t require your opinion—just air.
💬 A BREATHLESS TESTIMONY:
“Dr Arjumand asked for the history and then told me: I don’t believe you.”
“She said it several times while I was struggling to breathe.”
“Before that moment, my breathing was amazing—a first in over a year.”
“I don’t want to argue about it. They can check us, and if they don’t want to help, we leave.”
You don’t assess.
You antagonise.
👁 A LIFETIME OF NON-BELIEF:
“My whole life I’ve had to do this because no one believes me when I say I can’t breathe.”
“This includes schools, universities, parents, employers. Everyone.”
“Now I watch my children get treated the same way. And I get blamed for defending them.”
What you call "concern," we recognise as generational disbelief.
And it’s been archived.
🫁 WE WANT ASTHMATIC FRIENDS, NOT GASLIGHTERS:
“Blind people have blind friends. Deaf people have deaf friends. Even races stick to their own.”
“We want friends who have asthma. Severe asthma.”
“People who understand what it means to live like this.”
“We create our own fun. We invite those who respect our lungs.”
We are not antisocial.
We are allergically selective.
⚠️ SOCIETY IS THE ISOLATOR. NOT US:
“We are isolated due to our asthma and society’s unwillingness to accept us.”
“We want to be social, but not with people who deny our experience.”
“It is traumatising because no one understands us.”
Inclusion without understanding is surveillance, not solidarity.
We decline the invitation.
📎 ACCESS STATEMENT (FOR THE RECORD, AGAIN):
“I suffer from a disability which makes speaking verbally difficult. I prefer to communicate telepathically to minimise respiratory strain; however, email is fine.”
You ignore our lungs and interrogate our tone.
We are done performing for your disbelief.
Polly Chromatic
Mother of four. Each one breathes truth louder than your policy.
📍 Flat 22, 2 Periwinkle Gardens, London W2
🌐 www.swankarchive.com
📧 director@swanklondon.com
© SWANK London Ltd. All Breaths Backed Up.