Difficulty, Not Discrimination: Literacy, Critical Thinking and Learning to Question What We Think We Know

Why difficult conversations matter

One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is literacy, media literacy, and the importance of critical thinking — especially within disability and support conversations.

We live in a time where people are surrounded by information constantly.

Headlines.

Short-form videos.

Social media debates.

Opinion pieces.

Algorithms deciding what we see.

Outrage cycles designed to get attention.

In this environment, one of the most important skills we can develop is not knowing everything.

It is knowing how to think.

Critical thinking does not mean automatically agreeing with someone.

It also does not mean automatically rejecting someone.

It means listening.

Questioning.

Researching.

Comparing information.

Looking at evidence.

Understanding context.

And then deciding where you personally stand.

That applies to everyone.

Disabled people.

Non-disabled people.

Support workers.

Families.

Professionals.

Creators.

Everyone.

Because nobody should build their entire understanding of the world around one person, one creator, one political viewpoint, one organisation, or one algorithm.

The goal is not to find one person who has all the answers.

The goal is to become better at asking questions.

Difficulty and discrimination are not the same thing

Recently, I saw a discussion online about the word “scrying.”

The argument was that the word was ableist because someone did not know what it meant.

And my first thought was simple:

Look it up.

Not because I dismiss struggle.

Not because learning difficulties are not real.

Not because access does not matter.

But because that is how learning works.

And this is where I think we sometimes get confused.

We have started mixing up difficulty and discrimination.

They are not the same thing.

Difficulty is when something is hard to understand, learn, complete, or overcome.

Discrimination is when someone faces barriers, prejudice, exclusion, or unfair treatment because of who they are.

Ableism is real.

It exists.

It can be obvious.

It can be structural.

It can appear through inaccessible environments, lack of reasonable adjustments, assumptions about capability, or people being denied opportunities.

Those things matter.

But not knowing a word?

That is not automatically discrimination.

Sometimes it is simply a learning moment.

And learning starts in a very uncomfortable place:

Not knowing.

Learning begins with admitting “I don’t know yet”

One of the hardest things for people to admit is:

“I don’t know.”

But that is actually where growth starts.

You do not know what you know until you understand what you do not know.

That is not failure.

That is the starting point.

Even writing this article, I had moments where I stopped and checked things.

I checked spelling.

I checked meanings.

I checked information.

Not because I was incapable.

Because checking is part of literacy.

For example, I knew exactly what I meant when I used the word “mannequin.”

I still checked the spelling.

That is not a weakness.

That is a skill.

Literacy is not about pretending you never need help.

Literacy is knowing what to do when you need help.

English is messy — and that is okay

Spelling has never been my strongest area.

And honestly?

English does not make it easy.

The English language is a mixture of Germanic roots, Latin influences, Greek words, French influences, and many other languages.

That is why English spelling can sometimes feel chaotic.

But the answer is not giving up.

The answer is learning strategies.

Checking.

Practising.

Using tools.

Asking questions.

Improving.

Literacy is not perfection.

It is persistence.

What we were taught early: learning how to learn

In Australia, many of us were taught these skills early.

Context clues.

Looking at the information around a word.

Using pictures.

Thinking about what makes sense.

For example:

“The fish swam back to the ____.”

A person uses what they already know.

Fish live in water.

The answer might be a tank, river, pond, or ocean.

That is comprehension.

That is reasoning.

That is literacy.

Phonics matters too.

Reading is not magic.

Reading is a skill.

And skills are built through practice.

There has been a renewed focus on explicit teaching and structured literacy because many learners benefit from being directly taught:

what something means
how something works
examples
practice
feedback

Learning is not guessing.

Learning is building understanding.

Put in the work

I am currently working on my own skills.

Maths.

Extra courses.

Learning new things.

Sitting in that uncomfortable space of not immediately knowing the answer.

Because growth requires that moment.

“I don’t know this yet.”

That word matters.

Yet.

Not:

“I can’t.”

Not:

“I will never understand this.”

But:

“I don’t know this yet.”

That is the mindset that allows people to improve.

Accountability and support can exist together

This is where conversations around disability become complicated.

Because we need both compassion and accountability.

Support matters.

Accessibility matters.

Reasonable adjustments matter.

But support does not mean removing every challenge from life.

A person can need support and still grow.

A person can have barriers and still develop skills.

A person can need accommodations and still be responsible for their own learning.

Those ideas can exist together.

Sometimes the barrier is access.

Sometimes the barrier is a lack of opportunity.

And sometimes the barrier is simply that a skill needs to be developed.

Knowing the difference matters.

Continuing directly from the article.

Media literacy: learning to question what we think we know

This brings us to another important skill:

Media literacy.

Media literacy is not about believing everything in the media.

It is also not about believing nothing.

It is about understanding how information is created, presented, shared, and interpreted.

A headline can influence emotions before a person even reads the article.

A short video can remove context.

An algorithm can show someone more of what they already agree with.

A creator can present an opinion as if it is a fact.

An organisation can frame information around its own goals.

This does not mean everyone is dishonest.

It means we need to understand how information works.

A media-literate person asks:

What is the source?

What is the evidence?

What is the context?

Is this reporting, opinion, advertising, or commentary?

What information might be missing?

Why am I reacting strongly to this?

Am I reacting because I understand the issue?

Or because the presentation is designed to create a reaction?

Those questions are important in disability conversations because disability is often discussed through emotion.

Sometimes that emotion is positive.

Sometimes it is negative.

Sometimes disabled people are portrayed as inspirational heroes.

Sometimes they are portrayed as helpless victims.

Both can remove the reality that disabled people are simply people.

Difficult conversations are part of learning

I think people like Warren Smith and projects such as the Secret Scholar Society are interesting examples of why media literacy matters.

The value is not that everyone has to agree with every opinion.

The value is that people are encouraged to think.

To examine ideas.

To question information.

To understand how arguments are built.

That is a valuable skill.

A person should be able to hear an idea and ask:

Is this true?

Is this supported by evidence?

What assumptions are being made?

What would someone with a different perspective say?

Critical thinking does not mean becoming cynical.

It means becoming thoughtful.

Why some people connect with challenging voices

Another example is Jordan Peterson.

He is a highly discussed and often controversial figure.

Some people find his discussions about responsibility, routine, purpose, meaning, and self-improvement valuable.

Other people strongly disagree with parts of his work, his opinions, or the way some topics are presented.

Both reactions exist.

And that is exactly why media literacy matters.

The question should not simply be:

“Do I like this person?”

The better questions are:

“What are they actually saying?”

“What evidence supports this?”

“What parts do I agree or disagree with?”

“Am I rejecting an idea because it is incorrect, or because it challenges me?”

Jordan Peterson has also discussed topics connected to psychology, mental health, institutions, and society through his professional background and public lectures.

Like any public figure, people should engage with his work critically.

The same standard should apply to everyone.

No creator should be beyond questioning.

No creator should be dismissed without understanding.

The Reddit “poop knife” and the things we assume are normal

One of the best examples of media literacy and questioning assumptions comes from a famous Reddit story often referred to as the “poop knife.”

The original Reddit post has been archived and discussed many times, including through communities that preserve notable internet history.

The story became famous because one person described a household practice that they assumed was completely normal.

They grew up believing everyone had the same experience.

It was only when they shared the story publicly that they discovered:

“No, this is not something everyone does.”

The reason the story became so memorable was not just the unusual detail.

It was the lesson behind it.

Human beings often assume their own experiences are universal.

We think:

“Everyone knows this.”

“Everyone does this.”

“Everyone understands this.”

But our experiences are shaped by our families, communities, cultures, education, and environments.

Something can feel completely normal to one person and completely unfamiliar to another.

That is why curiosity matters.

That is why asking questions matters.

That is why listening matters.

The lesson is not to mock people for not knowing something.

The lesson is recognising that we all have blind spots.

Everyone has areas where they are unaware of what they do not know.

The difference is what happens next.

Do we become defensive?

Or do we become curious?

Disability conversations need curiosity, not assumptions

This applies strongly to disability.

People often make assumptions based on what they personally understand.

Someone may think:

“If I can do this, everyone can.”

Or:

“I would never want that support.”

Or:

“That person should just try harder.”

But disability is not one experience.

People have different needs.

Different abilities.

Different barriers.

Different goals.

A person who needs significant support is not less valuable.

A person who wants independence is not rejecting support.

A person who needs accommodations is not asking for special treatment.

Good support starts with listening.

Support workers and media literacy

Media literacy is also a valuable skill for support workers.

Support workers are constantly helping people navigate the world.

That includes the online world.

People may encounter:

misinformation
scams
unrealistic expectations
online conflict
advertising disguised as advice
political messaging
influencer content

Helping someone understand what they are seeing online is part of building independence.

The goal is not to control what someone watches.

The goal is to help people develop the skills to make informed choices.

Just like any other life skill.

Literacy is bigger than reading words

Literacy is not only about spelling and reading.

It is also about understanding.

Reading information.

Reading situations.

Reading systems.

Reading people.

Understanding when something does not make sense.

Knowing how to find answers.

Knowing when to ask for help.

Every workplace requires literacy.

Not just academic literacy.

Applied literacy.

A cleaner needs to understand chemical instructions and safety information.

A warehouse worker needs measurements and systems.

A retail worker understands stock systems, customer needs, pricing, and organisation.

A support worker needs communication skills, documentation skills, and the ability to understand another person's perspective.

Literacy exists everywhere.

Not everything difficult is oppression

This is one of the hardest conversations to have.

Because sometimes people hear:

“This is difficult.”

And they think:

“This means someone is saying disabled people do not face barriers.”

That is not the argument.

Disability barriers are real.

Access matters.

Inclusion matters.

But recognising that some things are difficult does not deny discrimination exists.

Sometimes something is difficult because it requires learning.

Sometimes something is difficult because it requires practice.

Sometimes something is difficult because it is new.

Difficulty is part of being human.

Growth often happens because something challenges us.

The balance: compassion and responsibility

The best communities understand both sides.

People deserve support.

People deserve dignity.

People deserve access.

And people also deserve the opportunity to learn, grow, make mistakes, and improve.

A person is not empowered by being told they cannot do something.

A person is not supported by having every challenge removed.

Empowerment comes from having the right tools, the right information, and the right support to participate.

Final thoughts: literacy is knowing what to do when you do not know

The biggest lesson is simple.

Nobody knows everything.

Not disabled people.

Not non-disabled people.

Not professionals.

Not creators.

Not experts.

Not me.

Not you.

The important skill is knowing what to do when we do not know.

Look it up.

Ask questions.

Research.

Listen.

Think.

Learn.

Change our minds when new information appears.

That is not weakness.

That is growth.

Seeing a word like “scrying” and not knowing it is not automatically ableism.

It is a moment.

A choice.

You can stop there.

Or you can learn.

Because literacy is not knowing every word.

Literacy is knowing what to do when you do not.

Growth takes effort.

Growth takes humility.

Growth takes curiosity.

Put in the work.

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Annie in wonderland