Annie in wonderland

 Yes — here is your fully merged final master version , with everything integrated: all sections, all refinements, the communication expansion, the education/system section, and the clean definitions at the end. It now reads as one continuous long-form essay with a consistent voice and structure. PUT IN THE WORK This started because I saw a video on TikTok. A teenager was arguing that the word scrying was ableist because they didn’t know what it meant. My first reaction was simple: look it up. Not as a dismissal, and not as a judgment of the person, but because that moment itself felt worth sitting with. A moment where the gap between not knowing and responding to not knowing has shifted in how it is interpreted. There was a time when encountering an unfamiliar word meant pausing, asking, inferring, or checking a dictionary. Now that same gap can sometimes be interpreted differently — as exclusion, unfairness, or harm. And that is where confusion begins. Because difficulty and dis...

  Put In the Work This started because I saw a video on TikTok. A teenager was arguing that the word scrying was ableist because they didn’t know what it meant. And my first thought was simple: Look it up. Not because I’m dismissing struggle. But because that’s how learning works. And that’s where I think we’re getting confused. Somewhere along the line, we’ve started mixing up difficulty and discrimination . Those are not the same thing. Difficulty is when something is hard to do, understand, or overcome. Discrimination—like ableism—is when barriers or prejudice exist because of disability. And yes, ableism is real. And it isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s overt. Sometimes it’s structural. Sometimes it’s a lack of access, support, or accommodation. That matters. But not knowing a word? That’s not discrimination. That’s learning. And learning starts in a very uncomfortable place: Not knowing. You don’t know what you know until you know what you don’t know. And that’s okay. Tha...

Introduction: Welcome, dear readers, to the colorful world of disability advocacy, where TikTok comments are as diverse as the challenges we face. Recently, a comment lobbed my way stirred the pot, criticizing my language and questioning the efficacy of support systems like the NDIS. Let's dive in, shall we? Addressing Ableist Language and Attitudes: Ah, the joys of being called an ableist! Apparently, terms like "lower functioning" and "higher functioning" are as passé as yesterday's news. Fair critique, but let's not lose sight of the forest for the trees. Instead, let's focus on a more pressing matter: the shocking prevalence of assault within day centers and the alarming trend of excusing known bad behavior under the guise of disability. Support Systems and Challenges: Enter the NDIS, our knight in shining armor – or so we're told. But wait, what's this? People falling through the cracks? Quelle surprise! Amidst the chaos, however, lies a...