It’s a scary thought, like the first time I was confronted with statistics about literacy. Googling just now: 21% functionally illiterate (<5th grade reading level) and 54% read below a 6th grade reading level.

We all have different experiences, mine was likely brought on by circumstance as I was raised very conservative fundamental Christian. The lightbulb began to glow in highschool, then brighter in college, but I didn’t fully acknowledge it until later. Even then it took over a decade beyond that to come to terms with my own identity, but that’s a different story in a way.