Articles & Essays

Amy Julia is a guest opinion writer for national publications. Her essays include I’m Thankful Every Day for the Decision I Made After My Prenatal Tests for the New York Times, When Merit Drives Out Grace for Plough,  The Ministry of the Disabled, a cover story for Christianity Today, and How Disability Helped Me Understand Privilege for the Washington Post.

Included in this list are also numerous reviews of Amy Julia’s books and interviews with her about her writing. You can search these articles by topic, title, publication or date below and click on the link to be directed to external sites to read the articles.

ArticlePublication/SiteDatelink
An Hour with Penny: Encountering Down SyndromeThe Christian Century1/12/10ReadDown SyndromeDisability
The Good LifeFirst Things12/31/08ReadFaith
The Reality of HopeFirst Things11/17/09ReadFaith
Burdens and BlessingsBloom5/10/10ReadFaith
Deciding Not To Screen for Down Syndrome: Why Prenatal Testing Harms as Much as it HelpsNew York Times9/14/10ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Is It Harder to Have a Child with Down Syndrome?New York Times9/21/10ReadDown SyndromeDisability
A Spiritual Defense of GiftsNew York Times12/17/10ReadParenting
Sleeping Like a BabyNew York Times5/6/11ReadParenting
Learning to Walk In Another's Flip FlopsNew York Times7/28/11ReadParenting
Coming Home after Hurricane IreneChristianity Today9/1/11ReadFaith
Has Down Syndrome Hurt Us?New York Times10/3/11ReadDown SyndromeDisability
With Breakthroughs in Testing, a Choice Becomes TougherTime11/29/11ReadDown SyndromeDisability
My Perfect ChildChristianity Today11/30/11ReadDown SyndromeDisability
How Global Christians Build Bridges around Down SyndromeChristianity Today3/21/12ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Finding The Words To Talk About DisabilityHuffPost5/30/12ReadDisability
Asking Why After a Child's Accidental DeathChristianity Today8/1/12ReadFaithParenting
We Didn't Run AwayHuffington Post9/10/12ReadParentingDown Syndrome
The Importance of Teaching Children Kindness at a Very Young AgeThe Atlantic12/19/12ReadParenting
The Social Construction of Selective AbortionThe Atlantic1/22/13ReadDisability
Roommates and friends: A seminary does disability ministryThe Christian Century2/6/13ReadDisability
Better Prenatal Testing Does Not Mean More AbortionThe Atlantic2/21/13ReadDisabilityDown Syndrome
Missing Out on BeautifulHuffPost3/13/13ReadDown SyndromeDisability
North Dakota's Ban is A Bad Way to Stop Selective AbortionThe Atlantic4/4/13ReadDisability
Loving people with disabilities: An interview with Amy Julia BeckerReligion News Service6/5/13ReadDisabilityDown Syndrome
Can kids with Down syndrome have friends?Religion News Service10/1/14ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Parents, Take Your Kids SeriouslyUSA Today10/24/14ReadParenting
How Having Kids Helped Me Grow UpHuffington Post10/31/14ReadParenting
When a Little Girl With Down Syndrome Showed What's 'Possible'ABC News12/1/14ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Talking About the Holidays With My KidsRachel Held Evans12/19/14ReadParentingFaith
Countdown to Santa: How to keep Christ in Christmas tomorrowReligion News Service12/24/14ReadParentingFaith
Parents: Give Up Your Great ExpectationsChristianity Today, Her.meneutics3/1/15ReadParentingFaith
Ordinary Moms, Everyday HeroesChristianity Today, Her.meneutics5/1/15ReadParentingFaith
Message in the MessInTouch Ministries5/1/15ReadFaithParenting
Let's Stop Pretending We're Being Inclusive on the National Day of PrayerWashington Post5/6/15ReadFaith
A Light in the DarknessBreakpoint10/7/15ReadFaith
Down Syndrome Awareness Month: A Day in the Life of a 9-Year-Old GirlABC News10/13/15ReadDown SyndromeDisability
10 Things I've Learned from My Daughter with Down SyndromeParents Magazine2/16/16ReadDown SyndromeDisability
The Ethics of a Pill for Down SyndromeThe Atlantic3/15/16ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Your Kids Don't Need a MegachurchChristianity Today4/26/16ReadFaith
Why We Need "Useless" PeopleChristianity Today3/21/17ReadDisability
Why I am Ditching the Label "Evangelical" in the Trump EraWashington Post10/18/17ReadFaith
On World Down Syndrome Day, a mother's tribute to her daughter's 'exceptional' communityABC News3/21/18ReadDown SyndromeDisability
The Ministry of the DisabledChristianity Today4/20/18ReadDisability
My daughter has Down Syndrome. Would I "cure" her if I could?Vox8/3/18ReadDown Syndrome
I Grew Up with Black Household HelpChristianity Today9/25/18ReadPrivilege and Race
Even Halfhearted Prayer Can Change ThingsAnn Voskamp's Blog10/4/18ReadFaith
Bound TogetherInTouch Magazine10/22/18ReadFaith
Amy Julia Becker reflects on the burden of white privilegeReligion News Service10/26/18ReadPrivilege and Race
Why My Bad Experience of Barbie as a White Woman Does Not Actually Compare to My Friend’s Bad Experience of Barbie as a Black WomanAuburn Seminary12/10/18ReadPrivilege and Race
What I Learned: How Diversity Benefits Privileged People Like MePrinceton Alumni Weekly3/6/19ReadPrivilege and Race
How Disability Helped Me Understand PrivilegeWashington Post3/21/19ReadPrivilege and RaceDisability
I Graduated from Princeton, But My Daughter Taught Me What MattersHartford Courant3/21/19ReadPrivilege and RaceDown Syndrome
Learning what Happiness Is (And Isn’t) From My Daughter With Down SyndromeThe Christian Century3/21/19ReadDown SyndromeDisability
How I felt when the doctor told us our baby has Down SyndromeMother.ly3/21/19ReadDown SyndromeDisability
When My Daughter Wanted to Quit Dance Class, We Did This InsteadScary Mommy8/10/19ReadParentingDown Syndrome
America Doesn't Fully Value the Disabled. When Will This End?Sojourners3/20/17ReadDisability
Like Mister Rogers before her, Amy Julia Becker is opening doors through our neighborhood’s ‘White Picket Fences’Read the Spirit12/2/18ReadPrivilege and Race
Dismantling Privilege: A Review of "White Picket Fences"Evangelicals for Social Action10/4/18ReadPrivilege and Race
Amy Julia Becker - White Picket Fences Feature ReviewEnglewood Book Review10/11/18ReadPrivilege and Race
How To Participate in HealingQ Ideas4/24/19ReadPrivilege and RaceFaith
Book review: In 'A Good and Perfect Gift,' Amy Julia Becker writes about parenting a child with Down syndromeThe Oregonian9/23/11ReadPrivilege and Race
Loving People with Disabilities: An interview with Amy Julia BeckerJonathan Merritt6/3/11ReadDisabilityDown Syndrome
Ordinary Grace: PW Talks with Amy Julia BeckerAnne Byle12/2/14ReadFaith
Enough to Share in the Land of PlentyChristianity Today6/9/20ReadPrivilege and RaceFaith
Is God anti-racist?Breaking Ground9/15/2020ReadPrivilege and Race
My Daughter with Down Syndrome Helped Me Understand Racism Anabaptist Disabilities Network9/25/2020ReadDown SyndromePrivilege and Race
Five Things I Wish I Had Known When My Daughter Was Born With Down SyndromeChai Mommas03/21/2013ReadDown SyndromeDisability
My child with Down syndrome is not a political statement — and neither is Amy Coney Barrett’sReligion News Service10/26/2020ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Wrestling with Sovereignty in a Kairos YearBreaking Ground11/3/2020ReadFaith
A white woman’s response to the ‘Prayer of a Weary Black Woman’Religion News Service4/16/2021ReadPrivilege and RaceFaith
Becoming Like TreesScience for the Church4/13/2021ReadFaith
Independence Day Calls Us to the Holy Work of RepairChristianity Today6/30/2021ReadPrivilege and RaceFaith
The Hidden Impact of Abled Privilege in the ChurchFaithward7/16/2021ReadDisabilityFaith
When Merit Drives Out GracePlough11/30/2021ReadDisabilityDown Syndrome
I’m Thankful Every Day for the Decision I Made After My Prenatal TestsNew York Times2/1/2022ReadDown SyndromeDisability
How Disability Changed What Easter Means to My FamilyTIME4/16/2022ReadFaithDisability
When the Love Goes Deeper Than the WoundAnn Voskamp7/15/2022ReadHealingFaith
I’m a much better parent of tweens than I was of toddlersMother.ly9/19/2022ReadParentingTeenagers
Where Are All the Children's Books Featuring Kids With Down Syndrome?TIME10/5/2022ReadDown SyndromeDisability
The Sometimes-Painful But Always-Beautiful Gift of Raising a Teen With Down SyndromeInstitute for Family Studies10/19/2022ReadDown syndromeParenting
My daughter has Down syndrome, and her siblings are better for itMother.ly10/27/2022ReadDown syndromeDisability
To Be Made Well: Why modern health obscures what it means to be human.Comment Magazine11/10/2022ReadHealingFaith
From Holistic Health to Holistic GospelChristianity Today11/21/2022ReadHealingDisability
And You Will Be BlessedHope Heals1/12/2023ReadDisabilityFaith
Hillsong was extraordinary. That’s the problem.Religion News Service6/2/2023ReadFaith
Doctors Don't Know How to Talk About Down SyndromeTIME9/11/2023ReadDown SyndromeDisability
Why do I still go to church? It's a good question.Religion News Service9/18/2023ReadFaithFamily
Why kids need to learn the dignity of riskMotherly10/24/2023ReadDown SyndromeParenting
The future I imagine for my daughterCognoscenti10/26/2023ReadDown SyndromeParenting
Worshiping at the church of Taylor SwiftThe Christian Century11/21/2023ReadFaithParenting
God Teaches Me Through My Daughter with Down SyndromeChristianity Today11/29/2023ReadDisabilityFaith
Why our family still makes time for church on SundaysCognoscenti2/23/2024ReadFaithParenting
The Blurring Is Part of the BeautyComment Magazine3/7/2024ReadDisabilityFaith
We can build a culture of belonging — one that includes people with disabilitiesCognoscenti9/4/2024ReadDisabilityDown syndrome
You will need to stay for 15 minutes to see the artReligion News Service12/10/2024ReadFaithDisability