Intergenerational and Interability Friendships
I feel like I should be too old to have camp friends, but I guess that’s one more gift of getting involved in Hope Heals. Our friend and Hope Heals…
I feel like I should be too old to have camp friends, but I guess that’s one more gift of getting involved in Hope Heals. Our friend and Hope Heals…
Apple YouTube Spotify More! Is disability a tragedy? Is it a gift? What place is there for grief and for joy in this story of disability so many of us…
I used to hate setting goals for Penny. It felt like I was measuring her worth based on how quickly she achieved something I arbitrarily decided for her. I wanted…
At a recent event, one woman asked me what I think of advertisements that include people with Down syndrome and other visible disabilities. Another man asked me what I think…
I will never forget the day that our daughter Penny said to me, “It doesn’t only matter what you think.” We were shopping for a dress, and I was being…
Grateful to write today for Cognoscenti/WBUR, Boston’s NPR station (read the full essay here): "The language we use and the stories we tell shape our behavior, writes Amy Julia Becker.…
To my knowledge, no one has ever called our daughter Penny by the most common slur used to demean people with intellectual disabilities, the r-word. I’m glad she hasn’t been…
Peter and I have often received praise for our parenting when people meet Penny, our daughter who has Down syndrome. That’s all very nice, but it’s clear to me that…
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of being a mother is watching our kids get excluded. I’ve seen it at times for all three of them, but exclusion happens most…
I used to hate setting goals for Penny. It felt like I was measuring her worth based on how quickly she achieved them. Now I see goal setting—for her and…