Rebecca Billings

Recent Activity

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  Rebecca signed the petition | 28 days ago

  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Allow the kidney transplant Amelia Rivera needs to survive
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  Rebecca commented on the petition | 3 months ago

  Help Michigan Students Stop the "License to Bully" Bill

  Persecution of another human being on the grounds of your "sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction" is persecution. In this country, we are not supposed to be allowed to trample the rights of another citizen for any reason. It is morally indefensible to give our children an excuse to harm each other. As a born and raised Michigander, I am horrified at this language being added to an important law. Our kids have a right to be safe in schools. All people have a right to be safe in the streets.

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  Rebecca signed the petition | 3 months ago

  Help Michigan Students Stop the "License to Bully" Bill
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  Rebecca signed the petition | over 2 years ago

  Protect Alaska national parks from industrial mining
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  Rebecca commented on the article | almost 3 years ago

  Autistic Adults are Not Large Children

  Dora, thanks for continuing to educate. I share your blogs on facebook and help pave the way for my seven year old with autism to have a better future.

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  Rebecca signed the petition | almost 3 years ago

  Call on Investors to Stand up for Human Rights in Darfur
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  Rebecca signed the petition | about 3 years ago

  Tell Congress to Support Disability Service Funding in S.1
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  Rebecca commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  The Thin Line Between Desirable and Dehumanizing

  My 6-year-old son was diagnosed with autism just after he turned two. He had been able to identify letters and alphabetize his set of ABC books since he was 20 months old. The professionals referred to this as a "splinter skill." I remember thinking, "Why isn't it just a skill?"
  
  Four and a half years later, he has proven time and time again that he may have this thing someone has called autism, but so what. I've learned to push him along where he needs it (getting himself dressed, for example) and get out of his way in the many areas he does not (he's currently teaching himself Spanish and addition, subtraction, multiplication, & division all at once.)
  
  At the time when we received his initial diagnosis, I remember getting the sense that his future was very limited. When I finally began meeting teens and adults on the spectrum, the panic I'd been feeling that I had to "intervene" and "early" left me and I realized that he was going to be just fine. What he needed from me was what any child needs: to be loved unconditionally, to be cheered-on in his pursuits, and to be supported in areas that were hard for him. In practice, this may look different than it would with a "NT" child, but in every important way, it is just the same.
  
  This seems to me to be a civil rights struggle similar to so many that have come before. It's about changing perceptions, demanding respect and equal opportunity, and celebrating our own (in my case, my son's own) wonderfulness. I think forums like this where people with autism just speak for themselves will be one of the most important parts of this movement. And I'm inspired by the recent victory in the long struggle for racial equality, to have faith that this struggle will ultimately be won, as well. Thanks for writing, Dora. I'll continue to read and learn from your words.

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  Rebecca commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Once Upon a Time, I Tried to Recover My Son From Autism

  My son was diagnosed with autism 4 1/2 years ago. I'm traveling the road Kristina describes and the biggest gripe I have is the overwhelming amount of hostility and anger that exists in this "autism community." I've been suspicious of all the zealous biomedical folk I've met, but some of it has helped my son feel better. I've agonized over abandoning ABA sessions that were helping my son to speak, but turning him from an affectionate, sometimes-social, happy kid into a child who cried everytime there was a knock on the door. Though my two cents matter little in this debate, I am just one mom who TOTALLY gets that my kid is awesome AND who wants to make sure that if the world doesn't get their act together by the time I'm gone, he'll be able to find his place in it somewhere. I'll keep reading, Kristina. Thanks for writing.