Do you think Billie is, as she implies, autistic? How does that affect your view of her and her story?
Yes, I do believe she was on the spectrum, but there wasnāt a name for it at the time nor was there any type of assistance or support for anyone on the spectrum. Weāve come a long way and yet still so far away.
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Iām not sure. Obviously her brain worked differently. She was clearly very intelligent and gifted. I found it very distressing that this intelligence wasnāt seen by her mother and wonder what kind of life she would have had if she had been given the resources to expand and use her intelligence in a meaningful way.
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I have friends and family members who are on the spectrum. Just knowing that they think differently and respond to people and events differently really helps to understand their decisions. This knowing is a path towards empathy and acceptance.
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One of my previous responses discussed my thoughts on this topic. I do believe she was autistic, but Iām so unsure what to think about her parentsā personalities. (Maybe I better look ahead to more discussion questions.)
Billie says that āruminating pointlesslyā was one of her hobbies. With the help of the therapist, she came to terms with this and other mental health concerns. Iām glad that as an adult she was able to find the humor in some of her exceptionalities.
I assumed from the very beginning of the book that Billie was autistic, the main reason why I requested it. However by the end I wasnāt sure, and it didnāt help that I didnāt care for the way the book was written (too many nitty gritty details that I found distracting). However I liked Billie very much and was glad things turned out the way they did for her.
I believe she was on the spectrum. I only wished others could have recognized her potential.
In my opinion, yes. That affects my entire experience of this book - I challenge myself to be more sensitive to peopleās unique challenges, but I have no doubt that I would not have been welcoming to Billie in my childhood. Throughout the book, it was frustrating that there were not more people who supported and accepted her - yet, it would have been hard to do so. And that alone makes the book worth reading - seeing it from Billieās perspective was very eye-opening.
I see Billie as a very intelligent and sensitive girl. Anyone who grows up in a family (most of us do) where weāre not fully appreciated for who we are, impacts us. Billie may be on the spectrum but then I would say most everyone I know is. I think the āautismā spectrum is over-utilized just as before when it was under-utilized.
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I am not sure but she certainly was different. I wish that people would have seen her intelligence. I wish her life would not have been so hard and that others would not have been so mean.
I most definitely felt that Billie was on the autistic spectrum, possibly Aspergers. Interestingly, my doctor, who is a couple of years older than me and a family practitioner, and I recently were talking about kids now versus kids when we were in grade and high school in the 1960-70s. My daughter is an elementary teacher and I noted to my doctor that she has so many kids with a diagnosis or label. He said, āYeah, when we were in school, those were just the weird kids. We didnāt treat them bad, we just accepted them, considered them friends, and went on.ā Iāve often thought about that. How could their lives have been different if they would have received specialized attention? Yet, the fact that we accepted everyone also has to mean something. I also know that perhaps our school was a little unusual for the time because we had a principal who demanded that everyone be treated with respect. He did not tolerate bullying, exclusion, etc. and the whole community knew it and supported him.
In some ways, I very much identified with Billie. I was the kid who always go her homework done in class or study hall and then would either help other kids at the teacherās request or get a World Book Encyclopedia to read. The school librarian let me keep it with me during the day and put a bookmark in it so I knew where I left off. I was shy and worried about how my classmates saw me, yet I had friends, went on overnights, to parties, etc. and did all the things that an average kid does. I was fortunate that my sister and I had parents supported us and loved us.
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