[3][4] When she was six, her family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri,[5] where her father managed movie theaters for fifteen years.
[7][8] After completing her doctorate in 1958, Hillyer traveled in Europe for more than two months before returning to marry Robert M. Davis, a fellow alumni from Madison.
[14] In 1962, when Robert was hired at Loyola University the couple moved to Chicago, and Hillyer began teaching at Mundelein College.
[33] Hillyer also analyzed the internal relationships that make up identity and society's response to the needs and interests of women with disabilities.
[32] She noted that disability forced a reciprocity on the relationship between people as it involved reliance upon others, an ability to give and receive help and empathy, and delegation of responsibility while simultaneously respecting boundaries.
[34][35] Evaluating the relationship between chronic illness, degenerative conditions, and mental health, Hillyer noted that mourning and grief were often recurrent issues for both the person who is cared for and the carer.
In the book, Hillyer drew on her experience as a mother who raised a child with disability and re-examined her ideas of women's autonomy and self-sufficiency.
[13] According to author and scholar Deborah Kent, who is blind,[44] Hillyer's work broke new ground in looking at the foundations of theory in the disability rights and feminist movements.