ONCE UPON A GENE - EPISODE 034 - The Ladies Behind the Edits
I want my audience to know Erica and Devona, such a big part of my show. They make everything sound beautiful, put it all together and I'm grateful to have stumbled across them.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
What is it like to hear and to edit someone's conversations in their raw form?
It's vulnerable to put something out that's personal and not the finished product. I have a personal relationship with everyone I work with that happens very organically over time. There's a lot of trust that goes into that. It helps that we enjoy listening to your podcast. If you're trying to edit something you have no interest in whatsoever, it makes our job a little harder. It's a major plus that your podcast happens to be something that we live daily and are interested in learning from you and your guests. The content is personal and relatable for us and there's value in it for us. Aside from the backend support is that we fall within your audience.
I posted in a Facebook group about wanting an editor connected to the rare disease or disability community and Erica shared with me about Cam. Can you share a little bit about him?
We're integrated in this community through my baby brother who is 27. He was born in the early 90's and diagnosed with what was then just referred to as mental retardation. He's a grab bag of these acronyms and present day he's on the spectrum, not high functioning, he has hygienic issues, behavioral issues, communication issues and social issues. He's a large part of our life and we see a lot of those same things in Cam. It's worrisome at times because my brother got to the intellectual age of 8 and just stopped. It's a fear for us as moms that we don't know and we don't have a sure diagnosis. Every time we see a specialist, they add something else and we don't know what the projection looks like for Cam.
Have you thought about getting a genetic test for Cam?
His most recent appointment was in December when he turned 4. She just wanted to take things slow. She said as long as he's physically healthy, we're working through his mobility issues through occupational therapy and he's happy and talkative- just let him be and let's see what happens. She didn't have a lot of advice because he's young and it's hard to diagnose things at his age. She wanted to monitor him and see how things go. We've never discussed getting a genetic test done on him.
How did you feel when the doctor told you to wait and see what happens with Cam?
When we first started seeing issues with Cam, Erica was deployed overseas and Cam was about a year and a half old. We were standing in the parking lot when Erica was getting ready to leave. There was a couple standing across from us with teenage kids and they clung to their Daddy and were crying their eyes out and I said to Erica that I was so glad Cam was so young and wouldn't remember this. That first night, Cam would not eat, he wouldn't sleep and he fussed all night long. His vocabulary at that age wasn't incredibly developed, but he'd say basic words like ball, milk, car and Mommy. There was no verbalization for the first 6 months after Erica left. Cam resorted to pointing at everything. I knew something was wrong but his pediatrician disregarded the change due to the fact that he was under stress and didn't know how to cope. By the time I put my foot down in 6 months, his regression was so harsh that it was full-on therapy from then on out. I'm not as concerned that the specialist now wants to wait it out because her reasoning is that she wants to talk about ADHD, but it's too early.
Are you seeing more progression than regression now that Erica is back?
Cam spent 13 months learning and not verbalizing because when Erica came home, he had a lot to say and he still has a lot to say. We've continued with therapy on an ongoing basis. Covid had made things difficult and we're not doing any tele-therapy at all because Cam doesn't have the attention span or tolerance to do it. We do behavioral therapy and occupational therapy and we've graduated from speech therapy.
What was it like for you to see Cam's development when you came home Erica?
About three months after I left, his school started questioning things and pointing out that something was going on with Cam. At that point, I was defensive and I thought he was just regressing and upset because I wasn't there and that everything would go back to normal when I got home. It was frustrating and scary and I was in denial that something was actually going on. All I could do was hope everything was going to be okay when I got home. On a daily basis, Devona would tell me something else going on with Cam and it was disheartening having to be away and unable to be there for my family.
Did you feel pressure on your relationship when you realized Cam was having these issues?
The pressure and stress we were already under from me being away when all this popped up and we just worked together and did what we had to do to get through it. When I came home, things were difficult. I came home from a year long deployment, was trying to reintegrate into society where I have to take care of myself and my family, feed myself, pay bills and things I didn't do for a year. That stress added to what we went through with Cam was difficult. Devona and I are pretty good about recognizing things before they get out of hand. Cam's challenges have not been marital challenges for us. It's been a rebuilding since deployment. There was a lot going on in life at that time. We;'re just enjoying life, we enjoy Cam, we have mutual passions and that's what keeps us bonded.
Why did you make a career out of podcast support and what's behind your why?
Effie, you have helped us to create our mission and we're doing what we're doing because you've inspired us to do so. We volunteer and like to get involved in things important to us, so as we tried to visualize what the business looked like and what it stands for, it became apparent that we wanted to work with people like you who are out doing the hard work, making waves, making people think and speaking to the people who aren't afraid to get out and make change happen.
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED
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