Jada Babcock Interview

In this episode, Jada Babcock discusses her son and his diagnosis of Chromosome 13 Deletion, writing her book “An Exceptional Life: A story of Faith, Missing Chromosomes, & Unconditional Love,” and the JOYHeartCollective she created with Emily Wolf on Etsy.

Transcript

Mary Baudoin (00:00):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of This Ability podcast. I'm your host, Mary Baudoin. Joining us today is Jada Babcock. Welcome to the show.

Jada Babcock (00:09):

Thank you so much for having me.

Mary Baudoin (00:10):

So Jada, tell our audience a little bit about yourself.

Jada Babcock (00:13):

So I was born and raised in Monroe, Louisiana. So I'm a Yankee. I went to college there as well, met my husband after graduation, we moved around to different states or his job and we settled back in the Lafayette area back in 2008 and we've been here ever since.

Mary Baudoin (00:30):

We have a good bit of topics to talk about today, and so the first thing I want to do is ask you about your family life. So who in your family has special needs and what exactly are they diagnosed with?

Jada Babcock (00:42):

So my 12-year-old son, Coleman has a Mosaic 13q deletion. His formal diagnosis is mosaic chromosome 13q 12.2 through 34 deletion. It doesn't have a common syndrome name. It's basically labeling the parts of his 13th chromosome that he's missing. The mosaic part means that some of his cells carry the deletion and some are normal. Not every single one of his cells has the deletion. Sometimes that can make the severity of some of the conditions that go along with the deletion a little less severe. Sometimes it doesn't. It just depends on the number of cells affected. Coleman with his chromosome deletion, he has several other diagnoses that go along with it, like he's profoundly deaf, he has autism, ADHD and severe anxiety, some neurological malformations and those brain deformities kind of they affect his balance and coordination and motor skills.

Mary Baudoin (01:39):

How old is he?

Jada Babcock (01:39):

He's 12.

Mary Baudoin (01:40):

He's 12.

Jada Babcock (01:41):

Yes. He has a heart defect and some other organ issues that we monitor on a regular basis as well as an intellectual disability.

Mary Baudoin (01:49):

Does he go to school here, homeschool? Tell me a little bit more about that?

Jada Babcock (01:52):

He had gone to public schools from pre-k three through the fourth grade and last September we actually started our homeschool journey. Probably the best decision we've ever made for him, for our family. He's thriving, he's doing really well with that flexibility. And I do utilize the unique learning curriculum. So we do have some structured school time, but then we just apply all of those lessons and skill sets to our everyday activities to life skills, to when we are at the store, when we're cooking, when we're doing all the things we're learning. And he loves that hands-on aspect of and we make it fun.

Mary Baudoin (02:30):

What is a typical day like for you or for him?

Jada Babcock (02:34):

So Coleman is a very early riser. He wakes up between 05:00 and 5:30, just loud and rambunctious and ready to take on the world. Just happy as can be.

Mary Baudoin (02:45):

I wish I could do that.

Jada Babcock (02:46):

Oh, me too.

Mary Baudoin (02:47):

I want to know his secret.

Jada Babcock (02:49):

Mom on the other hand is not a morning person, drink lots of coffee.

Mary Baudoin (02:52):

Same.

Jada Babcock (02:55):

He wants to be independent, he likes to do himself, he likes to be a helper and so he still requires a lot of supervision and assistance doing certain tasks. But for the most part we just prompt him through our morning routine. He gets stressed and we play with our dogs and during the school year we'll have our structured school time in the mornings and then he goes to an outpatient therapy center every day for a few hours where they continue with the support with the autism support and life skills and things like that. He gets his socialization there. He has a very best friend that goes there and he gave him a sign name in the deaf community.

Mary Baudoin (03:35):

So he does utilize American sign language.

Jada Babcock (03:38):

He does that is his choice, his preference or communication expressively especially. He does have a cochlear implant, so he understands spoken language, but he prefers the sign to express. He does have a few spoken words, but very minimal, but he has tons of signs and he's learned to communicate very well with them. So he gave his best friend at therapy a mime name and he'll talk about, he'll sign friend and ask about him. So he gets really excited. He loves going and seeing his friend and his tech and spending the day there. And then we pick him up in the afternoon and we play outside. He's very active, loves sports, and he plays in the summers in an adaptive little league in Lafayette and we ride bikes and he'll run with me and we have an adaptive chair. So if he gets fatigued because he does fatigue pretty quickly, then he'll ride and I'll push him while I run.

(04:31):

And so we play outside a lot, as long as it's not raining, he has a pool and a trampoline and everything. He's going to be out there just having a good time being active. And then we kind of wrap up the day just we go to bed early because we get up so early, we find even if we try to keep him awake later, he still wakes up early. So we're like, well, let's just let him go to bed. So we go through our evening routine with getting him a shower and dinner and all of that, and he kind of unwinds and he's in bed by seven.

Mary Baudoin (05:01):

That's early, but he's an early riser like you said. Before we started recording, you were telling me how rare the condition chromosome 13 deletion. I think you said it's so rare that maybe only five people had that specific type.

Jada Babcock (05:15):

Correct. Yeah. So when he was diagnosed 11 years ago, we found there were about 200 people in the world that had a chromosome 13q deletion. So that's just the generalized condition. His specific deletion, we found approximately five and most of those we just read about in medical journals. We were able to connect with other families via Facebook support groups. We've even met some families in person, we've traveled and they've traveled and connected. And so there were two families that we've met with in person that had his exact diagnosis, extremely rare.

Mary Baudoin (05:54):

What is something that you would want to tell parents if they've just discovered that their child has these conditions was diagnosed with chromosome 13 deletion? What advice or what things would you want to tell them?

Jada Babcock (06:10):

I think because it's so rare, when we received the diagnosis, the geneticist gave us what little information he had and he's like, yeah, it is rare. But I didn't realize how rare until I got on Google and on the internet and I'm like, I'll find information, I'll find other families, we'll be able to connect, it'll be fine. There was nothing. Like I said, we were eventually able to find a Facebook group. I think the most important part was finding those other families, connecting with them, people that get it, right? They've gone through the emotions of receiving that diagnosis. They've gone through the fears of not knowing what the future outlook is and only getting worse case scenarios from medical professionals and your child will never sketches. And so that gets daunting when all you are fed and all you're around is people telling you what they won't be able to do.

(07:03):

And so by connecting with these other families and knowing that they are going to grieve the losses that you have as far as hopes and dreams when you receive that diagnosis, and then they're going to celebrate every success that your child has and celebrate and hold your hand and they get it without you having to explain. Whereas even though you may have a supportive village locally, a family or friends, until you've lived this life, you can't truly understand everything that goes emotionally, physically, every aspect of it. And so finding that community, even if it's just virtual, even if it's on social media and not in person, I mean, just finding someone that gets it, that was the most healing part of knowing that we weren't alone.

Mary Baudoin (07:47):

Yeah, I think that's one of the most important things about support groups is they can't be underestimated because even within the lissencephaly community, which is what my daughter has, there are varying degrees of it. So even though she has a rare neurological condition, she isn't like the other children that we've met virtually as well. And I've met a few parents in person, I think there were two families here in Louisiana that I have met that their children had this encephalic. And each child is unique in their own way. Some have varying degrees of profoundness or some not quite as profound. So it's really interesting how God puts these little packages together for us.

Jada Babcock (08:31):

Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (08:32):

So thank you for sharing that. Now, does he have any siblings?

Jada Babcock (08:36):

He doesn't. He is an only child. He does have cousins, older cousins, and they are wonderful and including him and making him feel like he's just as old as they are. And then like I said, he does have his really good friends at therapy. And then when he was in the school system, he had a couple of really good friends as well that we've stayed in with. So he does have those socialization aspects and those role models to help him as he's getting older. He likes to have older male role models as well. And so yeah, he likes to be one of the cool kids.

Mary Baudoin (09:09):

Is there any particular person other than the Facebook group that we talked about, because I know that's huge for you to be able to connect with other parents, but I guess locally here in Acadiana, have there been any organizations or group of people that have been resourceful to you and your family?

Jada Babcock (09:27):

Absolutely. Just off the top, I mean there's many, but the two that have kind of been there since the beginning, the Louisiana Hands & Voices is an organization that supports families who have children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and they just provide non-biased support so that it doesn't matter whether you use technology, different modalities, whether you sign language, spoken language, doesn't matter which path you take as a family, whatever you decide you want to utilize, that's the right choice. And the organization supports and connects you with other families, resources, that kind of aspect. They have a parent guide program, and so we were connected.

(10:04):

We had gotten all of his secondary diagnosis, but we had still not received the actual genetic diagnosis until he was a year old. So we didn't know what was the cause of all of his struggles and issues and medical conditions. And so what we did know was right before he got discharged from the NICU, he was diagnosed as profoundly death. And so my husband and I were like, you know what? This is what we need to focus on because regardless of all the other things going on, we need to be able to communicate with our child. We need to give him a way to communicate. We don't know what his developmental development will look like, but we're going to give him all the options and we're going to be prepared as parents. And so we started taking sign language classes and kind of working with that.

(10:44):

So the Hands & Voices parent guide program, they connected us with another parent of a child who was deaf. And just having that connection at that point really helped support us and got us connected with all the resources we needed to learn American Sign Language to speak with other families and to have those other connections as well. So that was a big thing. And after a while I actually became a parent guide. So now I get the opportunity to provide the same kind of support to other families. And it's an honor that I'm thankful to have that opportunity because like I said, it was so important not to feel alone and feel like we were the only ones dealing with this diagnosis. And so now I'm given that opportunity to help other families. And I guess the second organization would be ATRO, which is Acadiana Therapeutic Riding Organization.

Mary Baudoin (11:35):

I'm so glad you mentioned that because I've been seeing more and more activity on Facebook with them, and I wasn't familiar with that group until just this year. So tell me about your experience with them.

Jada Babcock (11:47):

So when Coleman was a baby, I mean he was just fresh out of the NICU. We knew he had severe low tone and he was having issues with feeding. And so he was sent to a physical therapist and we went and met with Lorraine Fontana and Lorraine worked with him and had experience with other individuals and kids that had some of his diagnoses. And so she was very optimistic and we're like, we're going to help him reach his goals and reach his potential, and hopefully he'll become remote, we're going to support him, and we're going to set high expectations. So as he became, he was getting closer to age two, he was still very low tone, barely weight-bearing. He had a little walker we were starting to utilize just to try to help him gain strength.

(12:31):

And she said, "I really want to put him on a horse." We were like, okay, put our baby on this large animal, right? It's fine. She said, "Trust me." So we trusted her. The whole process was crazy because Coleman was terrified of horses. So we went through a long and strenuous desensitive process, but he overcame that fear and we were able to get him on horseback. And basically hippotherapy is physical therapy on horseback, so that's where he started. The horse's gaits so closely mimics how a human's hips move when they're walking. So putting a child on horseback, it provides that feedback and input to the nerves and the muscles, and it helps strengthen the core and provide... It's a great way to build all of everything that's required that a child would utilize to walk.

Mary Baudoin (13:22):

I never thought about that. That's an excellent point. And I'm sure that someone from a therapist point of view would definitely agree with that and say, yeah, absolutely.

Jada Babcock (13:32):

Yes. And it's a whole proven science of how and not as knowledgeable as Lorraine would be, but it's amazing. And literally what within weeks after being put on horseback, Coleman started walking independent. And I mean, it was something that we were planning on taking years and years and years and it was just amazing. And so we always had this connection with this program and the horses. So as he got older and stronger, he graduated out of the hippotherapy aspect and he moved to the therapeutic riding. So he actually learns how to take care of his horse. He knows how to brush and how to attack, and this little bitty guy is walking around this ginormous thoroughbred horse, and it's just amazing the confidence he has the ability to, I mean, he and that horse, when he's had a bad day, he will get on that horse and it's like their hearts are communicating. It is unbelievable how in tune a horse is.

Mary Baudoin (14:29):

He's the horse whisperer.

Jada Babcock (14:30):

Yes. Right. Well, and the horse he's currently riding, Brixton is, I don't know, he just senses what Coleman needs, and if Coleman's having a bad day, he just goes slow and just gives Coleman what he needs. And it is just amazing how in tune they are and how connected they are.

Mary Baudoin (14:48):

I'm so glad you said that because I have found animals, especially with my daughter, Lexi being around her. I'm a cat person and we do have a dog and we love her, but I have found that some of my cats, when they get around Lexi, of course, they're very cautious around her, I guess. They don't jump on her. They might just lie down on the foot of her bed, but they'll pick up on different senses whether Lexi's in a bad mood. Ironically, and I know that there are animals that can detect seizures, but I have noticed that animals do respond because she does have epilepsy, so she'll have a seizure and before she does, the animals will act in a different way.

Jada Babcock (15:36):

Yeah, isn't that amazing?

Mary Baudoin (15:36):

It's amazing how they do have a sixth sense and they pick up on that. And so hearing the story about the horse, I definitely can see how that would be possible.

Jada Babcock (15:45):

Yes, and they choose horses. There's a very strenuous testing process that they go through to make sure the animals are a right fit for the program. They have to have certain personality traits, and all of the horses in the program are amazing. But yeah, Coleman loves it, and like I said, sometimes he just does it to get rid of anxiety and whatever he's having, it's like it just melts away. You can see it leaving. And so yeah, it's an amazing organization and we're thankful that to have gotten connected so early on.

Mary Baudoin (16:17):

Thank you for sharing that information with our audience so they can learn more and maybe some of the parents listening will discover this and it can work out beautifully for their child. Let's switch gears a little bit, and I want to thank you for the gift of my book, An Exceptional Life, A Story of Faith, Missing Chromosomes & Unconditional Love, and it is written by you. So tell me more about this book. How did you develop the process of writing and wanting to share your story and things like that?

Jada Babcock (16:48):

So when Coleman was in the NICU, we had a social worker come, I have debilitating anxiety and postpartum it was really, really bad. And so she gave my husband and I a notebook and told us to write down everything what we're feeling, even if it's just a word, whatever we were capable, but just as a process to help us cope with what we were experiencing. Prior to this, my pregnancy was completely normal. The birth was completely normal, so we were just blindsided. We didn't realize that Coleman would have any medical needs after he was born, and so it was a very traumatic experience. We weren't prepared for that. Through that process, I kind of wrote letters to him and just telling him at each stage just kind of opening my heart and what I was feeling and my fears and my hopes for him. And then from that, I used that as my prompt. I expanded on that and created a book form, but it was never really meant to be shared. I wasn't going to publish it.

Mary Baudoin (17:48):

It was for you.

Jada Babcock (17:49):

It was for me. It was how I process things and how I work through things and process my emotions and each step of the way. And so it was more just self-care. It was kind of a coping mechanism that I used to help with anxiety. And so after I wrote it took me years, a little at a time. I ended up sharing it with some very close friends and family and with their encouragement. And I did proceed with getting it published. I'm very private. It was hard opening and exposing your deepest thoughts and feelings in your life-

Mary Baudoin (18:26):

Sure, your life.

Jada Babcock (18:26):

... with the world, right? Coleman is totally different. He's the most confident individual. I wish I had his confidence and he is proud of who he is, and I love that about him. His mama on the other hand, still a little shy. So yeah, it was out of my comfort zone, but I figured that if it could help one family have that connection knowing they're not going through something alone, regardless of if our kids have the same diagnosis or same rare condition, that made it worth getting out of my comfort zone.

Mary Baudoin (18:56):

Yeah, the words that you said perfectly describe how I feel about putting this podcast together. I didn't have to do it. I don't get paid to do it. I'm just doing it for me because I feel like I want to give back to the special needs community, and I know how to put a podcast together for 20 years in marketing, so I'm like, okay, let me put that to use. It's something that I feel like I can do diligence on because when I started researching a while back, this was years ago, podcasts, I didn't see that many for the special needs community, and I was like, you know what? Maybe I can put one together. So with you sharing that, it's something I can relate to. And there's probably other people that are like, yeah, I can do this too.

Jada Babcock (19:39):

I find our stories and our experiences, if we hold onto to them and not share, we may be taking away an ounce of hope or for another family, as selfish as I want to hold onto all of these experiences, it's hard to open up. But knowing that by being a little uncomfortable and sharing our story, that that might offer someone the support they need, offer them hope, offer them just not feeling isolated and alone on this journey, then it's worth it.

Mary Baudoin (20:11):

As we get acclimated with our children's conditions and the millions of things we have to deal with, we start to become a nurse. Absolutely. I have no nursing background whatsoever, but I have learned a whole lot and I'm sure you have too, right? And I'm sure some of that's in the book as well.

Jada Babcock (20:31):

Yeah. I find you grow in ways you never thought possible. I always joke that I had a genetics degree from Google because I had to learn so much of it to try to understand his condition. And then just one of his diagnoses, you're his advocate. You are the one who's going to have to make sure he's receiving the care. You're the one who sees how it affects him daily and the things he's having to overcome. And so you have to become a subject matter expert. And I'm thankful too to live in the time where there is technology.

Mary Baudoin (21:05):

Yes.

Jada Babcock (21:06):

It's those mamas and daddies and guardians and whoever caretakers that did it before the internet and before the easy connection to the world. They deserve the props. They are the real heroes because I can't imagine not having, I mean, it's hard enough having that access, but doing it the old school way that is definitely-

Mary Baudoin (21:27):

And that speaks to me because Lexi's 27 and that's when the internet was just starting to take off, and that was the old dial up internet connection. For those of y'all listening. Those were the early years of the internet when I had Lexi. So now there's so much information out there. And what I love too, sometimes the social media, there are some pros and cons to it, but I think the huge pro with Facebook is the groups aspect is that you can have specific groups for a specific condition and you can connect with other people through that condition, through that group. And it definitely exposes you to other people and you can chat and talk about things that you might not be able to just with your own community.

Jada Babcock (22:20):

Absolutely. And I find too, those groups also have, you have people who have already lived that. You have people that are just now receiving the diagnosis. Then you have some that have different stages of life, different backgrounds, but you're all connected that on that common thing. And so it's really neat to bring just such a diverse group of people together with a common connection. And we're all family regardless. Regardless of where they live, where they've come. We're all connected in that special way that no one else in the world is. And so you become family, you become each other's support, you encourage and you help them through. And like I said, you hold hands and cry with them when they're struggling and you celebrate every success. And it's a really unique experience because these are people you may never have met otherwise.

Mary Baudoin (23:12):

Going back to the book, where can people purchase a copy of it?

Jada Babcock (23:15):

You can get it on Amazon. I know at Target had it on their website as well. There are several different online market, but Amazon's the easiest and most common.

Mary Baudoin (23:23):

And is it available, is it on a Kindle?

Jada Babcock (23:25):

Yes, there is a Kindle hardback and paperback option on Amazon.

Mary Baudoin (23:30):

Great. Great. And do you have a website for the book or a social media page for it or anything like that?

Jada Babcock (23:35):

I do have a Facebook page, but I am literally the worst at updating.

Mary Baudoin (23:41):

It's only because you're just a little busy.

Jada Babcock (23:45):

I am.

Mary Baudoin (23:45):

And look I'm a special needs mom. The special needs mom listening out there, they totally get what you're saying.

Jada Babcock (23:50):

Absolutely.

Mary Baudoin (23:51):

Don't worry about it. You don't have to explain yourself.

Jada Babcock (23:51):

I tried.

Mary Baudoin (23:56):

So let's switch gears again and go to the Etsy shop that I discovered recently. It's called the Joy Heart Collection. Is that right?

Jada Babcock (24:04):

Yeah, so the full name is the Joyful Heart Collection. And so this goes back to kind of what we were talking about, finding your people and your group. Ironically, my friend Emily and her husband and my husband worked together years ago. They're both in the aviation industry and we never could meet up. They have a son with autism as well, and just life and schedule and our children's needs. We were never able to be in the same place at the same time and meet in person. But through one of the support groups on Facebook, we were able to connect.

(24:33):

And then our friendship started with one coffee date, and then we've just FaceTime because there again, being in person, it was really difficult, but that was like seven years ago and we're best friends now, BFFs. But the amazing thing is she understands we support each other, the faith aspect, we support each other with our husbands being gone and we're us carrying the load of doing it all on our own a lot without a family nearby to help. And so we started needing to have some self-care. And so we are both very creative and artistic. And so we found an app where we could do digital art. We would draw and doodle and we would come up with a theme and say, okay, this week let's draw something patriotic. And we would just both, and then we'd FaceTime over coffee and share our designs and kind of go through our life. And so it became a therapeutic tool. And from there we decided to start an Etsy store.

Mary Baudoin (25:32):

And I have visited it and I have shopped at it, by the way, even before today. So I was like, let me do a little research on this. And then I started buying some stuff. Of course my husband, he doesn't know, but-

Jada Babcock (25:44):

We won't tell him, but we appreciate your business.

Mary Baudoin (25:47):

Right?

Jada Babcock (25:48):

So our vision for this Etsy store is we wanted a place where even though life gets tough, and even though circumstances are hard, and it's not always easy to find joy in life, sometimes you have to make that intentional step to find something to be joyful for. And that's where our art started. That's where we started from. And so we decided to expand that and use that. It's our ministry, it's our way to give back. We have two artists that have autism that we collaborate with.

Mary Baudoin (26:23):

I didn't know that because I purchased a few things. I love the artwork on the things that I purchased, but I didn't know they had autism. That's even more special. Well, now I'll just love to shop even more.

Jada Babcock (26:34):

So some of the art is Emily and my art, and then some, we do have collaborators, Elizabeth Bloom and also Isabella Hotard. And Isabella has started her own Etsy store with her art. But we wanted to give a platform for artists to share there, whether it's a caretaker or artist with a disability or just someone interested in sharing, where we have a third party print on demand, so they're able to put their art on different products like mugs and shirts and things like that. So it just gave them a platform where their family and friends can order, and then even the general public, and I mean just amazing artists. And we're very lucky that they wanted to collaborate with us. And so we hope to expand on that aspect too. If there's anyone that wants to share art just to reach out to us, we have snail mail we send out, so every month we have a mailing list that we send encouragement with cards and little gifts and things.

Mary Baudoin (27:26):

That's wonderful. And I have to say, I work here in the university in Lafayette, and this does not apply to the coworkers in the college of business, but there's other people that work in the college and there are what I call a thief of joy. I'm very professional, but sometimes when they leave my office, I think things like, oh yeah, you just took my joy for the day. So looking at your shop, the items there are very motivational and it's uplifting.

Jada Babcock (27:58):

We're not always these little bubble rays of sunshine. We get life, but we wanted to showcase and we wanted to share scripture and things that remind us that yes, our circumstances don't have to dictate our joy levels. We can find things to celebrate and blessings every day. And so that was kind of where we started. We have the ability to when things are struggling or if we're struggling, there's no pressure. We're able to support one another. She is just such a great encourager and she's really good at the marketing and the social media. So anything on there, she's the one because I already covered, I'm the worst. I handle more the financial part. So we have our strengths and our weaknesses compliment each other. And so we're a great team and we have some big plans coming to expand. One day we hope to have a brick and mortar where our boys can work, where we'll have books and where we'll have art and we'll have coffee and awe, the good things in life.

Mary Baudoin (28:52):

Maybe some cats in there too.

Jada Babcock (28:53):

Yeah, hey, whatever.

Mary Baudoin (28:56):

Work with our local adoption center, right?

Jada Babcock (28:59):

They'll be a critter. I'm sure. We're all animal lovers, so they're definitely be an animal or two. That's our vision. And I feel that God really put this on our heart and the passion that we have. It's given us that passion, that purpose to feel like we are caregivers, we're stay at home mothers, which there's value in each of those positions, but we also felt called to try to give back and to provide opportunities and to share things with the world. And so when this gives us a platform to be able to do that, and we've been tremendously blessed through that.

Mary Baudoin (29:29):

You summarized it beautifully. You have referred to scripture and your faith. How important is your faith to you and your family? Really,

Jada Babcock (29:36):

It's everything. I'm a mess. I have severe anxiety. Every day is a struggle. Sometimes getting out of bed. And sometimes-

Mary Baudoin (29:46):

I can relate to what you're saying. I've been diagnosed for many, many years with chronic depression. Of course, part of that too. I do have some anxiety, some OCD-ness and some other things, but I can relate to what you're saying. And sometimes it's hard to find, I want to get out of bed today.

Jada Babcock (30:02):

Right? That's just my aspect of it. That's just my mental health part of it. And then looking and doing hard things and meeting my child's needs. He is my motivation every single day, but I find my faith is the cornerstone. That is how I know I'm going to make it through. All of that to say I rely on it every single day to get through the hard things to overcome that anxiety, those mental health struggles that I have, that within addition to medication and the faith is what gets me through the day, what gives me hope in the long run.

(30:32):

I feel God did knit him together and all his uniqueness, there is nothing wrong with him. He is who he's supposed to be. I don't know how I could look at him and not see the beauty in God's hand in his creation. Just having that hope that even on those bad days, even when it feels like we're not going to be able to do this forever, we're not going to be able to meet Coleman's needs forever and our own needs forever. And it's a marathon, not a sprint. And some days there's just you're tired.

Mary Baudoin (31:03):

Girl, that's relatable. It's tiring.

Jada Babcock (31:05):

It is. And knowing that a lifetime, it's not a burden. Just having the realization that you have to be able to give your child every health-wise, everything financially, you have to make sure that they're taken care of long-term. It's a lot of pressure. It's overwhelming at times. And then, do I have the energy? Am I going to be healthy enough? Am I going to be fit enough to take care of his needs? And so there's a lot of pressure. The faith is what, knowing that I'm not doing it alone, his strength, he's the one that's going to get us through.

(31:35):

And so it's literally everything. And I'm speaking on my behalf. My husband's the same way. I'm not going to speak on his behalf, but as a family, it's very important. And we've been very lucky to be connected with a church, First Baptist Church in Lafayette that has a deaf ministry. His favorite is having us at the music and the hymns and the signing, and he signs. Seeing this child that we didn't know would ever be able to have language, be able to communicate, be able to stand up in front and sign to praise Jesus and-

Mary Baudoin (32:07):

To be inclusive.

Jada Babcock (32:09):

They also have a special needs ministry as well, like a Sunday school class for the older kids that they had a class for their VBS, so very inclusive church. There's so much support in there because Coleman deserves access to that as well. And so that was very important for us to be able to share a faith. At what level he understands and comprehend? It doesn't matter. He is getting access and God knows and provided he needs to be able to have access to that. And it's a beautiful thing that we didn't know we would ever be able to see. It's amazing.

Mary Baudoin (32:38):

You and your family, I can see the spirit that you have and it shines through that you've got a positive outlook.

Jada Babcock (32:45):

I never pretend to have it all figured out. I literally, like I said, I'm a mess. You see me.

Mary Baudoin (32:50):

And that's what makes it real. That's what makes you real and relatable to those of us that are kind of in the same boat.

Jada Babcock (32:57):

When you see me out in public, I look like a hot mess too.

Mary Baudoin (32:59):

Oh yeah.

Jada Babcock (33:00):

And I always tell people we do share the good things on our Facebooks and we try not to share always the struggles because a lot of people don't understand in conversations, I'm going to tell you, life isn't easy all the time, and this is what we're facing. And if you're facing it too, I'm going to get down on the floor and cry with you if you're crying. I try to not pretend or put on any, we have this together. I'm the spokesperson for how everyone should do, right? No, what we've learned took a lot of failures, a lot of falling flat on our face and just picking ourselves back up and just by the grace of God, continue to put one step in front of the other and just trying to give our child everything that we can to help him be as successful as he can.

Mary Baudoin (33:46):

Is there anything else that you'd like to mention before we close out the show today?

Jada Babcock (33:50):

I don't think so. I mean, I think we kind of covered everything. I do want to say real fast. We focused a lot on the conversation, the diagnosis, the aspect of what Coleman faces within his chromosome deletion. I also want to really point out going back to the joy that this child mine literally brings joy to this world. He goes and knows no stranger, and he's a good friend and a good helper, and he has so much value here. He makes this world a better place, and therefore it makes me want to try harder to make this world a better place. His diagnosis and everyone's diagnosis, and it doesn't define who they are, it doesn't correlate to their worth. They are worthy. They're worthy to be included, they are worthy to be loved, they are worthy to be supported, and we should never have to justify their place at the table in the room or wherever out in the world they go.

Mary Baudoin (34:45):

Well, I am looking forward to meeting him one day, and if he's anything like you, I'm sure that he's just the most wonderful person on the planet. Thank you so much for joining us today, Jada. Really appreciate you sharing your story with us. It's going to wrap up this episode of This Ability Podcast. If you are enjoying listening to our podcast, be sure to like our page on Facebook at This Ability Podcast or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Goodbye everyone, and thank you for listening.