how Ryder frames his relationship to being late-deafened, how he describes using and adjusting his hearing aids, his relationship to the complexity of that process. representation of better accessibility measures in the learning environment, including live captioning during classroom lectures. accuracy of how conversations take place between Ryder and others (less lip-reading until combined with hearing augmentation via hearing aids, more texting-based conversations, a bit more ASL). Throughout the book, revisions were focused on subtle but impactful shifts in: While no one character, let alone living person’s, experience represents the totality of a disability, this story’s portrayal is now informed by a Deaf authenticity reader whose experience of being late-deafened echoes my character’s, someone who saw value in Willa and Ryder’s story and who diligently consulted with me to make this book its better self. Only When It's Us now reflects the consideration and authenticity I aspire to in all the books I write. 
Facing contractual obligations that I worried might prevent this, I pursued the help of my professional support system and we found a way to achieve what I’d hoped. When I learned that aspects of the late-deafened representation in Bergman Book 1, Only When It's Us fell short of the standard for authenticity that I strive for, I wanted to correct that through critique and resolution of its inaccuracies. Where I am as an author now is not where I began.
Since beginning my author journey, I have grown in my knowledge of how best to write authentic representation. Only When It's Us Revision, Expansion, and Republication Note, August 21, 2021: Spoilers ahead!
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