If you're a college student or soon to be one with Moebius, or if you're a parent with such a child, read on:
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Amid concerns from advocates, a U.S. senator is calling on federal
education officials to make information about disability services at the
nation’s colleges more readily available.
In a letter this week, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., asked the U.S.
Department of Education to offer better guidance for those with
disabilities and their families as they investigate postsecondary
education options.
“As colleges admit greater numbers of students with disabilities … it
is vital these students have transparent disability services
information,” Casey wrote in the letter addressed to Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan and John King, who is slated to take over Duncan’s
job later this year.Sixty percent of students with disabilities pursue postsecondary
education within eight years of high school, according to a 2011 federal
report. But, just 40 percent of these students complete college programs compared to 52 percent of students without disabilities.
Advocates say that a lack of information is partly to blame. While
all schools are obligated to provide a minimum-level of assistance to
students with disabilities, some colleges and universities do more than
others to highlight their offerings, according to Lindsay Jones, vice
president of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning
Disabilities.
“We’ve received increasing parent concerns about the transition to
college,” Jones said, adding that families are struggling to find
answers to basic questions like what services are available and what
type of documentation they will need in order to request assistance.
“The reality is that it’s uncharted territory because most people at
colleges and universities are unprepared for people with disabilities to
attend,” she said.
Simple steps like collecting more data about the disability services
offered on college campuses and making it easier for students and their
families to learn about such offerings would go a long way, Casey said.
In particular, the senator recommended that the Department of
Education move to make questions about disability services mandatory on
questionnaires sent to colleges and universities and add a special
search option on the agency’s College Navigator website so that students
with disabilities can find relevant information.
Casey also cited the Obama administration’s College Scorecard, a
nearly 2-year-old website allowing families to compare colleges and
universities based on cost, size, location and graduation rate, among
other factors. Currently, however, he indicated the scorecard offers no
information about disability services on campuses.
Recently announced plans
to create a National Center for Information and Technical Support for
Postsecondary Students With Disabilities are a step in the right
direction, Casey said.
“These small yet significant changes will clarify to the thousands of
students with disabilities graduating high school each year and their
families that disability support services are available and that college
is a place they can succeed,” Casey wrote.
A spokesman for the Education Department said the agency had receive Casey’s letter and would be responding.
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Monday, November 30, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS!
Last week's record--horrible! 5-9.
I am now 98-60 on the year. Time for a rebound!
COLLEGE PICKS
Michigan State at Ohio State. My pick: BUCKEYES. Ohio State despite being a unanimous #1 pick all year has struggled at time. MSU meanwhile is 9-1. Upset? Well, but--Connor Cook is beat up, that Spartan defense just isn't what it has been in seasons past, and the Buckeyes still have a lot of weapons. Advantage: OSU.
Baylor at Oklahoma State. My pick: COWBOYS. Okie State had their trap game last week at Iowa State. It almost got them. But--they somehow got through it, and now are back home where they have played very well. Meanwhile for Baylor--I think their problem is not so much their QB; Stidham has played well. It's instead their defense, which has holes. Oklahoma State to remain unbeaten.
TCU at Oklahoma. My pick: SOONERS. I suspect this game might be closer than people think; I bet that somehow Trevone Boykin will play, plus OU is coming off a big win at Baylor, with now questions over whether Boykin will play and everyone assuming the Sooners will win this one...that can make you prime for a letdown. But--I expect Oklahoma will in the end survive this one; they have been playing very well.
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NFL PICKS
Oakland at Detroit. My pick: RAIDERS 20-16. No, clearly the Lions haven't quit; last week's win at Green Bay showed that. But they still have massive O-line problems, and Oakland has some good offensive weapons.
Indianapolis at Atlanta. My pick: FALCONS 24-10. I know Atlanta has struggled, Indy must again start Matt Hasselbeck, and he is undefeated as a starter. But...ya gotta think Hasselbeck's luck may run out, and at some point the Falcons will get untracked. Probably this week.
NY Jets at Houston. My pick: JETS 13-10. The Texans' defense has some fight; last week in Cincinnati showed that. But Todd Bowles' Jets D can make it really tough on QBs, and I expect that to happen this week. Look for the Jets to force several turnovers.
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia. My pick: EAGLES 21-9. I know the Bucs won last week. But they struggled to score and still made many mistakes. Mark Sanchez isn't that bad; he'll help Philly get this one at home.
Denver at Chicago. My pick: BRONCOS 17-10. The Bears on last week, the Broncos meanwhile suffered an embarrassing loss and Peyton Manning is banged up. I suspect we'll see Brock Osweiler. So why not the Bears? But--they have been an inconsistent team, especially at home, and look for the Broncos defense to play well here, while Osweiler manages the game.
St. Louis at Baltimore. My pick: RAVENS 23-20. Who can figure either of these teams out--especially the Rams, who suffered a horrible loss at home last week against the mediocre Bears? Gotta go with the Ravens here at home, simply because, well, they still have Joe Flacco and...they're due.
Dallas at Miami. My pick: COWBOYS 27-21. Tony Romo is back; but this is still a tough one to pick, as he might be rusty, Miami's defense is playing better and can force turnovers, etc. My guess--Romo will give the Cowboys the jolt they need.
Washington at Carolina. My pick: PANTHERS 30-17. When will people begin to believe in the undefeated Panthers? Maybe after this week, as they win again.
Kansas City at San Diego. My pick: CHIEFS 24-21. The Chargers' injuries on defense and inconsistency on offense will again hurt them here, I suspect, as the somewhat-rejuvenated Chiefs stay on a roll.
Green Bay at Minnesota. My pick: VIKINGS 23-17. One of the biggest stats from Green Bay's loss at home to Detroit last week was this: RB James Starks was held to only 42 yards rushing. The Pack's offense is badly out of sync. That's not good news against a Viking defense that has been stingy all year; and Adrian Peterson now has 4 consecutive 100 yard rushing games. The Pack is in trouble.
San Francisco at Seattle. My pick: SEAHAWKS 21-7. A chance for the Seahawks to at least for one week right the ship--they should do so, as they've dominated the Niners for a while now.
Cincinnati at Arizona. My pick: CARDINALS 28-20. Are people ready to admit? The Arizona Cardinals have a good team; surely last week's win at Seattle proved that. Meanwhile the Bengals have probably lost their mojo a bit after last week's bewildering loss at home to Houston; now they must play a tough road game. Look for AZ to keep it going.
Buffalo at New England. My pick: PATRIOTS 31-17. When will the Patriots finally lose a game this year? Their consistency is amazing, and it starts with Brady. He's playing Monday night, right? Yes? Then the Pats' first loss won't happen here.
I am now 98-60 on the year. Time for a rebound!
COLLEGE PICKS
Michigan State at Ohio State. My pick: BUCKEYES. Ohio State despite being a unanimous #1 pick all year has struggled at time. MSU meanwhile is 9-1. Upset? Well, but--Connor Cook is beat up, that Spartan defense just isn't what it has been in seasons past, and the Buckeyes still have a lot of weapons. Advantage: OSU.
Baylor at Oklahoma State. My pick: COWBOYS. Okie State had their trap game last week at Iowa State. It almost got them. But--they somehow got through it, and now are back home where they have played very well. Meanwhile for Baylor--I think their problem is not so much their QB; Stidham has played well. It's instead their defense, which has holes. Oklahoma State to remain unbeaten.
TCU at Oklahoma. My pick: SOONERS. I suspect this game might be closer than people think; I bet that somehow Trevone Boykin will play, plus OU is coming off a big win at Baylor, with now questions over whether Boykin will play and everyone assuming the Sooners will win this one...that can make you prime for a letdown. But--I expect Oklahoma will in the end survive this one; they have been playing very well.
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NFL PICKS
Oakland at Detroit. My pick: RAIDERS 20-16. No, clearly the Lions haven't quit; last week's win at Green Bay showed that. But they still have massive O-line problems, and Oakland has some good offensive weapons.
Indianapolis at Atlanta. My pick: FALCONS 24-10. I know Atlanta has struggled, Indy must again start Matt Hasselbeck, and he is undefeated as a starter. But...ya gotta think Hasselbeck's luck may run out, and at some point the Falcons will get untracked. Probably this week.
NY Jets at Houston. My pick: JETS 13-10. The Texans' defense has some fight; last week in Cincinnati showed that. But Todd Bowles' Jets D can make it really tough on QBs, and I expect that to happen this week. Look for the Jets to force several turnovers.
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia. My pick: EAGLES 21-9. I know the Bucs won last week. But they struggled to score and still made many mistakes. Mark Sanchez isn't that bad; he'll help Philly get this one at home.
Denver at Chicago. My pick: BRONCOS 17-10. The Bears on last week, the Broncos meanwhile suffered an embarrassing loss and Peyton Manning is banged up. I suspect we'll see Brock Osweiler. So why not the Bears? But--they have been an inconsistent team, especially at home, and look for the Broncos defense to play well here, while Osweiler manages the game.
St. Louis at Baltimore. My pick: RAVENS 23-20. Who can figure either of these teams out--especially the Rams, who suffered a horrible loss at home last week against the mediocre Bears? Gotta go with the Ravens here at home, simply because, well, they still have Joe Flacco and...they're due.
Dallas at Miami. My pick: COWBOYS 27-21. Tony Romo is back; but this is still a tough one to pick, as he might be rusty, Miami's defense is playing better and can force turnovers, etc. My guess--Romo will give the Cowboys the jolt they need.
Washington at Carolina. My pick: PANTHERS 30-17. When will people begin to believe in the undefeated Panthers? Maybe after this week, as they win again.
Kansas City at San Diego. My pick: CHIEFS 24-21. The Chargers' injuries on defense and inconsistency on offense will again hurt them here, I suspect, as the somewhat-rejuvenated Chiefs stay on a roll.
Green Bay at Minnesota. My pick: VIKINGS 23-17. One of the biggest stats from Green Bay's loss at home to Detroit last week was this: RB James Starks was held to only 42 yards rushing. The Pack's offense is badly out of sync. That's not good news against a Viking defense that has been stingy all year; and Adrian Peterson now has 4 consecutive 100 yard rushing games. The Pack is in trouble.
San Francisco at Seattle. My pick: SEAHAWKS 21-7. A chance for the Seahawks to at least for one week right the ship--they should do so, as they've dominated the Niners for a while now.
Cincinnati at Arizona. My pick: CARDINALS 28-20. Are people ready to admit? The Arizona Cardinals have a good team; surely last week's win at Seattle proved that. Meanwhile the Bengals have probably lost their mojo a bit after last week's bewildering loss at home to Houston; now they must play a tough road game. Look for AZ to keep it going.
Buffalo at New England. My pick: PATRIOTS 31-17. When will the Patriots finally lose a game this year? Their consistency is amazing, and it starts with Brady. He's playing Monday night, right? Yes? Then the Pats' first loss won't happen here.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS, AND ALL PARENTS: HOW TO DEAL WITH THE GUILT
I think all parents feel like they ought to do more with their kids, and yet...we're tired, we have to go to work, etc. Yet the guilt remains. I imagine this could be especially acute for Moebius moms and dads, who have a child who might have special needs and attention...and yet, there too, you have to work and make a living. Yet the guilt remains. Below is a piece that is not specifically about parents of children with special needs; yet, still, gets at the issue well. Read on:
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Question: What do you make of guilt? I realize I have to work, but I still feel that tug when the 4-year-old is begging me to stay somewhere with her or asking me to be there at school pickup time. Or sometimes I have to travel. How do others deal with the guilt of doing things because we have to (or, frankly, because we like to do them), without the kids? I know this is an age-old problem. And woe is us, right? I mean, our grandparents had to work in the Depression, and they weren’t sitting around feeling sorry for themselves because they had to go to work. I guess what I’m asking is: How do we deal with that pull to be with our kids but also needing to be at work?
And because it can take humans a long time to adapt to a change or invention, it is easy to spot our failings, shortcomings and struggles when it comes to work/life balance. When I say “our failings,” I am referring society as a whole. From inadequate paid-leave laws and missed signs of loneliness and depression in new parents to the new parents who burn the candle at both ends and don’t have the supports in place to catch them when they fall.
As we try to adapt to our working culture, parenting is difficult all on its own. When you add the stresses of career, day care, school schedules, typical childhood illnesses, complex schedules, marriage and the grind of everyday life? Well, how can you not feel guilty? Something must be sacrificed. It is an untenable system. Period. This is where the guilt comes in.
I like Merriam-Webster’s definition of guilt: “Responsibility for a crime or for doing something bad or wrong; a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong.”
This is a useful definition because it provides a very clear way to think about your own emotional life. Are you responsible for doing something wrong or bad? Are you breaking a law? Of course not. Yet, the “something” wrong or bad may be that you are going against a conviction, a principle that you hold dear.
Even though Americans are somewhat obsessed with living “guilt-free,” guilt is an amazingly clear and helpful emotion when you are living in opposition to your values.
So, I am asking you this: Do your life and how you are raising your family reflect your values?
I know that is a loaded question. Let’s face it: Balance is elusive, and it’s day-to-day.
But if you look at the bigger picture, does the trajectory feel good? Do you think, “Hmm, yes, this is okay. I like what I am seeing here.” Or do you feel defeated? Angry? Depressed? Pay attention to those feelings. I am not suggesting you blow up your career or make sweeping changes, but you should have some important conversations with people in your life and think about how you are living.
The second definition, “a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong,” is also interesting.
The operative word in this definition is “thinking.” You think you should feel bad. You think you may be doing something wrong. You think that you are not in line with your values, and so guilt pops up.
This guilt needs to be challenged differently. Although it does affect fathers, I see a strong case of the “shoulds” impacting mostly mothers. Why? There are a variety of reasons (and you should read Brigid Schulte’s “Overwhelmed” to learn more about this), but essentially, “women in the workplace” is a new development, historically speaking. Women are largely expected to do everything a stay-at-home mother was doing and bring home the bacon. All while smiling. Simply put: Mothers haven’t found our footing in the work/family life. We need our cultural and political systems to help us more, but we also need to be kinder to ourselves. Much kinder.
Of course we are pulled to be with our children. We are biologically wired to want to be close to our children, and they to us. This is how our species keeps going. And children are also biologically programmed to be able to withstand periods of emotional and physical distance, but this works only if the relationship is strong enough to bear the separation. What does this mean? The stronger the connection, plus the older the child, equals the child’s (and the parent’s) ability to be apart.
What do you do from here? First of all, stop piling on with the Great Depression stories. It takes no effort to find people who are suffering 10 times more than you are. All you are doing is finding a way to shame yourself for your feelings, so stop that. You are being unkind to you, and that is not okay.
Next, find a mothers group, a church group, a therapist, a coach (anyone compassionate and loving and challenging). This will help you talk out your feelings and look at your guilt, rather just be a reactive victim of it.
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Question: What do you make of guilt? I realize I have to work, but I still feel that tug when the 4-year-old is begging me to stay somewhere with her or asking me to be there at school pickup time. Or sometimes I have to travel. How do others deal with the guilt of doing things because we have to (or, frankly, because we like to do them), without the kids? I know this is an age-old problem. And woe is us, right? I mean, our grandparents had to work in the Depression, and they weren’t sitting around feeling sorry for themselves because they had to go to work. I guess what I’m asking is: How do we deal with that pull to be with our kids but also needing to be at work?
A You have a couple of
questions here and, believe me, if I knew a simple way to alleviate
guilt in working parents, you would have already heard about it and I
would be a very rich woman.
First off, this is tough because
two-working-parent homes are pretty new in American culture. We have
very little to model when it comes to working and not feeling guilty,
and that tug between work time and family time. And because it can take humans a long time to adapt to a change or invention, it is easy to spot our failings, shortcomings and struggles when it comes to work/life balance. When I say “our failings,” I am referring society as a whole. From inadequate paid-leave laws and missed signs of loneliness and depression in new parents to the new parents who burn the candle at both ends and don’t have the supports in place to catch them when they fall.
As we try to adapt to our working culture, parenting is difficult all on its own. When you add the stresses of career, day care, school schedules, typical childhood illnesses, complex schedules, marriage and the grind of everyday life? Well, how can you not feel guilty? Something must be sacrificed. It is an untenable system. Period. This is where the guilt comes in.
I like Merriam-Webster’s definition of guilt: “Responsibility for a crime or for doing something bad or wrong; a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong.”
This is a useful definition because it provides a very clear way to think about your own emotional life. Are you responsible for doing something wrong or bad? Are you breaking a law? Of course not. Yet, the “something” wrong or bad may be that you are going against a conviction, a principle that you hold dear.
Even though Americans are somewhat obsessed with living “guilt-free,” guilt is an amazingly clear and helpful emotion when you are living in opposition to your values.
So, I am asking you this: Do your life and how you are raising your family reflect your values?
I know that is a loaded question. Let’s face it: Balance is elusive, and it’s day-to-day.
But if you look at the bigger picture, does the trajectory feel good? Do you think, “Hmm, yes, this is okay. I like what I am seeing here.” Or do you feel defeated? Angry? Depressed? Pay attention to those feelings. I am not suggesting you blow up your career or make sweeping changes, but you should have some important conversations with people in your life and think about how you are living.
The second definition, “a bad feeling caused by knowing or thinking that you have done something bad or wrong,” is also interesting.
The operative word in this definition is “thinking.” You think you should feel bad. You think you may be doing something wrong. You think that you are not in line with your values, and so guilt pops up.
This guilt needs to be challenged differently. Although it does affect fathers, I see a strong case of the “shoulds” impacting mostly mothers. Why? There are a variety of reasons (and you should read Brigid Schulte’s “Overwhelmed” to learn more about this), but essentially, “women in the workplace” is a new development, historically speaking. Women are largely expected to do everything a stay-at-home mother was doing and bring home the bacon. All while smiling. Simply put: Mothers haven’t found our footing in the work/family life. We need our cultural and political systems to help us more, but we also need to be kinder to ourselves. Much kinder.
Of course we are pulled to be with our children. We are biologically wired to want to be close to our children, and they to us. This is how our species keeps going. And children are also biologically programmed to be able to withstand periods of emotional and physical distance, but this works only if the relationship is strong enough to bear the separation. What does this mean? The stronger the connection, plus the older the child, equals the child’s (and the parent’s) ability to be apart.
What do you do from here? First of all, stop piling on with the Great Depression stories. It takes no effort to find people who are suffering 10 times more than you are. All you are doing is finding a way to shame yourself for your feelings, so stop that. You are being unkind to you, and that is not okay.
Next, find a mothers group, a church group, a therapist, a coach (anyone compassionate and loving and challenging). This will help you talk out your feelings and look at your guilt, rather just be a reactive victim of it.
Finally,
look at the connection with your 4-year-old. Even if you work (and love
it) and even if you are busy, there is always time to connect with your
child. Have an honest conversation with yourself about your
connections, and then make a plan for more time. More time snuggling,
more time playing, more time laughing, more time doing what 4-year-old
children like to do. If you stay in the place of worry and despair and
shame, your guilt will take over and lead you to believe you have no
choice.
You are asking the right questions. Keep going.******************************
Monday, November 16, 2015
AWARENESS WATCH: A WATER PARK FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Read more about it:
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Five years after establishing the world’s first fully-accessible
theme park, construction is underway on a water park where every
attraction promises to be disability-friendly.
Morgan’s Wonderland, located in San Antonio, said this week that it is expanding with a water park.
The new offering called Morgan’s Inspiration Island is expected to open in the spring of 2017. It will include five water attractions, all of which will be fully wheelchair accessible, officials said.
“In many ways, creating Morgan’s Inspiration Island feels a lot like it did when our team designed and built Morgan’s Wonderland with special-needs individuals in mind — it’s never been done before,” said Gordon Hartman, the philanthropist behind the parks.
Hartman opened Morgan’s Wonderland in 2010, inspired by his daughter, Morgan, 22, who has cognitive and physical challenges. The existing 25-acre park includes more than two-dozen wheelchair-accessible offerings ranging from rides to playgrounds and gardens.
To design the new tropical-themed paradise, Hartman said his team consulted with water park experts across multiple states as well as doctors and therapists.
The park plans to offer waterproof wheelchairs for guests and some areas will include heated water for individuals sensitive to cold. Waterproof wristbands with tracking technology will also be available so that parents can locate their children at the facility.
Attractions will include a boat ride through a jungle setting complete with animal sounds as well as rain trees, waterfalls, pools, geysers, jets, water cannons and tipping buckets.
Construction costs for the four-acre water park are estimated at $12 million.
Since its opening, Morgan’s Wonderland has attracted over 500,000 visitors from across the United States and around the globe, park officials said.
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Text Size A A
Morgan’s
Wonderland in San Antonio is adding a multimillion-dollar water park
that’s expected to open in 2017. (Morgan’s Wonderland)
Morgan’s Wonderland, located in San Antonio, said this week that it is expanding with a water park.
The new offering called Morgan’s Inspiration Island is expected to open in the spring of 2017. It will include five water attractions, all of which will be fully wheelchair accessible, officials said.
“In many ways, creating Morgan’s Inspiration Island feels a lot like it did when our team designed and built Morgan’s Wonderland with special-needs individuals in mind — it’s never been done before,” said Gordon Hartman, the philanthropist behind the parks.
Hartman opened Morgan’s Wonderland in 2010, inspired by his daughter, Morgan, 22, who has cognitive and physical challenges. The existing 25-acre park includes more than two-dozen wheelchair-accessible offerings ranging from rides to playgrounds and gardens.
To design the new tropical-themed paradise, Hartman said his team consulted with water park experts across multiple states as well as doctors and therapists.
The park plans to offer waterproof wheelchairs for guests and some areas will include heated water for individuals sensitive to cold. Waterproof wristbands with tracking technology will also be available so that parents can locate their children at the facility.
Attractions will include a boat ride through a jungle setting complete with animal sounds as well as rain trees, waterfalls, pools, geysers, jets, water cannons and tipping buckets.
Construction costs for the four-acre water park are estimated at $12 million.
Since its opening, Morgan’s Wonderland has attracted over 500,000 visitors from across the United States and around the globe, park officials said.
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Friday, November 13, 2015
FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS TIME!!
Last week I went 11-5...
For the year I am now 93-51. Not bad!
Here we go:
COLLEGE PICK
I will just pick one college game this week, but it's a big one:
Oklahoma at Baylor. My pick: SOONERS. Yes, I know--Baylor is about a 2 point favorite, and they are at home. But: Oklahoma is on a roll; they've won several games in a row and looked impressive in each one of them. And Baylor is after all having to play their backup QB; he looked all right in his first game but this is big, big test, and I just don't see Baylor being the same team they were before their starter got hurt. Advantage: Sooners.
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NFL PICKS
Detroit at Green Bay. My pick: PACKERS 30-14. The Pack has a breather, and can use it to fix some of their problems.
Dallas at Tampa Bay. My pick: COWBOYS 23-21. Because probably the Cowboys are just due to find a way to win one; and probably this time it will be the young Bucs making mistakes, more so than the 'Boys.
Carolina at Tennessee. My pick: PANTHERS 26-20. I don't expect this to be a blowout, despite Carolina's undefeated record; the Panthers are coming off a big home win vs Green Bay, and now go on the road to face a losing team. Lack of focus is a possibility. But I expect Cam Newton will find a way to win this one in the end.
Chicago at St. Louis. My pick: RAMS 27-14. The Bears have a ton of injuries; and the Rams' defense should for the most part hold them in check.
New Orleans at Washington. My pick: SAINTS 27-24. What can you say about either of these teams? You're never quite sure who will show up. The Saints blew a golden opportunity for a win last week at home against an inferior opponent; but...I'm guessing this week that Drew Brees and co will find a way to outscore 'em.
Miami at Philadelphia. My pick: EAGLES 30-20. I'm not sure that everything yet is fixed in Philly with that offense, but...it does seem to be coming on and improving; and look for the opportunistic Philly defense to force Dolphin miscues.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh. My pick: STEELERS 20-10. Will it in the end be Johnny Manziel for the Brownies? Will it be Mike Vick for Pittsburgh? In the end I doubt it will matter that much--here's a chance for the Steelers to win at home against an inferior opponent, and I doubt they'll waste it.
Jacksonville at Baltimore. My pick: RAVENS 28-23. Baltimore should certainly win this game at home against an inferior opponent...but don't expect a blowout. The Ravens' suspect defense makes sure of that; but...Joe Flacco will see to it that they score enough points to win.
Minnesota at Oakland. My pick: RAIDERS 24-20. The Vikings have the superior record, but...Teddy Bridgewater was injured in the last game, and his status is questionable; the Vikings won a tough game at home last week, and now they have to go on the road to the west coast against a tougher-than-expected Raiders team. Advantage: Raiders.
New England at NY Giants. My pick: PATRIOTS 31-24. I see the Giants as being competitive in this game; they usually, historically, have played the Pats tough. But New England and Tom Brady have not only been good, they have been very CONSISTENT...and given that, how can one pick against them???
Kansas City at Denver. My pick: BRONCOS 24-17. Denver is coming off a surprising first loss at Indy. Goes to show how difficult it is to go undefeated. But I would expect their usual combination of running the ball and tough D to help them win out here.
Arizona at Seattle. My pick: CARDINALS 20-17. Yes, the Seahawks are favored in this game and are tough at home. But: the Cardinals have a lot of weapons and a lot of speed, and Carson Palmer is playing well. Meanwhile...when you see Seattle...I just don't get the feeling that offense is really clicking, and that they are playing their best. Advantage: Cardinals.
Houston at Cincinnati. My pick: BENGALS 31-14. Here's another chance, as they did last game vs Cleveland, for the Bengals to take care of business at home against an inferior opponent. My guess is they will.
For the year I am now 93-51. Not bad!
Here we go:
COLLEGE PICK
I will just pick one college game this week, but it's a big one:
Oklahoma at Baylor. My pick: SOONERS. Yes, I know--Baylor is about a 2 point favorite, and they are at home. But: Oklahoma is on a roll; they've won several games in a row and looked impressive in each one of them. And Baylor is after all having to play their backup QB; he looked all right in his first game but this is big, big test, and I just don't see Baylor being the same team they were before their starter got hurt. Advantage: Sooners.
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NFL PICKS
Detroit at Green Bay. My pick: PACKERS 30-14. The Pack has a breather, and can use it to fix some of their problems.
Dallas at Tampa Bay. My pick: COWBOYS 23-21. Because probably the Cowboys are just due to find a way to win one; and probably this time it will be the young Bucs making mistakes, more so than the 'Boys.
Carolina at Tennessee. My pick: PANTHERS 26-20. I don't expect this to be a blowout, despite Carolina's undefeated record; the Panthers are coming off a big home win vs Green Bay, and now go on the road to face a losing team. Lack of focus is a possibility. But I expect Cam Newton will find a way to win this one in the end.
Chicago at St. Louis. My pick: RAMS 27-14. The Bears have a ton of injuries; and the Rams' defense should for the most part hold them in check.
New Orleans at Washington. My pick: SAINTS 27-24. What can you say about either of these teams? You're never quite sure who will show up. The Saints blew a golden opportunity for a win last week at home against an inferior opponent; but...I'm guessing this week that Drew Brees and co will find a way to outscore 'em.
Miami at Philadelphia. My pick: EAGLES 30-20. I'm not sure that everything yet is fixed in Philly with that offense, but...it does seem to be coming on and improving; and look for the opportunistic Philly defense to force Dolphin miscues.
Cleveland at Pittsburgh. My pick: STEELERS 20-10. Will it in the end be Johnny Manziel for the Brownies? Will it be Mike Vick for Pittsburgh? In the end I doubt it will matter that much--here's a chance for the Steelers to win at home against an inferior opponent, and I doubt they'll waste it.
Jacksonville at Baltimore. My pick: RAVENS 28-23. Baltimore should certainly win this game at home against an inferior opponent...but don't expect a blowout. The Ravens' suspect defense makes sure of that; but...Joe Flacco will see to it that they score enough points to win.
Minnesota at Oakland. My pick: RAIDERS 24-20. The Vikings have the superior record, but...Teddy Bridgewater was injured in the last game, and his status is questionable; the Vikings won a tough game at home last week, and now they have to go on the road to the west coast against a tougher-than-expected Raiders team. Advantage: Raiders.
New England at NY Giants. My pick: PATRIOTS 31-24. I see the Giants as being competitive in this game; they usually, historically, have played the Pats tough. But New England and Tom Brady have not only been good, they have been very CONSISTENT...and given that, how can one pick against them???
Kansas City at Denver. My pick: BRONCOS 24-17. Denver is coming off a surprising first loss at Indy. Goes to show how difficult it is to go undefeated. But I would expect their usual combination of running the ball and tough D to help them win out here.
Arizona at Seattle. My pick: CARDINALS 20-17. Yes, the Seahawks are favored in this game and are tough at home. But: the Cardinals have a lot of weapons and a lot of speed, and Carson Palmer is playing well. Meanwhile...when you see Seattle...I just don't get the feeling that offense is really clicking, and that they are playing their best. Advantage: Cardinals.
Houston at Cincinnati. My pick: BENGALS 31-14. Here's another chance, as they did last game vs Cleveland, for the Bengals to take care of business at home against an inferior opponent. My guess is they will.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
I-JUST-THOUGHT-THIS-WAS-INTERESTING DEPT: TEENS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Reports: some teens might be spending as much as 9 hours per day on social media. Moebius teens and others: is this true, do you think? Moebius moms and dads: do you see any of this as well? Do teens and 20-somethings with Moebius use social media just as much as do non-Moebius teens? Just some questions that pop into my head. Read on:
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You probably won't be surprised to hear that a new report found that teens and tweens spend a lot of time watching TV, videos and movies, playing video games, reading, listening to music and checking social media, but you might be somewhat shocked (I was!) by just how much time.
************************
You probably won't be surprised to hear that a new report found that teens and tweens spend a lot of time watching TV, videos and movies, playing video games, reading, listening to music and checking social media, but you might be somewhat shocked (I was!) by just how much time.
On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on helping children, parents and educators navigate the world of media and technology.
Let's
just put nine hours in context for a second. That's more time than
teens typically spend sleeping, and more time than they spend with their
parents and teachers. And the nine hours does not include time spent
using media at school or for their homework.
Tweens, identified as children 8 to 12, spend about six hours, on average, consuming media, the report found.
"I
think the sheer volume of media technology that kids are exposed to on a
daily basis is mind-boggling," said James Steyer, chief executive
officer and founder of Common Sense Media, in an interview.
"It just shows you that these kids live in
this massive 24/7 digital media technology world, and it's shaping
every aspect of their life. They spend far more time with media
technology than any other thing in their life. This is the dominant
intermediary in their life."
The
report, the first large-scale study to explore tweens and teens' use of
the full range of media, according to Common Sense Media, is based on a
national sample of more than 2,600 young people ages 8 to 18.
When
it comes to consuming media on screens, including laptops. smartphones
and tablets, teens, on average, spend more than six and a half hours on
screens and tweens more than four and a half hours, the report found.
"I
just think that it should be a complete wake-up call to every parent,
educator, policymaker, business person (and) tech industry person that
the reshaping of our media tech landscape is first and foremost
affecting young people's lives and reshaping childhood and adolescence,"
said Steyer, who's most recent book is "Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age."
Here are a few more eye-opening highlights about the media habits of Generation Z, according to the report:
No. 1: What's wrong with multitasking?
If
teens are, on average, spending nine hours a day consuming media, it's
not such a surprise they're often doing it while doing their homework.
Half of teens say they "often" or "sometimes" use social media or watch
TV while doing their homework. Some 60% say they text and more than 75%
say they listen to music while working on schoolwork at home.
And
of the kids who multitask, most don't think it effects the quality of
their work. Nearly two-thirds say watching TV or texting makes no
difference and more than 50% feel the same way when it comes to social
media.
"Teenagers think that
multitasking during homework doesn't affect their ability to learn and
... we know it does," said Steyer, citing studies such as one at Stanford,
which found dramatic differences in cognitive control and the ability
to process information between heavy media multitaskers and light media
multitaskers.
"It's completely obvious that you can't multitask and be as effective and competent."
No. 2: Boys choose Xbox, Girls Instagram
There are definite gender differences when it comes to media habits of teens and tweens.
Some
62% of teen boys say they enjoy playing video games "a lot" versus 20%
of girls. When it comes to using social media, 44% of teen girls say
they enjoy it "a lot" versus 29% for boys. Girls, on average, spend
about 40 minutes more on social networks than boys, with girls spending
about an hour and a half a day on social media and boys a little under
an hour.
"I
definitely think it shows that girls use media and technology today for
more social interaction and boys are much more likely to be gamers,
including addicted gamers," said Steyer of Common Sense Media. "There
are real differences between boys and girls so that's a message to
parents and educators, you have to be aware of the differences."
No. 3: The digital equality gap is real
While
ours kids are growing up in a 24/7 digital world, children in lower
income households have less access to technology than kids from
wealthier families. Only 54% of teens in households making less than
$35,000 a year have a laptop in their home versus 92% of teens in
households making $100,000 a year or more.
"There's
an access gap that whether you like the impact of media or technology
on our kids' lives and there are pros and cons, the truth is poor kids
have far less access than wealthy kids do and that's just wrong
especially when Internet platforms and digital platforms are so key to
everything from school to getting a job to connecting with other
people," said Steyer. "So closing the digital inequality gap is a huge
public-policy issue."
No. 4: Guess what? TV and music still tops
Despite
all the new media tweens and teens have at their disposal -- everything
from Instagram to YouTube to Xbox, tweens and teens still rank watching
TV and listening to music as the activities they enjoy "a lot" and do
every day, ahead of playing video games and mobile games, watching
online videos and using social media. In fact, only 10% of teens ranked
social media as their favorite activity.
"I think the bottom line there is it's a
utility now," said Steyer referring to social media. "Increasingly kids
are realizing that Facebook and Instagram and SnapChat, they go there
and ... they feel they have to go there but they don't love it and
that's good. In my opinion, that's good."
No. 5: 'It's a mobile world'
Consider
these stats: 53% of tweens -- kids 8 to 12 -- have their own tablet (my
kids will try to use this as ammunition to get a tablet of their own!),
and 67% of teens have their own smartphones. Mobile devices account for
41% of all screen time for tweens and 46% for teens.
"It's a mobile world so these kids live on
mobile platforms," said Steyer. "I mean if you look at the numbers,
it's clear that you have this clear transformation of teens and tweens'
lives through digital and mobile platforms."
The
implications of this digital transformation are huge for tweens and
teens, educators, policymakers and parents. For one, living and
communicating via mobile devices gets in the way of empathy, said
Steyer.
Texting is so much less
empathetic than having a conversation in person and looking somebody in
the eye and having physical or at least a verbal presence with them, he
said.
Add in the issues of digital
addiction and the attention and distraction implications that come with
mobile devices, and "empathy is really, really under siege," he said.
"That's
a huge issue in terms of society and human relationships and how young
people are evolving in a social, emotional context." he added, saying
more research is needed.
Common Sense Media's next study, due out next year, is about the impact of digital addiction and distraction.
************************************
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
INTERESTED IN A SERVICE DOG? THIS GROUP TRAINS PEOPLE AND PUPS TOGETHER
Many in the Moebius community are interested in service dogs these days; and you may be eligible for one. But how do the dogs themselves get trained, and then how do people get trained to use them in the best way? Read on:
*****************************
FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s the first day of classes, and Pippa can barely contain her excitement. She knows she’s supposed to sit still and listen to instructions, and for one so young and full of energy, she does an admirable job.
Fortunately, the promise of a treat makes it easier to pay attention.
Pippa is a 4-month-old Vizsla puppy with a smooth caramel coat, big droopy ears and the kind of soft, sweet eyes that make humans melt. She’s intently engaged with her surroundings and with what she’s being taught in her first class with IDEA Service Dogs of Keller.
Her owners, 16-year-old Lina Perez and her mom, Katie, live in far north Fort Worth, and have come to IDEA’s founder, Maureen Bennett, to learn how to train Pippa to be a seizure response dog.
It’s an atypical situation. Usually, service dogs are selected and trained and fostered during a lengthy and expensive process, then, finally, assigned to the people they’re meant to serve. But Bennett handles things differently, keeping the future service dogs and their people together from the get-go, so that the relationship starts off strong and the dogs aren’t transferred through a variety of caregivers while they’re growing and working on their skills.
Lina, who has periodic seizures, has a lot riding on Pippa’s success. The plan is to teach Pippa to go get help if Lina has a seizure and to be able to retrieve a packet with medicine and instructions.
“In the future, I’d love to move out of the house and go to college, so having a service dog will be added security and companionship,” she says.
In a private session before the first group class, Pippa only wriggles a little while getting buckled into her service dog in training vest. The new royal blue apparel bears that telltale patch with the slogan, “Please don’t pet me I’m working.”
Lina has a bag of small treats and a clicker to reward good behavior, and when Pippa lies on a small rug at Lina’s feet, it earns her a click and a treat.
Right now, Bennett has eight canine “students” divided into two IDEA training classes, plus another dog taking a private class. The classroom for the IDEA dogs — the name stands for Independence Dogs for Everyone With Differing Abilities — is in the garage of Bennett’s home, a remodeled, air-conditioned space where classes take place on Sunday afternoons, September through June.
She keeps her groups small because it gets crowded: Besides four trainers in attendance, each dog is accompanied by its owner with a disability and another family member who also participates.
“We treat service dog training as a family affair,” says Bennett.
While most traditional programs insist on one person giving the orders, IDEA’s practice is to educate the family on commands and methods. A list of 60 different commands that dogs are expected to learn during a two-year period range from the usual “sit” and “down” to higher-level tasks like turning off lights or finding a misplaced item — an inhaler, for instance.
Training focuses on the use of treats and praise — reinforcing good behavior and ignoring bad behavior. In addition, the program’s mission is to provide service dogs at an affordable cost, thus the novel concept of equipping families with the training knowledge and allowing a pet owner with a disability to use a dog he already has, provided the animal has a good temperament for service.
“Our goal is for the dog to be ‘bullet-proof’ in public, first, and then to learn special skills to help the disabled person,” Bennett says.
Like the Perezes, Shari Hanna was intrigued by Bennett’s program and the possibility of training her own service dog. Because of a degenerative disease she developed at age 12, she has had more than 20 surgeries on her hip and retains a pronounced limp. Hanna has had two service dogs in the past and is in the process of training Crockett, an 11-month-old golden retriever, as her third. A special handle on Crockett’s harness provides his owner with some relief and support, and he accompanies her to work in software support at American Airlines every day.
Currently, the pair is part of IDEA’s more advanced class. Although he just started in February, Crockett is a quick study, Hanna says. Even at his young age, he’s learned to not get overly excited by the attention of others and has been exposed to as many different animals as Hanna can find. He also goes to a variety of stores and events with her, and recently accompanied her to a movie.
“I work with him most every day. We do some sort of little practice,” she says.
A.J. Wilson relies on IDEA for lessons with his Australian Shepherd, Flint, a former show dog. At 26, Wilson has had Type 1 diabetes since he was 9, and he and Bennett are taking private lessons with the goal of making Flint a diabetic alert dog.
Although the sweet-tempered pup didn’t work out in the ring, Bennett says his intelligence and sunny personality make him a good candidate for service. This is Bennett’s first time to train a diabetic alert dog, and she says Wilson must intentionally make his blood sugar get a little out of balance and swab his saliva with a cotton ball. He freezes the sample, and samples of normal readings, in marked vials. The vials are thawed out for training and hidden around Wilson’s apartment.
Flint earns a treat when he alerts them to an out-of-balance sample. Eventually, they’ll train him to associate the scent with Wilson and be able to help.
“When I start to go low, he should determine it almost immediately,” Wilson says. “Once he’s got that figured out, we’ll teach him to open the fridge and get something for it.”
Bennett did not start her career working with dogs, but her own health issues led her toward the new path.
Some 20 years ago, while living in California, the sudden — and painful — onset of rheumatoid arthritis was followed by a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that can cause some of the vertebrae in the spine to fuse together. In less than four months, she went from running three or four miles several days a week to not being able to do anything. She had to quit her job and says she spent most of a year stuck in bed.
Eventually, her pursuit of various treatments allowed her to get up and around, and while using her corporate experience to help administer grants to local nonprofits, she came in contact with a traditional service dog organization. Soon, she was raising puppies for the group, serving on the board and learning how to train service dogs.
The traditional model in service dog training is that puppies spend the first 18 months being raised in a foster home, learning basic obedience and socialization. Next, dogs go into kennels to work with trainers who teach them to perform the tasks a person with a disability might need. Dogs that learn the skills and are calm and confident graduate to service.
One of Bennett’s foster pups, a golden retriever named Mercy, flunked out of traditional training and became the inspiration behind IDEA Service Dogs.
Mercy was smart and eager to learn when the pair met in 2002, and Bennett had no problem teaching her basic obedience. Soon, Mercy had been sent off for service training, but after a number of months, Bennett learned that the young dog had failed the program. As the story goes, Mercy was afraid of balloons and waving flags and was deemed unsuitable. With puppy raisers getting first dibs on animal adoptions for “failures” they’ve housed, she jumped at the chance to bring Mercy back home.
Bennett learned of another approach to training service dogs with Leashes for Living, a group that focused on assisting those with disabilities and their families in training their own service dogs at a fraction of the cost of traditional programs. The duo enrolled in the two-year program. They passed with flying colors.
Bennett got involved with teaching Leashes For Living classes and kept busy there until her marriage to Jerry Bennett — and a move to Texas in 2006. The two had known each other 30 years earlier when they worked together and reconnected over the phone.
Two years later, she started IDEA Service Dogs in Keller. Jerry has the official title of director of the nonprofit, although he jokes that his unofficial title is “vice president of poop” because he picks up after the dogs following their end-of-class play session in the backyard.
“He’s so supportive,” Bennett says. “I couldn’t do this without him.”
In 2011, Mercy died, and Bennett still talks often of how special her first service dog was. Now, she has a new canine partner, 4-year-old Sophie, another golden retriever who is well-on her way to becoming “bullet-proof” in public and is eager to learn new skills.
On a recent Friday afternoon, Bennett was teaching her to pick up a dropped credit card, a tricky task on hard floors. Retrieving dropped items is Sophie’s primary task, but she also helps provide stability and mobility assistance to Bennett. The command “brace” means Sophie will be ready for Bennett to lean against her for support.
Although she is already an IDEA graduate, Sophie is a perpetual student. Bennett says she continues attending training classes because her calm, contented demeanor rubs off on the other dogs and she can demonstrate skills.
At the age of 63, Bennett doesn’t allow her mobility challenges to stop her; she is tireless — and passionate — when it comes to IDEA Service Dogs.
“I hope to do it until I can’t,” she says. “It’s what makes life worthwhile.”
© 2015 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
*****************************
*****************************
FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s the first day of classes, and Pippa can barely contain her excitement. She knows she’s supposed to sit still and listen to instructions, and for one so young and full of energy, she does an admirable job.
Fortunately, the promise of a treat makes it easier to pay attention.
Pippa is a 4-month-old Vizsla puppy with a smooth caramel coat, big droopy ears and the kind of soft, sweet eyes that make humans melt. She’s intently engaged with her surroundings and with what she’s being taught in her first class with IDEA Service Dogs of Keller.
Her owners, 16-year-old Lina Perez and her mom, Katie, live in far north Fort Worth, and have come to IDEA’s founder, Maureen Bennett, to learn how to train Pippa to be a seizure response dog.
It’s an atypical situation. Usually, service dogs are selected and trained and fostered during a lengthy and expensive process, then, finally, assigned to the people they’re meant to serve. But Bennett handles things differently, keeping the future service dogs and their people together from the get-go, so that the relationship starts off strong and the dogs aren’t transferred through a variety of caregivers while they’re growing and working on their skills.
Lina, who has periodic seizures, has a lot riding on Pippa’s success. The plan is to teach Pippa to go get help if Lina has a seizure and to be able to retrieve a packet with medicine and instructions.
“In the future, I’d love to move out of the house and go to college, so having a service dog will be added security and companionship,” she says.
In a private session before the first group class, Pippa only wriggles a little while getting buckled into her service dog in training vest. The new royal blue apparel bears that telltale patch with the slogan, “Please don’t pet me I’m working.”
Lina has a bag of small treats and a clicker to reward good behavior, and when Pippa lies on a small rug at Lina’s feet, it earns her a click and a treat.
Right now, Bennett has eight canine “students” divided into two IDEA training classes, plus another dog taking a private class. The classroom for the IDEA dogs — the name stands for Independence Dogs for Everyone With Differing Abilities — is in the garage of Bennett’s home, a remodeled, air-conditioned space where classes take place on Sunday afternoons, September through June.
She keeps her groups small because it gets crowded: Besides four trainers in attendance, each dog is accompanied by its owner with a disability and another family member who also participates.
“We treat service dog training as a family affair,” says Bennett.
While most traditional programs insist on one person giving the orders, IDEA’s practice is to educate the family on commands and methods. A list of 60 different commands that dogs are expected to learn during a two-year period range from the usual “sit” and “down” to higher-level tasks like turning off lights or finding a misplaced item — an inhaler, for instance.
Training focuses on the use of treats and praise — reinforcing good behavior and ignoring bad behavior. In addition, the program’s mission is to provide service dogs at an affordable cost, thus the novel concept of equipping families with the training knowledge and allowing a pet owner with a disability to use a dog he already has, provided the animal has a good temperament for service.
“Our goal is for the dog to be ‘bullet-proof’ in public, first, and then to learn special skills to help the disabled person,” Bennett says.
Like the Perezes, Shari Hanna was intrigued by Bennett’s program and the possibility of training her own service dog. Because of a degenerative disease she developed at age 12, she has had more than 20 surgeries on her hip and retains a pronounced limp. Hanna has had two service dogs in the past and is in the process of training Crockett, an 11-month-old golden retriever, as her third. A special handle on Crockett’s harness provides his owner with some relief and support, and he accompanies her to work in software support at American Airlines every day.
Currently, the pair is part of IDEA’s more advanced class. Although he just started in February, Crockett is a quick study, Hanna says. Even at his young age, he’s learned to not get overly excited by the attention of others and has been exposed to as many different animals as Hanna can find. He also goes to a variety of stores and events with her, and recently accompanied her to a movie.
“I work with him most every day. We do some sort of little practice,” she says.
A.J. Wilson relies on IDEA for lessons with his Australian Shepherd, Flint, a former show dog. At 26, Wilson has had Type 1 diabetes since he was 9, and he and Bennett are taking private lessons with the goal of making Flint a diabetic alert dog.
Although the sweet-tempered pup didn’t work out in the ring, Bennett says his intelligence and sunny personality make him a good candidate for service. This is Bennett’s first time to train a diabetic alert dog, and she says Wilson must intentionally make his blood sugar get a little out of balance and swab his saliva with a cotton ball. He freezes the sample, and samples of normal readings, in marked vials. The vials are thawed out for training and hidden around Wilson’s apartment.
Flint earns a treat when he alerts them to an out-of-balance sample. Eventually, they’ll train him to associate the scent with Wilson and be able to help.
“When I start to go low, he should determine it almost immediately,” Wilson says. “Once he’s got that figured out, we’ll teach him to open the fridge and get something for it.”
Bennett did not start her career working with dogs, but her own health issues led her toward the new path.
Some 20 years ago, while living in California, the sudden — and painful — onset of rheumatoid arthritis was followed by a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that can cause some of the vertebrae in the spine to fuse together. In less than four months, she went from running three or four miles several days a week to not being able to do anything. She had to quit her job and says she spent most of a year stuck in bed.
Eventually, her pursuit of various treatments allowed her to get up and around, and while using her corporate experience to help administer grants to local nonprofits, she came in contact with a traditional service dog organization. Soon, she was raising puppies for the group, serving on the board and learning how to train service dogs.
The traditional model in service dog training is that puppies spend the first 18 months being raised in a foster home, learning basic obedience and socialization. Next, dogs go into kennels to work with trainers who teach them to perform the tasks a person with a disability might need. Dogs that learn the skills and are calm and confident graduate to service.
One of Bennett’s foster pups, a golden retriever named Mercy, flunked out of traditional training and became the inspiration behind IDEA Service Dogs.
Mercy was smart and eager to learn when the pair met in 2002, and Bennett had no problem teaching her basic obedience. Soon, Mercy had been sent off for service training, but after a number of months, Bennett learned that the young dog had failed the program. As the story goes, Mercy was afraid of balloons and waving flags and was deemed unsuitable. With puppy raisers getting first dibs on animal adoptions for “failures” they’ve housed, she jumped at the chance to bring Mercy back home.
Bennett learned of another approach to training service dogs with Leashes for Living, a group that focused on assisting those with disabilities and their families in training their own service dogs at a fraction of the cost of traditional programs. The duo enrolled in the two-year program. They passed with flying colors.
Bennett got involved with teaching Leashes For Living classes and kept busy there until her marriage to Jerry Bennett — and a move to Texas in 2006. The two had known each other 30 years earlier when they worked together and reconnected over the phone.
Two years later, she started IDEA Service Dogs in Keller. Jerry has the official title of director of the nonprofit, although he jokes that his unofficial title is “vice president of poop” because he picks up after the dogs following their end-of-class play session in the backyard.
“He’s so supportive,” Bennett says. “I couldn’t do this without him.”
In 2011, Mercy died, and Bennett still talks often of how special her first service dog was. Now, she has a new canine partner, 4-year-old Sophie, another golden retriever who is well-on her way to becoming “bullet-proof” in public and is eager to learn new skills.
On a recent Friday afternoon, Bennett was teaching her to pick up a dropped credit card, a tricky task on hard floors. Retrieving dropped items is Sophie’s primary task, but she also helps provide stability and mobility assistance to Bennett. The command “brace” means Sophie will be ready for Bennett to lean against her for support.
Although she is already an IDEA graduate, Sophie is a perpetual student. Bennett says she continues attending training classes because her calm, contented demeanor rubs off on the other dogs and she can demonstrate skills.
At the age of 63, Bennett doesn’t allow her mobility challenges to stop her; she is tireless — and passionate — when it comes to IDEA Service Dogs.
“I hope to do it until I can’t,” she says. “It’s what makes life worthwhile.”
© 2015 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
*****************************
Friday, November 6, 2015
FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS!!
Wow, last week I went 13-2!
That put me at 82-46 for the year.
Let's keep it going!!
COLLEGE PICKS
Some big games this week. Here we go:
Florida State at Clemson. My pick: TIGERS. Everyone keeps saying Clemson's going to slip up here or there. No sign of it yet--they have tons of speed, and that's big. They keep rolling.
TCU at Oklahoma State. My pick: HORNED FROGS. Should still be plenty of points scored here, but...I think Gary Patterson is getting that Frog defense to where it needs to be. If so, look out Big 12.
LSU at Alabama. My pick: CRIMSON TIDE. I don't think this is a lock; I expect a close game (indeed, the last time 'Bama played at home in a game they were supposed to win, they almost lost--to Tennessee of all people). But I suspect the Tide will pull this one out in the end.
******************
NFL PICKS
Green Bay at Carolina. My pick: PANTHERS 24-20. I don't think Pack fans should panic; but I think their team is entering a mid-season slump. People have disrespected Carolina all year. Yet they are undefeated, and have a front four that can pressure Aaron Rodgers. Look out Pack.
Washington at New England. My pick: PATRIOTS 34-10. This one should be a blowout by halftime.
Tennessee at New Orleans. My pick: SAINTS 30-17. Okay, can we finally say that the Saints and Drew Brees have whatever ailed them fixed? My guess is we can, certainly for this week.
Miami at Buffalo. My pick: BILLS 21-18. Although with these two teams, who knows? But--I suspect Miami will still be suffering a Patriots hangover.
St. Louis at Minnesota. My pick: VIKINGS 20-17. A tough game to pick; two teams coming off multiple wins in a row and improving. But--while the Rams have Todd Gurley, still the Vikes have Adrian Peterson; and he'll make the difference.
Jacksonville at NY Jets. My pick: JETS 24-10. Because the Jets perhaps will now be over their post-Patriots hangover (it takes a couple of weeks).
Oakland at Pittsburgh. My pick: STEELERS 21-17. An intriguing game, and who'd have thought we'd have been saying that about a Raiders game this far in? But they've improved. Still--you have to think that Ben Roethlisberger, with a game under his belt now, will find a way to get this one.
Tampa Bay at NY Giants. My pick: GIANTS 28-17. The win one/lose one Giants are due to win one; AND...look for Antonio Rodgers-Cromartie to get another pick off of the young Jameis Winston.
Atlanta at San Francisco. My pick: FALCONS 24-13. Atlanta and Matty Ice have been struggling. But hey! Going to play the Niners is a perfect tonic.
Denver at Indianapolis. My pick: BRONCOS 27-17. Denver showed last week just how good they could be. The Colts meanwhile to continue to struggle; having a weak O-line against this pass rush is not a good sign.
Philadelphia at Dallas. My pick: EAGLES 20-16. Philly has had its problems. But Matt Cassel has not been the answer for the Cowboys; plus, news is earlier this week he had on a knee brace, plus now today's news has Dez Bryant feuding with the news media and new revelations about Greg Hardy. Lots of distractions; and key--not a great QB.
Chicago at San Diego. My pick: CHARGERS 28-24. Two struggling teams, but if Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers get into rhythms offensively, it could be an interesting shootout and an entertaining game. Look for the Chargers to score late and pull it out.
That put me at 82-46 for the year.
Let's keep it going!!
COLLEGE PICKS
Some big games this week. Here we go:
Florida State at Clemson. My pick: TIGERS. Everyone keeps saying Clemson's going to slip up here or there. No sign of it yet--they have tons of speed, and that's big. They keep rolling.
TCU at Oklahoma State. My pick: HORNED FROGS. Should still be plenty of points scored here, but...I think Gary Patterson is getting that Frog defense to where it needs to be. If so, look out Big 12.
LSU at Alabama. My pick: CRIMSON TIDE. I don't think this is a lock; I expect a close game (indeed, the last time 'Bama played at home in a game they were supposed to win, they almost lost--to Tennessee of all people). But I suspect the Tide will pull this one out in the end.
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NFL PICKS
Green Bay at Carolina. My pick: PANTHERS 24-20. I don't think Pack fans should panic; but I think their team is entering a mid-season slump. People have disrespected Carolina all year. Yet they are undefeated, and have a front four that can pressure Aaron Rodgers. Look out Pack.
Washington at New England. My pick: PATRIOTS 34-10. This one should be a blowout by halftime.
Tennessee at New Orleans. My pick: SAINTS 30-17. Okay, can we finally say that the Saints and Drew Brees have whatever ailed them fixed? My guess is we can, certainly for this week.
Miami at Buffalo. My pick: BILLS 21-18. Although with these two teams, who knows? But--I suspect Miami will still be suffering a Patriots hangover.
St. Louis at Minnesota. My pick: VIKINGS 20-17. A tough game to pick; two teams coming off multiple wins in a row and improving. But--while the Rams have Todd Gurley, still the Vikes have Adrian Peterson; and he'll make the difference.
Jacksonville at NY Jets. My pick: JETS 24-10. Because the Jets perhaps will now be over their post-Patriots hangover (it takes a couple of weeks).
Oakland at Pittsburgh. My pick: STEELERS 21-17. An intriguing game, and who'd have thought we'd have been saying that about a Raiders game this far in? But they've improved. Still--you have to think that Ben Roethlisberger, with a game under his belt now, will find a way to get this one.
Tampa Bay at NY Giants. My pick: GIANTS 28-17. The win one/lose one Giants are due to win one; AND...look for Antonio Rodgers-Cromartie to get another pick off of the young Jameis Winston.
Atlanta at San Francisco. My pick: FALCONS 24-13. Atlanta and Matty Ice have been struggling. But hey! Going to play the Niners is a perfect tonic.
Denver at Indianapolis. My pick: BRONCOS 27-17. Denver showed last week just how good they could be. The Colts meanwhile to continue to struggle; having a weak O-line against this pass rush is not a good sign.
Philadelphia at Dallas. My pick: EAGLES 20-16. Philly has had its problems. But Matt Cassel has not been the answer for the Cowboys; plus, news is earlier this week he had on a knee brace, plus now today's news has Dez Bryant feuding with the news media and new revelations about Greg Hardy. Lots of distractions; and key--not a great QB.
Chicago at San Diego. My pick: CHARGERS 28-24. Two struggling teams, but if Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers get into rhythms offensively, it could be an interesting shootout and an entertaining game. Look for the Chargers to score late and pull it out.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS (AND ALL OTHER MOMS AND DADS!): 15 UNEXPECTED LESSONS OF PARENTHOOD
From the I Just Thought This Was Interesting Department. And I think all parents can identify with these lessons:
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Parenting is a strange endeavor. Without any instruction, testing or training we are thrust into a foreign land and entrusted to take on the most challenging and consequential work of our lives. I knew from the beginning I would occasionally fail, but I hoped more often than not I would meet with success. With my role as my children’s primary teacher, I was prepared for the many lessons that lay ahead. At least the usual stuff. Numbers, colors, the alphabet. And as they grew older how to tie a shoe or look both ways before crossing the street or set up a YouTube account.
While I didn’t expect to always know the answers, I believed I’d be able to figure things out along the way. But there are a few things for which I was unprepared, things that simply never occurred to me as lessons in need of teaching. These things transcended the typical parental concerns, and I’d mistakenly believe them to be instinctual or at the very least so obvious as to negate explanation. What I came to learn, though, was that when you have children everything is in need of explanation. Even if the kids are older. Even if they’re highly intelligent. Even if it defies all reason.
Here are a few of those things.
15 Unexpected Lessons of Parenthood
While I’d never considered hand-washing to be a continuing education course, it seems lessons instilled with great care and emphasis early on erode over time. These concepts need to be reintroduced regularly – and perhaps indefinitely – for full effectiveness, a lesson I learned quite incidentally one horrific day.
I wasn’t paying much attention that day when my son went to use the bathroom. My kids had been washing their hands independently for years so when I glanced up casually and spotted him through the door left ajar what I witnessed was shocking. He’d turned on the water and squirted glob soap into the palm of his hand, and while it would appear I should be happy he followed proper bathroom protocol, it’s what happened next that terrified me.
He took the quivering, white mound of bubbles and immediately shoved it under the faucet into the flowing stream of running water. He rinsed the whole thing right down the drain. Before it was spread over his hands. There was no rubbing, no scrubbing, no washing of any kind. He might as well have dumped the bottle of soap directly into the drainpipe. The fact that any soap had touched his hand was a mere technicality.
That was the day it hit me. When it comes to kids, the job is never done. You must explain everything all the time, repeatedly, every single day for the rest of your life. Into infinity.
Or at least until they move out.
Stacey Gill is the mastermind behind the humor blog, One FunnyMotha, and co-author of I Still Just Want to Pee Alone, the third book in The New York Times best-selling series. Find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
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Parenting is a strange endeavor. Without any instruction, testing or training we are thrust into a foreign land and entrusted to take on the most challenging and consequential work of our lives. I knew from the beginning I would occasionally fail, but I hoped more often than not I would meet with success. With my role as my children’s primary teacher, I was prepared for the many lessons that lay ahead. At least the usual stuff. Numbers, colors, the alphabet. And as they grew older how to tie a shoe or look both ways before crossing the street or set up a YouTube account.
While I didn’t expect to always know the answers, I believed I’d be able to figure things out along the way. But there are a few things for which I was unprepared, things that simply never occurred to me as lessons in need of teaching. These things transcended the typical parental concerns, and I’d mistakenly believe them to be instinctual or at the very least so obvious as to negate explanation. What I came to learn, though, was that when you have children everything is in need of explanation. Even if the kids are older. Even if they’re highly intelligent. Even if it defies all reason.
Here are a few of those things.
15 Unexpected Lessons of Parenthood
- How to play. Many days my kids seem to have forgotten that instinctive quality inherent in all young, and without direct and specific instruction from me they seem lost as to how perform this activity. Something they had done for years suddenly eluded them, and it was left to me to suggest they consult the closet for one of their 900,236 toys or encourage them to Race to the Roof (literally or figuratively – at that point I didn’t care) or have some Elephun or Go Fish. Anything other than follow me around the house all day long.
- How clothing must be changed daily. Wearing the same outfit two consecutive days in a row is not condoned by civilized society and will result in merciless mockery. Please know if you choose this route, I wash my hands of the entire situation.
- How changing underwear is not optional. I thought humans were born with the knowledge that new outfit equals new underwear – that this knowledge is what set us apart from other species. This, too, turns out to be a learned behavior, one that must be reinforced vociferously and repeatedly for it to be fully internalized.
- How boots with shorts is not an acceptable look. I don’t care if Arianna Grande’s mother lets her do it.
- How to exit the shower. What seems fairly self-evident is apparently in need of a detailed set of instructions for children to successfully complete the task. So I decided to create a step-by-step guide: First, open the curtain on the side of the tub before which a bath mat has been placed. Next, step onto the bath mat. Finally, towel dry. You are now ready to move on to the dressing phase.
- How bathing is a good. Especially after a visit to the McDonald’s ball pit or swimming in the town pool or attending middle school gym class. Counter to your opinion, it is not a form of punishment. And smelling won’t win you any friends.
- How to make toast. Again, I’ve created another step-by-step guide to help encourage success. First, take out the bread. Next, place slice in the toaster. Finally, push down button. When the lever pops back up, you have toast.
- How I have no special extra-sensory powers in determining the weather. I feel the same exact weather conditions you do so if you ask me while we are standing outside on a hot, sunny day what the weather is going to be like, I will respond, “Exactly like this.”
- How no one needs a 100-ounce Slurpee. I don’t care if it comes with free refills.
- How the instructions on the box of macaroni and cheese are there for a reason. That reason is to show you how to make it. If you don’t know how much butter to add, ask the box. Not me.
- How the utensils placed next to dinner plates are intended for use. They are not merely decorative.
- How when the temperature dips below zero, jackets are required. It’s just the law. Similarly, when you feel cold, clothing will help.
- Alternately, how when it’s 90 degrees out with 100 percent humidity, flannel pajamas are not appropriate.
- How when riding in the car, driving advice is not welcome. Unless one has a valid driver’s license and at least 20 years driving experience.
- How hands have to be washed. With soap. Especially after using the bathroom. Or it doesn’t count. I’m talking about after the kids have seemingly mastered this hard-won lesson.
While I’d never considered hand-washing to be a continuing education course, it seems lessons instilled with great care and emphasis early on erode over time. These concepts need to be reintroduced regularly – and perhaps indefinitely – for full effectiveness, a lesson I learned quite incidentally one horrific day.
I wasn’t paying much attention that day when my son went to use the bathroom. My kids had been washing their hands independently for years so when I glanced up casually and spotted him through the door left ajar what I witnessed was shocking. He’d turned on the water and squirted glob soap into the palm of his hand, and while it would appear I should be happy he followed proper bathroom protocol, it’s what happened next that terrified me.
He took the quivering, white mound of bubbles and immediately shoved it under the faucet into the flowing stream of running water. He rinsed the whole thing right down the drain. Before it was spread over his hands. There was no rubbing, no scrubbing, no washing of any kind. He might as well have dumped the bottle of soap directly into the drainpipe. The fact that any soap had touched his hand was a mere technicality.
That was the day it hit me. When it comes to kids, the job is never done. You must explain everything all the time, repeatedly, every single day for the rest of your life. Into infinity.
Or at least until they move out.
Stacey Gill is the mastermind behind the humor blog, One FunnyMotha, and co-author of I Still Just Want to Pee Alone, the third book in The New York Times best-selling series. Find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
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Monday, November 2, 2015
AWARENESS WATCH: FAKE COVER LETTERS EXPOSE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THOSE WITH DISABILITIES
Sad story. But not surprising. This is definitely something to be aware of. My suggestion is this: if you have Moebius, and are sending in an application for a job with a cover letter, I would not mention your Moebius in your letter. There's no need to. BUT--if you go in for an interview, when the interview begins, Moebius is one of the first things I would talk about. Everyone can see you have it. It is the elephant in the room. From the get-go, then, you can prove two things: that you have courage to talk about yourself and who you are; and that by doing so, you are as qualified as anyone else. Read on. From the New York Times:
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Employers
appear to discriminate against well-qualified job candidates who have a
disability, researchers at Rutgers and Syracuse universities have
concluded.
The
researchers, who sent résumés and cover letters on behalf of fictitious
candidates for thousands of accounting jobs, found that employers
expressed interest in candidates who disclosed a disability about 26
percent less frequently than in candidates who did not.
“I
don’t think we were astounded by the fact that there were fewer
expressions of interest” for people with disabilities, said Lisa Schur, a
Rutgers political scientist who was part of the research team. “But I
don’t think we were expecting it to be as large.”
The
sole variation among the otherwise identically qualified candidates
appeared in the cover letters, which revealed a disability for some but
not for others.
The study,
though it deals only with the accounting profession, may help explain
why just 34 percent of working-age people with disabilities were
employed as of 2013, versus 74 percent of those without disabilities.
Previous
studies attempting to explain why disabled people are employed at lower
rates generally suffered from their inability to control for subtle
differences in qualifications that may have made disabled job candidates
less attractive to employers, or for the possibility that disabled
people were simply less interested in employment.
Other
studies, based on surveys or laboratory experiments that asked people
how likely they would be to hire a hypothetical disabled candidate,
suffered from the possibility that some respondents were simply telling
researchers what they thought was socially acceptable. Volunteers in
such studies may have also differed in key ways from the human resources
personnel who act as gatekeepers for job candidates, according to Meera
Adya, another co-author, who is a social psychologist at Syracuse
University.
The fictitious cover letter approach, which other scholars have used to document discrimination on the basis of race and gender, largely solved these problems.
“These
kinds of experiments are very important in research on discrimination,
and to the best of my knowledge this is the first serious attempt to do
this kind of experiment on disability discrimination in the United
States,” said David Neumark, a labor economist at the University of
California, Irvine, who studies discrimination. “The study is well
done.”
The
researchers constructed two separate résumés: one for a highly
qualified candidate with six years of experience, and one for a novice
candidate about one year out of college. For each résumé, they created
three different cover letters: one for a candidate with no disability,
one for a candidate who disclosed a spinal cord injury and one for a candidate who disclosed having Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder that can make social interaction difficult.
Earlier
studies had suggested that better qualifications might help disabled
candidates overcome employment discrimination, but the researchers found
the opposite. Employers were about 34 percent less likely to show
interest in an experienced disabled candidate, but only about 15 percent
less likely to express interest in a disabled candidate just starting
out his or her career. (The latter result was not statistically
significant.)
“We
created people who were truly experts in that profession,” said Mason
Ameri, a Ph.D. candidate with the School of Management and Labor
Relations at Rutgers, who was another one of the researchers. “We
thought the employer would want to at least speak to this person, shoot
an email, send a phone call, see if I could put a face to a name.” For
the gap between disabled and nondisabled to be larger among experienced
candidates than among novice candidates, he said, came as a surprise.
Mr.
Ameri and his colleagues speculated that the steeper drop-off in
interest for experienced disabled candidates arose because more
experienced workers represent a larger investment for employers, who
must typically pay such workers higher salaries and who may anticipate
the employment relationship lasting longer. Experienced workers are also
more likely to interact with clients on a regular basis. Regardless of
whether these concerns are legitimate, said Dr. Schur, “employers see
these people as riskier.”
The
researchers found that the decline in interest in disabled workers was
roughly the same whether the disability was a spinal cord injury or
Asperger’s. If it were the result of a specific concern — for example,
that candidates with Asperger’s would have a hard time interacting with
clients, or that employers would have to build ramps for workers in
wheelchairs — rather than a general bias against people with
disabilities, it is unlikely that people with such distinct disabilities
would have experienced a drop-off in interest of about the same
magnitude.
The study showed that the Americans With Disabilities Act,
the 1990 federal law banning discrimination against those with
disabilities, appeared to reduce bias. The lack of interest in disabled
workers — and especially in the rate at which they were called back for
an interview — was most pronounced in workplaces with fewer than 15
employees, the study found. Businesses that small are not covered by the
federal law.
At
publicly traded companies, which may be more concerned about their
reputations and more sensitive to charges of discrimination, evidence of
discrimination on the basis of disability seemed largely to disappear.
The same was true at firms that receive federal contracts, which are
required by the government to make a special effort to hire disabled
workers.
“The
problem was concentrated,” said Douglas Kruse, a Rutgers economist who
was part of the research team and who has used a wheelchair since a
spinal cord injury in 1990. “It does suggest a pretty convincing
pattern.”
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