EXERCISE CAN BRING YOU HEALTHIER EYES

Almost everyone with Moebius Syndrome has their eyes affected by it--whether it is in the form of strabismus, or simply being unable to move one's eyes.  Plus many of us are affected by the things most folks have happen to them--we're near-sighted, or far-sighted, our vision needs more correction with age, etc.  So naturally we have an interest in keeping our eyes as healthy as possible, so that acceptable vision will last longer.  Here are some tips, and some research, that may shed light on how to do that:

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Age-related vision loss is common and devastating. But new research suggests that physical activity might protect our eyes as we age.

There have been suggestions that exercise might reduce the risk of macular degeneration, which occurs when neurons in the central part of the retina deteriorate. The disease robs millions of older Americans of clear vision. A 2009 study of more than 40,000 middle-aged distance runners, for instance, found that those covering the most miles had the least likelihood of developing the disease. But the study did not compare runners to non-runners, limiting its usefulness. It also did not try to explain how exercise might affect the incidence of an eye disease.

So, more recently, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta and the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center in Decatur, Ga., took up that question for a study published last month in The Journal of Neuroscience. Their interest was motivated in part by animal research at the V.A. medical center. That work had determined that exercise increases the levels of substances known as growth factors in the animals’ bloodstream and brains. These growth factors, especially one called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or B.D.N.F., are known to contribute to the health and well-being of neurons and consequently, it is thought, to improvements in brain health and cognition after regular exercise.

But the brain is not the only body part to contain neurons, as the researchers behind the new study knew. The retina does as well, and the researchers wondered whether exercise might raise levels of B.D.N.F. there, too, potentially affecting retinal health and vision.

To test that possibility, the researchers gathered adult, healthy lab mice. Half of these were allowed to remain sedentary throughout the day, while the other animals began running on little treadmills at a gentle rodent pace for about an hour a day. After two weeks, half of the mice in each group were exposed to a searingly bright light for four hours. The other animals stayed in dimly lit cages. This light exposure is a widely used and accepted means of inducing retinal degeneration in animals. It doesn’t precisely mimic the slowly progressing disease in humans, obviously. But it causes a comparable if time-compressed loss of retinal neurons.

The mice then returned to their former routine — running or not exercising — for another two weeks, after which the scientists measured the number of neurons in each animal’s eyes. The unexercised mice exposed to the bright light were experiencing, by then, severe retinal degeneration. Almost 75 percent of the neurons in their retinas that detect light had died. The animals’ vision was failing.

But the mice that had exercised before being exposed to the light retained about twice as many functioning retinal neurons as the sedentary animals; in addition, those cells were more responsive to normal light than the surviving retinal neurons in the unexercised mice. Exercise, it seems, had armored the runners’ retinas.

Separately, the researchers had other mice run or sit around for two weeks, and then measured levels of B.D.N.F. in their eyes and bloodstreams. The runners had far more. Tellingly, when the scientists injected still other mice with a chemical that blocks the uptake of the growth factor before allowing them to run and exposing them to the bright light, their eyes deteriorated as badly as among sedentary rodents. When the mice could not process B.D.N.F., exercise did not safeguard their eyes.

Taken together, these experiments strongly suggest that “exercise protects vision, at least in mice, by increasing B.D.N.F. in the retina,” said Jeffrey Boatright, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Emory University School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.

But obviously, mice are not people, so whether exercise can prevent or ameliorate macular degeneration in human eyes is “impossible to know, based on the data we have now,” said Machelle Pardue, a research career scientist at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, who is the senior author of the study. She and her colleagues are trying to find ways to determine the impact of exercise on human eyes. But such experiments will take years to return results.

For now, she and Dr. Boatright said, people who are concerned about their vision, and especially those with a family history of retinal degeneration, might want to discuss an exercise program with their doctor. “As potential treatments go,” she said, “it’s cheap, easy and safe.”

Dr. Boatright agreed, adding that eye researchers have been trying for some time to find a way to externally deliver growth factors or drugs to aging eyes, but the available methods typically involve injections into the retina, a process that is complicated, chancy, pricey, and fundamentally objectionable.

Now, though, “it’s beginning to look like we may have this other method” — exercise — “that costs almost nothing and results in you making your own growth factors, which is so much safer and more pleasant than having a needle stuck into your eyeball,” he said, getting no disagreement from me. 

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HONORING A HERO: THOUGH A DIFFERENT KIND OF HERO

Today's blog I guess is partly from the I-Just-Thought-This-Was-Interesting Department; but it is also kind of in honor of my son, Ethan.  He is 6 years old.  He absolutely loves Batman.  But what's interesting about the piece I found today is that, in honor of Batman's 75th anniversary, it's not just little boys who love Batman.  Even adults love him.  And there's reasons why--and actually very good reasons why.  Read on--and maybe a few of you going through tough times can identify with and be inspired by Batman, too:

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Hawkins lived in what he calls a "very broken home" as a child in Las Vegas. His parents got divorced when he was 8, and he described the atmosphere in the house as filled with "anger and sadness." However, he knew there was one thing he could count on: Batman.

He felt a bit like a loner, just like the character of Bruce Wayne, whose alter ego Batman first appeared on newsstands in "Detective Comics" #27 on March 30, 1939, and would be reinvented through countless movies, TV shows and books for the next 75 years.

(Time Warner is the parent company of DC Comics, the same as CNN.)

Readers were captivated by the story of how Bruce, heir to a vast fortune, witnessed his parents' murder at the hands of a mugger. As he grew older, Bruce was driven by vengeance and decided one night to take on the form of a bat to "strike terror" in the hearts of criminals.

"Being a child that young and watching your parents split up is a very harrowing experience," said Hawkins, now 26 and living in Seattle. "And in my head, the only way I could make any sense of it was likening it to being like Bruce Wayne when he lost his parents to something senseless and tried to find something good to bring out of it."

Despite the chaos at home, he could always rely on the 1989 "Batman" film making it all better. And after the 1992 animated series premiered, he came home every day, eagerly awaiting the show.

"It was a pure joy with me after every episode feeling inspired to keep going on the path I was going even if those around me didn't understand my way of doing things."

An inspiration to generations of people

In the 75 years since it began, the character of Batman has inspired many fans, young and old, in some cases because of a strong identification with the character.

Hawkins says he would have been a very different person if not for Batman, and that those emotions could have manifested themselves another way. He is a writer, creating stories that he hopes will inspire others just as Batman's did.

"Had Batman not given me the compass of justice, I may have been nothing more than a punk kid who bullied kids for how they looked or what they did or for whatever I fancied at the time," he said. "I wouldn't have gotten such good grades because I wouldn't have cared about school. And I may have even fallen into that dark place of feeling so angry and taking an unsavory means of trying to end what plagued me."

There is truly something universal to how people identify with Batman, said producer Michael Uslan, who has been involved in every "Batman" movie since 1989.

Uslan describes Batman's superpower as "his humanity": "When you see a young boy whose parents are murdered before his eyes ... he sacrifices his childhood in the belief that one person can make a difference, that he will get all the bad guys even if he has to walk through hell for the rest of his life," he explained. "That is an origin story that not only transcends borders but transcends cultures."

"Batman" comic book writer Scott Snyder put it this way: "He suffers a tragedy as a boy, and uses that tragedy as motivation to become a hero capable of preventing the same thing from happening to another child in Gotham City. There's something deeply inspiring in that."

Young people identify with the Caped Crusader

Andrea Letamendi, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and scientist, has studied Batman for years and notes that many young people can identify with his problems.

"Nearly three-quarters of youths have been exposed to at least one trauma by the time they hit adolescence," she said. "Childhood resiliency is also quite impressive -- only a fraction of youths who experience traumatic stress actually develop long-lasting mental health problems. We don't all put on a cape and cowl, but we are amazingly strong in the face of adversity."

Feelings of isolation and intense loneliness have plagued retail worker Dusty Lane for his whole life.

The Nashville resident said he often keeps people at a distance and has problems letting them get close. He finds himself deep in thought on many occasions, much like Bruce Wayne, but he also channels it into something positive.

"He's encouraged me to become a deep thinker, sharpen my wits, and truly believe in strong moral principles," Lane said.

He remembers a dramatic scene from the 1990s "Batman" animated series in which Robin confronts his parents' killer and attempts to kill him. Batman tells him not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"Before I ever make a decision out of anger that I would come to regret, I always hear that voice in the back of my head saying 'You can't let your emotions get the best of you.' "

Lane firmly believes that role models can have a major influence over how one lives their life, and he says he picked the right one in Batman.

'Batman helped me find my voice'

Actors who have played Batman

Eli Vizcaino's problems growing up were quite different, but Batman helped him as well.

He grew up with a speech impediment. As a child, he had to practice with a speech therapist in the mornings, then practiced reading in the afternoons after school. Once he opened up a Batman comic book, he immediately became a fan and became more interested in reading out loud.

"Batman helped me find my voice," he said.

The character continued to be a big part of Vizcaino's life when he would move to different parts of the United States and switch schools.

"During these periods of transition, I would always have a period of intense loneliness before I would make friends and during this time, Batman would be there to help through that time," said the Austin, Texas, resident.

It's no wonder that children battling adversity -- such as cancer survivor Miles Scott, who got to be "Batkid" in San Francisco in November as part of his Make-a-wish project -- see the brave and fearless Batman as their favorite hero.

"Batman turns weakness into strength," said Travis Langley, a professor of psychology at Henderson State University in Arkansas and a fellow Bat-fan. "Bruce Wayne took his own childhood fears and made something better out of them."

Hawkins could not agree more.

"Batman really touched me. He inspired me. He helped me. And to this day I have a sense of justice and decency."

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AUTISM UPDATE: DOES AUTISM DEVELOP DURING PREGNANCY?

And we look at this because autism is sometimes--though by no means always--associated with Moebius Syndrome.  A child with Moebius sometimes also is autistic.  And there's an interesting connection here--many have believed Moebius develops during pregnancy.  Is this also the case for autism?  Anyway--read on:

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A small study that examined brains from children who died found abnormal patterns of cell growth in autistic children. The research bolsters evidence that something before birth might cause autism, at least in some cases.
Clusters of disorganized brain cells were discovered in tissue samples from brain regions important for regulating social functioning, emotions and communication - which can all be troublesome for children with autism.
The abnormalities were found in 10 of 11 children with autism, but in only one of 11 children without the disease. The children's brains were donated to science after death; causes of death included drowning, accidents, asthma and heart problems.
The authors said the clusters, detected with sophisticated lab tests, are likely defects that occurred during the second or third trimesters of pregnancy.
"Because this points to the biological onset in prenatal life, it calls sharply into question other popular notions about autism," including the scientifically debunked theory that childhood vaccines might be involved, said lead author Eric Courchesne, an autism researcher at the University of California, San Diego.
Experts not involved in the latest study called the results preliminary and said larger studies are needed to determine if the unusual brain development found in the study causes problems, and if it is truly common in autism or even in people without the disorder. What causes the unusual structure isn't known, Courchesne said, adding, "It could be gene mutations and environmental factors together."
Scientists have been working for decades to find the cause of autism, and they increasingly believe its origins begin before birth. In addition to genetics, previous research suggests other factors might include infections during pregnancy, preterm birth and fathers' older age at conception.
The study was published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
Other scientists have suggested that autism may be linked with abnormalities in the brain's frontal region, and that for at least some children, problems begin before birth, said Dr. Janet Lainhart, an autism researcher and psychiatry professor at the University of Wisconsin.
"But this research provides probably some of the most elegant evidence for those two very important biological themes," she said.
The study follows Courchesne-led research suggesting that abnormal gene activity leads to an excessive number of brain cells in the brain's prefrontal cortex, located behind the forehead. The same region and adjacent areas of the brain were implicated in the new study.
His studies suggest that in children later diagnosed with autism, genetic networks that regulate prenatal brain cell growth are faulty. Larger studies are needed to determine how common the abnormalities are and what might be the cause.
"These abnormalities are not trivial," Courchesne said. "These are fundamental to developing a human brain."
The new study involved children aged 2 to 15. Most previous autism brain studies involved samples taken from autopsies of adults.
Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said the authors used advanced methods to examine cellular and molecular markers in more detail than previous research. But he said the study "highlights the critical need" for autopsy brain tissue to gain a better understanding of autism.
"If there really is this disorganized cortical architecture" in autism, it would develop before birth, said Insel. His government agency helped pay for the research.
About 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have one of the autistic spectrum disorders, which include classic autism and a mild form, Asperger syndrome.
Researchers from the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle also participated in the study. In addition to the National Institute of Mental Health, grants from the Allen institute, private foundations and the advocacy group Autism Speaks helped pay for the research.

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FOR MOEBIUS MOMS AND DADS: DO YOU FEEL "THE OVERWHELM"?

That is--do you feel overwhelmed?  Does the never-ending busyness of life weigh you down?  Is there any time for...anything????  Maybe there is; and maybe there's something you can.  There's a new book out; read more about it:

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When did we get so busy? For many of us, life unspools as a never-ending to-do list. Wake up, pack lunches, get the kids to school, get ourselves to our jobs, work all day, collect the kids, make dinner, supervise homework, do the laundry, walk the dog, pay the bills, answer e-mail, crawl into bed for a few fitful hours of sleep, wake up already exhausted, then do it all over again. Weekends, which ought to be oases of leisure, have their own hectic rhythms: errands, chores, sports events, grocery shopping, exercise. Dispatch one task and six more take its place, a regenerating zombie army of obligations.
This brain-eating assault of to-dos leaves its victims wrung out, joyless, too tired to stop and smell the roses (which probably need pruning and mulching anyway — add that to the list). But “this is how it feels to live my life: scattered, fragmented, and exhausting,” Brigid Schulte writes early in “Overwhelmed,” her unexpectedly liberating investigation into the plague of busyness that afflicts us. “I am always doing more than one thing at a time and feel I never do any one particularly well. I am always behind and always late, with one more thing and one more thing and one more thing to do before rushing out the door.”

She could be describing my days and probably yours, especially if you’re a working parent in the overcommitted middle part of life. Schulte, a longtime reporter for The Washington Post and the mother of two school-age kids, has a word for this shared unpleasantness: the Overwhelm. She takes her own harried-working-mom life as the jumping-off point for her research on where the Overwhelm comes from and what we can do about it.
Busyness has become so much the assumed default of many lives that it feels as elemental and uncontrollable as weather. So Schulte’s shocked when John Robinson, a University of Maryland sociologist known as Father Time, tells her that women have at least 30 hours of leisure a week, according to his time-use studies. She can’t reconcile that statistic with how her hours seem shredded into “time confetti — one big, chaotic burst of exploding slivers, bits, and scraps.” Nor does she believe it when Robinson tells her that we feel busy in part because we decide to feel busy.
Schulte quickly moves on to other researchers’ explorations of workplace culture, gender roles and time management, finding both reassurance and confirmation that she’s not making up the Overwhelm. She learns that the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that “acts like a patient yet controlling kindergarten teacher,” shrinks under the neurochemical onslaught of constant stress. That lets the amygdala, “the seat of negative emotions like fear, aggression, and anxiety,” take over. Anyone who has ever yelled at her kids while searching frantically for the car keys 10 minutes after the family should have left the house understands this.
If the neuroscience Schulte reports is right, feeling busy all the time shrinks the better part of our brains. But busyness also delivers cultural rewards. We feel important when we’re always booked, according to researchers such as Ann Burnett, who has studied thousands of the holiday letters people send to trumpet the year’s accomplishments.
Burnett’s collection of letters, which date back to the 1960s, make up “an archive of the rise of busyness” as something to aspire to. As Burnett tells Schulte: “People are competing about being busy. It’s about showing status. That if you’re busy, you’re important. You’re leading a full and worthy life.” The more you do, the more you matter, or so the reigning cultural script goes.
That script dictates how many offices and homes run. At work, the cult of the always-available “ideal worker” still “holds immense power,” Schulte writes, even as more people telecommute and work flexible hours. The technology that untethers workers from cubicles also makes it very hard to not be on call at all times. (I’d have liked to see Shulte spend more time on how technology fuels the cult of busyness.)
Those who escape the “time cages” of traditional workplaces confront what Schulte calls “a stalled gender revolution” at home, with consequences especially burdensome for women. She cites work by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on how women’s time is “contaminated” by “keeping in mind at all times all the moving parts of kids, house, work, errands, and family calendar.”
Only in Denmark does Schulte find a culture that appears to balance work, home and play in a truly egalitarian way. Because “Overwhelmed” sticks closest to the experience of working American parents, she goes after the shameful lack of affordable child care in this country. She even interviews Pat Buchanan, who in the 1970s helped sabotage a bill that would have created universal child care.
While that’s a useful bit of policy history to contemplate, and one that still affects us today, the most engaging sections of “Overwhelmed” stick to the here and now and how we let the cult of busyness lay waste to our hours. “Contaminated” time eats away at leisure, according to researcher Ben Hunnicutt, and by “leisure” he does not mean hours spent parked on the sofa in front of the telly. Leisure, to Hunnicutt, means experiencing “the miracle of now” or “simply being open to the wonder and marvel of the present” — the sense of being alive, which no to-do list will ever capture.
Although it illuminates a painfully familiar experience, “Overwhelmed” doesn’t speak for or about everyone. It lingers most on the conditions under which middle-class mothers and fathers labor, but the Overwhelm afflicts the child-free, too. The working poor are stretched even thinner. And how workers in China or Indonesia or India or South Africa feel about the balance of their lives is understandably beyond Schulte’s scope, although Europeans make a few appearances.
The question raised by “Father Time” John Robinson nags at this book like a forgotten homework assignment. The further I read, the more I began to wonder how much of the Overwhelm is at least partly self-inflicted and to see opportunities to reclaim time. Like Jacob Marley’s ghost, we’ve forged chains of obligation that we drag around with us. But if we made those chains, we can loosen them too, as Schulte has tried to do, with some success. In an appendix, “Do One Thing,” she offers useful starting points, such as learning not to give your time away and setting clear expectations about what really needs to be accomplished. Not every to-do item is created equal.
Do our employers really expect us to be on call 24/7, tethered to our smartphones as if they were oxygen tanks? Just because we can check e-mail at all hours, should we? Do our offspring really need to be hauled around to every soccer game and music lesson? Does every last piece of laundry have to be folded and put away before we can sit down with a cup of coffee, stare out the window and daydream? As a neighbor said to me not long ago, your work e-mail can wait. Your life can’t.

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AWARENESS UPDATE: GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS

First, the good news--in Muncie, Indiana a new hotel is being built, and one of its purposes is to employ and be a teaching tool for persons with disabilities.  Read on:

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Construction is set to begin on a first-of-its-kind hotel where teaching and employing people with disabilities will be just as important as accommodating overnight guests.
At least 20 percent of workers at the 150-room Courtyard by Marriott being built in Muncie, Ind. will be individuals with developmental and other types of disabilities, project organizers with The Arc of Indiana said. These employees will be working in all types of positions, including management.
In addition, the hotel will offer postsecondary educational opportunities for individuals to learn about the hospitality and food service industries and will serve as a training ground for human resources professionals to better understand how to hire people with special needs.
There are also plans for two businesses owned by people with disabilities to be located in the hotel lobby.
“As far as the typical guest experience, this Courtyard will be no different,” said Sally Morris of The Arc of Indiana. “That said, this hotel will not just meet ADA standards, it will exceed them. Every decision we are making is meant to enhance the guest experience for all of our guests.”
Morris said that the idea for the project came from Jeff Huffman, a dad who was frustrated by the lack of postsecondary opportunities for his son Nash, who has Down syndrome, and others like him.
Construction is set to begin later this year on the hotel, which will include a restaurant and parking garage, all attached to the Horizon Convention Center in Muncie. The property is expected to open in summer 2015.
The state of Indiana has committed up to $5 million to help fund the hospitality training institute and teaching hotel.

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Now, the bad news--studies show that in schools, harsh discipline is more often handed out to kids with disabilities and special needs.  It just shows the need for more awareness; read more about it:

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Federal officials say schools are restraining and secluding kids with disabilities far more often than other children and are disproportionately referring them to law enforcement.
Statistics released Friday from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights reveal widespread disparities in discipline between students in special education and their typically-developing peers.
Kids with disabilities represent three-quarters of children physically restrained and 58 percent of those placed in seclusion or some other form of involuntary confinement at school, the Education Department said. Such children are also more than twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension.
What’s more, federal officials found that children served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act account for a quarter of all students who are arrested and referred to law enforcement by schools.
Meanwhile, kids with disabilities represent just 12 percent of the nation’s students.
The findings come from the Education Department’s most comprehensive civil rights data release since 2000. For the report, officials with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights looked at information gathered from all of the nation’s 97,000 public schools related to the 2011-2012 school year.
The routine reporting is intended to assess whether students have equal access to education and offers federal agencies information so they can better enforce civil rights laws.
“This data collection shines a clear, unbiased light on places that are delivering on the promise of an equal education for every child and places where the largest gaps remain. In all, it is clear that the United States has a great distance to go to meet our goal of providing opportunities for every student to succeed,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Beyond discipline, the report indicates that students with disabilities are more commonly held back a grade, less likely to have access to a full range of math and science courses at their high school and are more likely to attend schools with high rates of teacher absenteeism.

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JOB STRESS: HOW TO HANDLE ANNOYING CO-WORKERS

I thought this could be a useful piece for us for several reasons.  Anybody can have annoying co-workers, no matter who they are.  But if you have Moebius Syndrome, it can be an even more tricky situation--sure, maybe your co-workers can seem to be okay with the fact that you look a little different, but...do they talk behind your back?   Or, when they do talk to you, do they really deal with you fairly and respect you as a person?  Do they act differently around you?  Well, as this piece points out, always remember--the key is to focus on what you do and keep a good attitude.  Read on:

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We’ve probably all been there when it comes to having an annoying co-worker. You know — that one co-worker who is either overly arrogant, lazy, or talks your ear off? Even if you consider yourself an easy-going person to work with, you’ve probably encountered that one colleague who drives you up your cubicle walls.
After all, what would work be without having a co-worker who drives you nuts? You’re probably familiar with the beloved co-worker we’ve all grown to love (or despise), Dwight Schrute from The Office. He’s that annoying co-worker who describes himself as a “hard-working, alpha male, jackhammer… merciless…insatiable…” and is probably a good example of the person in the office you can’t escape.
So, let’s disarm the Dwight Schrutes of the world, shall we? Here are seven ways to handle your most irritating co-workers:
1. Maintain a positive attitude.
Honestly, the best thing you can do in this situation is to let the annoying things your co-worker does to roll off your back. Sometimes when you only dwell on the negative, it can distract you from being productive at work. If your co-worker is truly a problem, then address the situation. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to stay focused on what you need to accomplish and to have a positive attitude at work.
2. Find a common interest.
Sometimes, if you have a co-worker you continually butt heads with, you’re probably better off trying to find some common ground with them. Try to find at least find one thing you have in common, even if it’s the dislike of the coffee in the break room. This will help working together become more tolerable.
3. Try to ignore their flaws.
If your co-worker is a slacker or super arrogant, just ignore them. If your boss is yet to catch on to the problem or simply lets it slide by, it’s not your problem to worry about. Even if it drives you nuts your co-worker is never prepared or brags all of the time about nothing, don’t feed into their flaw. This will only cause you to become more annoyed and frustrated with the situation.
4. Kill them with kindness.
On the occasion you’re dealing with a workplace bully, a negative person, or gossiper, it’s important to remain calm and continue being kind towards them. Even if your co-worker is going out of your way to bring you down, don’t let them rain on your parade. Stay out of arguments or debates that would cause a negative impact on your work. All you have to do is continue smiling and going about your work as usual.
5. Politely reject their attention.
Have that one co-worker who is constantly pestering you or asking you to go to lunch every day? Politely reject their invitations. Even if you consider yourself an extrovert and don’t mind conversation, there will be those co-workers who get under your skin. Whenever your annoying co-worker begins distracting you from your work, politely tell them to respect your space and to only speak to you if their question is work-related.
6. Be assertive.
If the problem continues to persist with your annoying co-worker, you need to take charge. After you’ve done everything possible to find a solution, you need to stand up for yourself and your needs. Tell your co-worker he or she is a distraction and they’ve been negatively impacting your productivity. Of course, you want to be polite, but you also need to be assertive. If the annoying co-worker doesn’t get the picture, then your next step is to approach your manager for an intervention.
Don’t let your annoying co-workers bring you down at work. If you have to cope with someone who drives you nuts, remember, it’s all about how you react the situation. Don’t let the Dwight Schrutes harm your success in the workplace.

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FOR PARENTS: HOW TO HELP YOUR TEEN HAVE HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

I thought this was interesting; and of course it's important for all parents, and that's obvious.  But Moebius moms and dads, don't forget--it's important for you too.  Your Moebius child, when he or she enters the teen years, will want to date and have relationships, and they should, and they will.  So how can you help?  How can you do the right thing?  Read on:

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The story of L.Y. Marlow is one of heartbreak and hope. She comes from a family of four generations of women who “suffered and survived 60 years of domestic violence.” When she realized almost seven years ago that her daughter, a mother to a 6-month-old, was being abused by the baby’s father, Marlow quit her job as a project executive at IBM and launched a domestic violence prevention organization called Saving Promise. Promise is the name of her now 7-year-old granddaughter.
The organization aims to decrease partner violence and increase awareness of it, “so that we can ultimately change what the CDC calls a national crisis,” Marlow said.
She was abused by her first boyfriend. “My mother didn’t allow us to date until we were 16, and my first boyfriend, who I was in love with, was very charming,” she said. “I quickly learned that a lot of that charm and connection I thought we had easily transferred into behaviors of control and escalated into physical abuse.”
And so Marlow, also the author of “Color Me Butterfly,” a novel inspired by her experience, and “A Life Apart,” a novel about a decades long love affair, is working to make sure other teens and adults do not end up in a situation like her family’s. “Parents must talk about it,” she said. “We’ve got to be willing to address the sensitive issues. … We’ve got to ask our kids what they think dating is.”
Robyn Brickel, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Old Town Alexandria, who has been working with Saving Promise, said parents should start talking to children early to help ensure that they end up with healthy relationships later. “They say so-and-so has cooties, and you talk about how you treat people,” she said. “That’s where the conversations begin.”
Talks about relationships don’t have to be serious sit-downs when the time comes for dating, Brickel said. Instead, “repetition is the best way to learn. If we’re repeating the same information differently throughout their lives, it’s going to be taken in.”
Finally, she said, work to make sure you and your children have a secure, open relationship. Take them seriously and don’t say things like “Oh, it’s just a little eighth-grade relationship,” so they will be more apt to talk to you.

Other tips from Brickel:
* Make your home one where kids can have dinner and hang out. That way, you’re going to have the option of seeing relationships. And if all of a sudden your child doesn’t want to bring someone over, that may be a not-great sign.
* If friends of your child don’t like their boyfriend/girlfriend, that’s a big tell.
* If your child suddenly starts thinking differently, or doing things differently, you need to pay attention.
* Be curious. Ask questions as straightforward as, “How are things going with Johnny?” It can start a conversation, or show you where they may be issues to deal with.
* Make sure kids know — and this is one of those things that you can develop over time — that healthy relationships are about respect. No pressure, no control.
* Let them know this is supposed to be fun. The hard stuff shouldn’t come until later.
* Resources are available. Be aware that if you need help, there is help.

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BE HAPPY--IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Which of course is easier said than done, for some of us in this community; but as this article explains, a positive mental state of mind is indeed correlated with better health, and there are ways to keep yourself in a positive frame of mind in the here and now.  Read on--this is an interesting piece:

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Happiness -- you know it when you see it, but it's hard to define.

You might call it a sense of well-being, of optimism or of meaningfulness in life, although those could also be treated as separate entities. But whatever happiness is, we know that we want it, and that is just somehow good.

We also know that we don't always have control over our happiness. Research suggests that genetics may play a big role in our normal level of subjective well-being, so some of us may start out at a disadvantage. On top of that, between unexpected tragedies and daily habitual stress, environmental factors can bring down mood and dry up our thirst for living.

Being able to manage the emotional ups and downs is important for both body and mind, said Laura Kubzansky, professor of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard School of Public Health.

"For physical health, it's not so much happiness per se, but this ability to regulate and have a sense of purpose and meaning," Kubzansky said.

Why be happy?

Many scientific studies, including some by Kubzansky, have found a connection between psychological and physical well-being.

A 2012 review of more than 200 studies found a connection between positive psychological attributes, such as happiness, optimism and life satisfaction, and a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease. Kubzansky and other Harvard School of Public Health researchers published these findings in the journal Psychological Bulletin.

It's not as simple as "you must be happy to prevent heart attacks," of course. If you have a good sense of well-being, it's easier to maintain good habits: Exercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep, researchers said. People who have an optimistic mindset may be more likely to engage in healthy behaviors because they perceive them as helpful in achieving their goals, Kubzansky said.

Lower blood pressure, normal body weight and healthier blood fat profiles were also associated with a better sense of well-being in this study.

For now these studies can only show associations; they do not provide hard evidence of cause and effect. But some researchers speculate that positive mental states do have a direct effect on the body, perhaps by reducing damaging physical processes. For instance, another of Kubzansky's studies found that optimism is associated with lower levels of inflammation.

If what you mean by happiness is specifically "enjoyment of life," there's newer evidence to support that, too. A recent study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that people ages 60 and older who said they enjoyed life less were more likely to develop disability over an eight-year period. Mobility was also related to enjoyment of life. This study does not prove that physical problems are caused by less enjoyment of life, but suggests a relationship.

Where happiness comes from: genes + environment

There is substantial evidence that genetics play a big role in happiness, according to Nancy Segal, psychologist at California State University, Fullerton, and author of "Born Together -- Reared Apart."

Research has shown that identical twins tend to have a similar level of happiness, more so than fraternal twins. And in identical twins, one twin's happiness is a better predictor of the other twin's current or future happiness than educational achievement or income, Segal said.

"If you have happy parents and happy children, I think that people usually assume it's because the children are modeling the parents," she said. "But that's not really so. You need to make the point that parents pass on both genes and environments."

What's more, there seems to be a certain level of happiness that individuals have generally, to which they usually gravitate, Segal said. That level depends on the person, and the situations he or she is in.

Even if genetics has a big influence, though, that doesn't mean anyone is biologically stuck being unhappy, she said. It might take more work if your baseline mood is low, but certain therapies have proven useful for elevating psychological well-being.

The environment is still quite important for psychological well-being, too, Kubzansky said.

"To say to someone, 'Don't worry, be happy,' is kind of not looking at the whole picture of, what are the environmental constraints on things they can do?" Kubzansky said.

Money and time

You might be thinking: "Maybe I would be happier if I had more money." There's that old cliché "money doesn't buy happiness" -- but is it true? A 2010 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that emotional well-being rises with income up to a point, which seems to be a household income of $75,000. Day-to-day happiness did not increase with higher incomes.

But when participants were asked about overall satisfaction with their lives, that did continue to rise in conjunction with income, even after $75,000, Princeton University researchers Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton found. Their results show a sharp distinction between how people see themselves in terms of happiness "today" vs. life satisfaction.

"More money does not necessarily buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional pain," Kahneman and Deaton wrote. "Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individuals' ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure."

Would you be happier if you bought the car you always wanted? Several studies suggest experiences make us happier than possessions. That's partly because once you have purchased something, such as a new car, you get used to seeing it every day and the initial joy fades, experts say. But you can continue to derive happiness from memories of experiences over time.

Experiences form "powerful and important memories that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University, told CNN in 2009.

But if you're in the market for a birthday present for your sweetheart, a material object can still be meaningful, becoming a keepsake with sentimental value that increases over time, Gilovich said.

Or maybe you'll be happier once you've lived longer. Research has also found that some sense of happiness may come with age.

Older adults may be able to better regulate their emotions than younger people, expose themselves to less stress and experience less negative emotion, Susan Turk Charles, a psychologist at the University of California, Irvine, told CNN in 2009. More science needs to be done on whether the diminished negative response is also associated with a feeling of happiness.

Happiness: Living in the moment

But what about right now -- what can we do to make ourselves feel more positive?

If you're seeking to increase your own sense of happiness, try mindfulness techniques. Mindfulness means being present and in the moment, and observing in a nonjudgmental way, Susan Albers, psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, told CNN in 2010.

Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and is key to meditation in that tradition. Therapies for a wide variety of conditions, including eating disorders, depression and PTSD, incorporate mindfulness. Focusing on the here and now is a counterbalance to findings that mind-wandering is associated with unhappiness.

Activities such as keeping a gratitude diary and helping other people are also associated with feelings of well-being, Kubzansky said.

A variety of smartphone apps are also available that claim to help you monitor and enhance your moods. But don't feel you have to face emotional challenges alone; a professional therapist can help you get to where you want to be.

If a sense of well-being makes a healthier person, then policy-makers should also promote large-scale initiatives to encourage that, Kubzansky said. Creating parks to encourage exercise and insituting flexible work-family initiatives are just some of the ways that communities can become healthier as a whole.

So remember: A glass half full might be healthier than a glass half empty.

 

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SHE'S A PINTEREST MOM...BUT THERE'S NO NEED TO BE JEALOUS

Indeed, this mom is not trying to break or to compete with other moms and prove she can outdo them or be better than them.  Rather, she has a child with special needs; and Pinterest helps her.  Many of you Moebius moms will be real interested in this.  For example, how many of you have both a special needs child...AND a child without those special needs?  Many of you do.  Can it be hard to cope?  How do you meet the needs of ALL your children?  There are things that can help you; including Pinterest.  Read more about it:

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I get it. I get all the Pinterest jokes. I totally agree it is causing many of us already stressed-out moms to feel like we are in constant competition to throw the perfect birthday party, make the perfect school snack and take the perfect family photo.

And yet, I will totally own the fact that I am a Pinterest mom. I'm that lady. I threw my daughter, Elyse, a superhero party for her 6th birthday and made everything by hand. I create whimsical Halloween costumes. I make occasion-appropriate snacks.

I do not do this to bolster my flagging ego or to one-up my fellow moms. I do this because, as a special-needs mom, there are a lot of "mom" things I am NOT.

My second daughter, Anabelle, was born with the neurological disorders lissencephaly and microcephaly. Lissencephaly means "smooth brain" and microcephaly means "small head." What this means is that while she was in utero, her brain stopped developing, due to a random miswriting of her genetic code. Now almost 4, she is cognitively still a newborn. She cannot hold up her own head, she eats through a gastronomy tube in her stomach, she requires oxygen support when she sleeps and she cannot control her own body temperature. She has quadripalegic cerebral palsy, is legally blind and has severe epilepsy.

It is unsafe to have her outside in all but the most optimum weather conditions, and it's risky to bring her around crowds of people and all their germs.

Because of this, my older daughter, 6-year-old Elyse, spends a lot more time at home than many of her peers. There are a lot of things Elyse doesn't get to do. I am not a "Let's join the traveling soccer team and spend hours every week on the road" mom. I'm not a "Do every activity you want as long as you get your schoolwork done" mom. I am not a "playdates every weekend" mom, a "spectator at every event" mom or a "spontaneous family trip" mom." (Hell, I'm not even a "well-planned vacation" mom.) Depending on Anabelle's health, I'm not even a "tuck you into bed every night" mom.

I have forgotten to send my daughter to school in a jersey on sports day, I have missed sign-ups for things, and I have said no to classes Elyse wants to take because I cannot possibly get her there every week.

When Anabelle was 6 months old and Elyse was 3, a friend sent me an "invitation" to join Pinterest. It was like opening the golden gates to never-ending possibilities for the trapped-at-home mom I so often was!

While I have always considered myself passably crafty, what I am not is wildly creative. And there it was: The ultimate guide to the perfect childhood! OK, I admit that's overstating it a little bit, but I was a desperate, terrified, newly inducted special-needs mom with a bored, over-active toddler on my hands. Armed with endless ideas and step-by-step instructions, I could create wonderful memories with Elyse despite rarely leaving home.

The thing many people don't realize about being the parent of a special-needs child is that, for those of us who also have kids without disabilities, it is usually their well-being and future that cause us the greatest heartache. Anabelle has never wanted for a thing in her short life. It is Elyse who never has two parents at her side on outings, or may never get that trip to Disney World she so desperately wants.

Elyse knows that only one parent will be there for her school events. We are the family with only one parent in the stands at sporting events and one parent in the audience for dance recitals. In Anabelle's case, she is so susceptible to getting ill that it just isn't safe for her to be in a crowd. Elyse's father and sister were not at her last birthday party because it was outside in the July heat, which Anabelle cannot manage.

Elyse does have to pay the price for having a special-needs sibling.

My typical child breaks my heart much more frequently than my special-needs child. The needs of my second child restrict the movement most parents of young children are used to in their lifestyle, and that affects both my children. It is for Elyse that I have to get creative in the ways I create memories.

It can be really hard not having the time to be the mom I would like to be. But the one thing I DO do? I spend a lot of time at home.

Anabelle's fragile health means she lives in a virtual bubble a lot of the time. I might not be able to run Elyse around doing fun activities and having experiences outside the home, but I can create fun and memories inside the home.

Elyse helps me with most of my Pinterest-inspired activities. It allows us to bond and express our creative energy. It allows me to contribute something meaningful to her childhood beyond hospitals and therapists and holding the suction wand for her sister.

So please, don't take it as a challenge when my daughter and I make her teacher's end-of-the-year gift. I'm just using what I have so my daughter has one thing about which she can say, "Hey, MY mom does that!"

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FIVE NEW MEDICAL STUDIES

Did you hear about these?  It's always good to keep up on the latest health news.  Here's what the research has been showing lately:

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Here's a roundup of five medical studies published this week that might give you new insights into your health, mind and body. Remember, correlation is not causation – so if a study finds a connection between two things, it doesn't mean that one causes the other.

Blood test may diagnose sports injuries to the brain
Journal: JAMA Neurology
Sports concussions have received a lot of attention recently, as evidence mounts that repetitive injuries to the brain can have damaging long-term consequences. But the science of sports-related head injuries, including how to measure recovery and decide when it's OK for a patient to play again, needs work.
This study proposes using blood biomarkers to diagnose sports-related concussions. To study the phenomenon, researchers used 280 players from 12 teams in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional ice hockey league in Sweden.
Researchers say a blood test measuring a protein called tau could help determine the severity of a concussion, whether there could be long-term consequences and when a patient can return to play. The test could evaluate severity just one hour after injury, they said.
"Concussions are a growing international problem," lead study author Henrik Zetterberg of the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg told Reuters Health. "The stakes for the individual athlete are high, and the list of players forced to quit with life-long injury is getting ever longer."
Read more from Reuters Health
More adults than ever on ADHD drugs
Report from Express Scripts
Amid concerns about overmedicating children, a new report suggests that the number of adults taking drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rose more than 50% between 2008 and 2012.
Women between the ages of 26 and 34 in particular have experienced a marked rise in ADHD medications, with 85% more taking the drugs in 2012 than in 2008.
What's going on here? It could be that these women with ADHD were overlooked as children because girls are less likely to show disruptive behavior at young ages than boys. Or, women may be using the medications inappropriately, like as appetite suppressants, TIME.com reported.
Read more from TIME.com
Drinking during first term of pregnancy especially harmful
Journal: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Major medical organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have said time and again: Do not drink during pregnancy. But researchers are still looking into the specifics of when alcohol might have the most detrimental effect.
In the latest study, the likelihood of premature birth increased among women who drank moderately during the first months of pregnancy.
More than 1,200 women in Leeds, United Kingdom, participated in the study. Those who drank more than two units of alcohol - about one pint - twice a week had a doubled risk of premature birth.
"This is a very sensitive issue. We don't want women who are pregnant now to panic – the individual risk is actually low," Camilla Nykjaer, one of the researchers at the University of Leeds, told the BBC. "They shouldn't drink. They should stop drinking if they have been drinking during the pregnancy."
The United Kingdom's National Health Service says women shouldn't drink during pregnancy, but if they do, limit it to two units once or twice a week, and don't get drunk.
But women in the United States, take note: U.S. health officials say no amount of drinking during pregnancy has been proven safe.
Read more from the BBC
Yes, healthy foods can sell at concession stands
Journal: Journal of Public Health
What happens when you start selling healthy alternatives at concession stands? Based on one study at a high school, it seems customers don't turn away.
Researchers analyzed sales data from concessions at Muscatine High in Iowa, where healthy snacks were sold during football, swimming and volleyball events. Healthier ingredients were used in popcorn and nachos, too. The standard offerings such as pizza, hot dog and candy bars were still available.
Researchers found that sales, revenues and profits were generally stable. Sales per varsity football game actually went up 4% in 2009, when the changes were made, compared to the year before.
"If you're a concession-stand sponsor, and you want people to eat better, and you want to make more money, add at least five healthy items," Brian Wansink, the Cornell lab's director and a marketing professor, said in a statement. "There's got to be a critical mass, and we find that five's a very lucky number, and 10 is even better."
Read more from IowaNow
Vaginal gel may prevent HIV infection
Journal: Science Translational Medicine
A new vaginal gel may potentially protect against HIV when applied up to a few hours after sex, according to a study published Wednesday. All preventative gels currently on the market must be applied before sex, which can make compliance tough for women.
Researchers conducted testing on pigtailed macaques – monkeys with menstrual cycles similar to women. The vaginal gel protected five out of six monkeys from HIV when applied three hours after virus exposure and two of three monkeys when applied 30 minutes before. The gel works after exposure by preventing HIV integration into DNA, a process that begins around six hours after infection.
Applying the gel after sex gives the users more control, study authors say. In order to use the gel, people don't need to anticipate having sex beforehand or rely on their partner's acceptance of it. Researchers believe these advantages could help improve compliance and effectiveness of vaginal gel use.
“We are excited because this provides a whole new option that was previously nonexistent,” says lead study author Walid Heneine of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More trials and tests are needed to see if the gel will be effective in women.

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DOES ADHD EXIST?

I think this is an issue worth exploring.  There are many parents, even perhaps some of you Moebius moms and dads, who perhaps have children diagnosed with ADHD; and others of you adults out there may believe that you have it.  And in general ADHD is something talked about a lot.  I've found a very interesting article today about it.  It argues that, actually, ADHD...does not exist.   What???  Wow.  Now--I myself am not trying to advocate that ADHD is non-existent.  I don't know enough about it to know if that is true or not.  But it is a discussion worth having.  Is it over-diagnosed?  Or are the criticisms of the diagnosis of ADHD over-done?

Well, read this piece here and begin the thinking process:

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Over the course of my career, I have found more than 20 conditions that can lead to symptoms of ADHD, each of which requires its own approach to treatment. Raising a generation of children—and now adults—who can't live without stimulants is no solution.

This Wednesday, an article in the New York Times reported that between 2008 and 2012 the number of adults taking medications for ADHD has increased by 53%, and that in the case of young American adults, it has nearly doubled. While this is a staggering statistic, and points to younger generations becoming frequently reliant on stimulants, frankly, I’m not too surprised. Over the course of my 50-year-long career in behavioral neurology and treating patients with ADHD, it has been in the past decade that I have seen these diagnoses truly skyrocket. Every day my colleagues and I see more and more people coming in claiming they have trouble paying attention at school and at work, and diagnosing themselves with “ADHD.”
And why shouldn’t they?
If someone finds it difficult to pay attention or feels somewhat hyperactive, “Attention-deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder” has those symptoms right there in its name. It’s an easy, catch-all phrase, which saves time for doctors to boot. But can we really lump all these people together? What if there are other things causing people to feel distracted? I don’t deny that we, as a population, are more distracted today than we ever were before. And I don’t deny that some of these patients who are distracted and impulsive need help. But what I do deny is the generally accepted definition of ADHD, which is long overdue for an update. In short, I’ve come to believe based on decades of treating patients that ADHD — as currently defined by the DSM and as it exists in the public imagination — does not exist.
Allow me to explain what I mean.
Ever since 1937, when Dr. Charles Bradley discovered that children who displayed symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity responded well to Benzedrine, a stimulant, we have been thinking about this “disorder” in almost the same way. Soon after Bradley’s discovery the medical community began labeling children exhibiting these symptoms as having “minimal brain dysfunction,” or MBD, and treating them with the stimulants Ritalin and Cylert. In the intervening years, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, changed the label numerous times, from “hyperkinetic reaction of childhood” (it wasn’t until 1980 that the DSM-III introduced a classification for adults with the condition), to the current label ADHD. But regardless of the label, we have been giving patients different variants of stimulant medication to cover up the symptoms. You’d think that after decades of advancements in neuroscience, we would shift our thinking.
Today, the fifth edition of the DSM only requires one to fulfill five of eighteen possible symptoms to qualify for an ADHD diagnosis. If you haven’t seen the list yet, look it up. It will probably bother you. How many of us can claim we have difficulty with organization, or a tendency to lose things; that we are frequently forgetful, distracted, or fail to pay close attention to details? Under this subjective criteria, the entire U.S. population could potentially qualify. We’ve all had these moments, and in moderate amounts, it’s a normal part of the human condition.
However, there are some instances in which attention symptoms are severe enough that patients truly need help. Over the course of my career, I have found more than 20 conditions that can lead to symptoms of ADHD, each of which requires its own approach to treatment. Among these are sleep disorders, undiagnosed vision and hearing problems, substance abuse (marijuana and alcohol in particular), iron deficiency, allergies (especially airborne and gluten intolerance), bipolar and major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and even learning disabilities like dyslexia, to name a few. Anyone with these issues will fit the ADHD criteria outlined by the DSM, but stimulants are not the way to treat them.
“What’s so bad about stimulants?” you might be wondering. They seem to help a lot of people, don’t they? The aforementioned article in the Times mentions that the “drugs can temper hallmark symptoms like severe inattention and hyperactivity but also carry risks like sleep deprivation, appetite suppression and, more rarely, addiction and hallucinations.” But this is only part of the picture.
Firstly, addiction to stimulant medication is not rare; it is common. The drugs’ addictive qualities are obvious. We only need to observe the many patients who are forced to periodically increase their dosage if they want to concentrate. This is because the body stops producing the appropriate levels of neurotransmitters that ADHD meds replace — a trademark of addictive substances. I worry that a generation of Americans won’t be able to concentrate without this medication; big pharma is understandably not as concerned.
Secondly, there are many side-effects to ADHD medication that most people are not aware of: increased anxiety, irritable or depressed mood, severe weight loss due to appetite suppression, and even potential for suicide. But there are consequences that are even less well-known. For example, many patients who are on stimulants report having erectile dysfunction when they are on the medication.
Thirdly, stimulants work for many people in the short-term, but in cases where there is an underlying condition causing them to feel distracted, the drugs serve as Band-Aids at best, masking and sometimes exacerbating the source of the problem.
In my view, there are two types of people who are diagnosed with ADHD: those who exhibit a normal level of distraction and impulsiveness, and those who have another condition or disorder that requires individual treatment.
For my patients who are the former, I recommend that they eat right, exercise more often, get eight hours of quality sleep a night, minimize caffeine intake in the afternoon, monitor their cellphone use while they’re working, and most importantly, do something they’re passionate about. As with many children who act out because they are not being challenged enough in the classroom, adults who have work or class subjects that are not personally fulfilling, or who don’t engage in a meaningful hobby, will understandably become bored, depressed, and distracted. Similarly, today’s standards are pressuring children and adults to perform better and longer at school and at work. I too often see patients who hope to excel on four hours of sleep a night with help from stimulants, but this is a dangerous, unhealthy and unsustainable way of living long-term.
For my second group of patients, who have severe attention issues, I make them undergo a full evaluation to find the source of the problem. Usually, once the original condition is found and treated, the ADHD symptoms go away.
It’s time to rethink our understanding of this condition, offer more thorough diagnostic work, and help people get the right treatment for attention deficit and hyperactivity.
Dr. Richard Saul is a Behavioral Neurologist practicing in the Chicago area. His book, ADHD Does Not Exist, is published by HarperCollins.

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GOOD NEWS ON THE JOB FRONT

If you have physical differences or disabilities, there are places very open to you when you're seeking a job.  So go for it!  Read more:

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When Eric Lin started his job at Zendesk, like many, he had trouble pronouncing CEO Mikkel Svane’s name.

“I told him it’s just like a nickel, so the nickel became our thing,” said Svane.

It became a daily mnemonic ritual — the pair would compare the age and design of the coinage in their pockets.

Two years ago, Lin was Zendesk’s first hire through The Arc, a nonprofit that helps adults with developmental disabilities find jobs.

At Zendesk, Lin, 26, helps with office support, including crucial startup tasks such as keeping snacks and caffeine stocked. He has grown to be an integral part of the customer-service software firm’s Mid-Market office in San Francisco.

“The nickel became our thing, but he has routines with all the employees,” said Svane. “Everybody in the company has really embraced it.”

The Arc has placed others with developmental disabilities — ranging from autism spectrum disorders to Down syndrome — at more than 80 companies in San Francisco. The tech sector is a growing client base, with hires from The Arc at 13 local firms. Salesforce employs 14 people through The Arc, and Zendesk is looking to add more. Twitter just signed on.

“Tech is really rolling,” said Meredith Manning, spokeswoman for The Arc’s San Francisco chapter. “I think we’ve become cool. I don’t know how that happened.”

‘Big checklist’

At Zendesk, Lin’s main job is to take the pressure off office administration staff. He works a four-hour shift each day, running through an eight-page checklist of tasks that include stocking and cleaning the conference rooms and kitchen.

“It’s a big checklist,” he said.

Lin, often dressed in a Giants jersey, likes to arrive a little early so he can hang out in the kitchen and chat with whomever is around. He remembers the favorite munchies of pretty much every employee on all three floors. On occasion, Lin makes special snack deliveries right to the desks of lucky Zendeskers.

“Eric is a really hard worker,” said Ainsley Hill, the facilities manager at Zendesk and Lin’s supervisor. “He also really helps to lighten the mood around the office. If you walk into the kitchen having a bad day, Eric immediately makes you feel better.”

When The Arc gets a new client, like Lin, the nonprofit gives them try-outs at several companies to find one that’s the right fit for both employer and employee. Lin works for Zendesk, but The Arc supplies a job coach who is available as needed to both Lin and Zendesk. If Lin gets a new task, for example, his job coach might spend some time at Zendesk to help him get the hang of it.

The Arc’s hires make an average of about $12.10 an hour. If The Arc’s own data are any indication, adults with developmental disabilities are performing far better in San Francisco’s labor market than nationally, with an employment rate of 60 versus 44 percent nationwide.

Most of The Arc’s hiring happens through word of mouth.

Seeking other firms

“I’m always calling around trying to get other tech companies to work with The Arc,” said Todd Janzen, chief demo officer at Salesforce.

“This obviously isn’t pure charity,” he said. “What we’ve found with The Arc is we get really dedicated employees. We get someone who does the job really well, and they do it with a smile.”

Many opportunities

Janzen said that in the tech industry in particular, where job titles are often fluid and hyper-specific, there are many opportunities for employees with developmental disabilities.

But the goal is also to give employees like Lin a chance at a career — not just a job. At Salesforce, The Arc’s hires work everywhere from the mailroom to IT; one has moved up to manage the other employees from The Arc.

Since he started at Zendesk, Lin has doubled his hours and responsibilities. Now, he’s gunning for full time and moving up to do jobs such as handling the mail. (He also has a part-time spring-season gig at AT&T Park as a Ghirardelli chocolatier.)

When Zendesk opens its new office space at the historic Eastern Outfitting Co. building at 1019 Market St., Lin will serve that location as well.

“Going back and forth will be a new challenge,” he said.

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