THE HOME FOR THE MOEBIUS COMMUNITY

Hey, by the way, everyone--have you all checked out the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's new and improved website lately????

If you haven't, be sure and do so.  So much of the credit for the improvement goes to the MSF's new executive director, Kim Cunningham, and those she worked with to improve it (and of course Natalie Abbott has been our webmaster for a long time, and she played a huge role as well).

But check it out.  If you are a parent with a newborn with Moebius, there is a lot of stuff there for you.

If you are a professional in the health care field and need more information about Moebius, the site is also for you.

If you are a Moebius adult or young adult, and want to connect with others and learn more about living with Moebius, there is plenty there for you.

And there's lots more.  There is information; there are ways to connect with others; and the MSF wants to hear from you and to connect with you.  See all the ways you can do on moebiussyndrome.org.

SMARTPHONES AND APPS HELP THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

This is for everyone--persons with Moebius, Moebius moms and dads--maybe there is an app that can help you:

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MORGAN HILL, Calif. — Ruben Morales, a 59-year-old retired engineer who is blind and lives in Silicon Valley, has used a specialized screen-reading program for years to write and run spreadsheets on his desktop computer.
But recently, he figuratively cut the cord to his desktop and joined the mobile revolution. Morales was visiting an area Veterans Affairs blind rehabilitation center, learning how to use an iPhone’s features for people with vision impairment.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Morales said, demonstrating how he can call up a song and play it with a few taps. “Whatever I can do on the computer I can basically do it on the iPhone. It has the same capability.”
The smartphone, a gadget designed for the sighted, has turned out to be a godsend for those who are blind and visually impaired, making them more independent than ever before.
With VoiceOver, the iPhone’s built-in gesture-based app that reads text on a touch-screen aloud, or Google Android’s TalkBack, users who are blind can access anything on their phones. The user activates apps with a few gestures — single finger to explore and find buttons, one-finger touch to identify things on the screen and double-tap to push the button after it’s located.
“It’s a learning curve, but you can learn to do every single thing on an iPhone that anyone else can do,” said Lee Huffman, editor of AccessWorld, published by the American Foundation for the Blind. “These devices are opening up a whole new world.”
It didn’t look like it would turn out that way at first.
“The blind community started getting really panicky” when smartphones and later, tablets, took off following the iPhone’s debut in 2007, researcher Joshua Miele, associate director of Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco, recalled. “Touch-screens were a real concern.”
But in 2009, Apple included VoiceOver in its mobile operating system, and followed up with the personal assistant Siri in 2011, launching a new world of mobility for the visually impaired. Google added TalkBack, a screen reader, to its Android operating system in 2009 and Google Now, a personal assistant, in 2012. Microsoft mobile has similar features.
“It’s made a huge difference, productivity-wise,” said Jennison Asuncion, accessibility leader at LinkedIn, who is blind. “I use my mobile phone probably even more than lot of people.”
Erin Lauridsen, 32, a trainer at the Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco, has been blind since birth and grew up using expensive, clunky, single-purpose devices for doing coursework in school. “When the iPhone 3GS came out with VoiceOver built in it was a huge game-changer for me and a lot of other people,” she said.
She uses an app called BlindSquare for navigation; Money Reader to identify currency denominations; and Voice Dream Reader to assemble audio play lists of documents from many sources. She also uses Uber and a lot of other popular apps.
“I’m on an equal footing with what everyone else does — the Yelping, Facebooking and Twittering,” she said.
People who are visually impaired want to use their mobile phones like anyone else, said Astrid Weber, who researches user experience at Google, visiting people who are visually impaired in their homes to see what they need and how they use technology.
“Mobility is really important for them,” she said.
Google Now — the Android personal assistant — is popular with users with vision impairment, said Eve Andersson, manager of Google’s accessibility engineering. Her parents who are vision impaired use it all the time, she said. “They ask their phones questions, ask it to call me, ask it for directions and create reminders. They love being able to do that with their voice.”
For years there have been screen readers for desktop computers. OutSpoken, developed by Berkeley Systems in the late 1980s, was the first for the Mac, according to Smith-Kettlewell’s Miele, who worked for the company.
But while VoiceOver and TalkBack broke the tether to the desktop, third-party apps still have to be made accessible to people with disabilities.
There’s a legal issue too. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires websites and mobile applications to be accessible, said disability rights lawyer Lainey Feingold, although regulations are still being worked on by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Google announced Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities last year with a $20 million grant for technology innovators in the nonprofit community who work on technology to make people with disabilities more independent. “We’re actively looking for proposals,” said Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink of Google.org.
Adobe, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Intuit, Microsoft and others have jointly asked universities to train computer students in accessibility software design and are requiring new hires to demonstrate some familiarity with it.
Something as simple as labeling buttons so that VoiceOver can read them aloud can make a big difference, developers say.
Ari Weinstein, co-founder of the San Francisco startup DeskConnect, said that when its task organizer Workflow was released “we got a bunch of people from the visually impaired community reaching out and saying, ‘Hey this looks like a really great product but I can’t use it because I can’t see the screen and you have no VoiceOver.’ We spent a couple days, maybe a week, implementing really great accessibility features making it compatible with Apple’s VoiceOver.” The product won an Apple 2015 Design Award for its accessibility features.
© 2015 San Jose Mercury News
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS

Last week I was (gulp!) 9-8 in my picks for a second week in a row.  Yikes!  Let's hope this week is better...

COLLEGE PICKS

TCU at Texas Tech.  My pick:  HORNED FROGS.  Have you seen the over/under on this game? The oddsmakers think these two teams will combine for 82 points...at least!  Not much respect for either defense.  Some may think, due to their injuries on D, that TCU could be ripe for an upset.  TCU will give up some points; but that Frog offense is so prolific they can outscore anyone.  Look for TCU to triumph.

UCLA at Arizona.  My pick:  WILDCATS.  Time for U of A to win a big one at home; it'll be a great atmosphere there.

Utah at Oregon.  My pick:  DUCKS.  Oregon may have one loss already; but they still have a prolific offense; I don't think Utah can keep up.

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NFL PICKS

Atlanta at Dallas.  My pick:  FALCONS  20-13.  The Cowboys are fortunate to be 2-0.  But now...with both Romo and Dez out, while the Falcons still have Matt Ryan and Julio Jones...that's too much to overcome.

Indianapolis at Tennessee.  My pick:  COLTS  27-20.  I just can't believe the Colts are really as bad as they've looked so far.  Remember--they've dominated their division for several years.

Oakland at Cleveland.  My pick:  BROWNS  24-14.  The steady Josh McCown returns at QB for Cleveland; and remember--for the past several years, the Raiders have done very poorly traveling east.

Cincinnati at Baltimore.  My pick:  RAVENS  24-20.  I think Cincinnati looks very solid this year so far.  But--the Ravens, at 0-2, will be the desperate team here.  Joe Flacco will find a way.

Jacksonville at New England.  My pick:  PATRIOTS  34-14.  Do we really have to state the obvious reasons here?  The Pats get a breather.

New Orleans at Carolina.  My pick:  PANTHERS  27-14.  Two big problems for the Saints:  Drew Brees has a sore arm; and they can generate little pass rush.  Meanwhile Cam Newton seems just fine.

Philadelphia at NY Jets.  My pick:  JETS 23-13.  I too was impressed with the Eagles in the pre-season.  But watching them now in the regular season tells me something different; they have problems.  Meanwhile, the Jets' defense is good.

Tampa Bay at Houston.  My pick:  TEXANS  27-16.  The Bucs and Jameis Winston played better last week; but they were helped by several Saints turnovers.  Look for the Texans defensive front to harass Winston all day.

San Diego at Minnesota.  My pick:  CHARGERS   24-23.  Adrian Peterson will run for some more yards.  The Vikings looked better last week.  But...I just have a feeling Philip Rivers will work the short passing game and will the Chargers to another tough victory.

Pittsburgh at St. Louis.  My pick:  RAMS.  The Steelers were impressive last week.  The Rams meanwhile had a bewildering performance at Washington.  So that should add up to...well, to a Rams win; because for the past 2 years, we've seen the Rams perform well against good teams.  And Jeff Fisher knows the Steelers well.

San Francisco at Arizona.  My pick:  CARDINALS  29-14.  The Cardinals are impressive. And the Niners?  Well...not as good as they looked in week 1.

Buffalo at Miami.  My pick:  BILLS  23-21.  Just a gut feeling here. Both teams are 1-1 and coming off tough losses.  But I think overall the Bills look a bit better than the Fish.

Chicago at Seattle.  My pick:  SEAHAWKS  28-10.  The Bears must start Jimmy Clausen at QB; the Seahawks must have a win. It all adds up to a long day for the Bears.

Denver at Detroit.  My pick:  BRONCOS  24-21.  The Lions just have not looked good running the ball or stopping the run.  Not a good combo against the Broncos.

Kansas City at Green Bay.  My pick:  PACKERS  31-21.  Aaron Rodgers is playing about as well as he ever has; the Pack may just be set up for a truly outstanding run this year.

LIVING WELL DEPT: HOW TO FIND THE TIME TO...?

Don't we all sometimes feel overworked, over-scheduled, too busy...we'd really love to do X, Y, or Z, but we can't find the time?  I think lots of us at times feel that way.  So what kinds of things can we do?  But today I found this:  the story below is about a busy lawyer who really wanted to find the time to run...but couldn't seem to do so.  So he got some help.  See what he did--and maybe some of the ideas he used can work for you, too.  Read on:

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The 21 Day Timehacker Project matches readers with coaches who help them find time for their most important goals.

DAY ONE: Tim Wiseman, 31, a single lawyer in Lexington, Kentucky, used to love to run. He ran to stay in shape, to clear his head and have fun and to connect with friends – traveling to Chicago to run a marathon, to Virginia Beach for a half-marathon and other places. Running also made him feel more balanced, like he had room in his life for something other than work
But once he started working a few years ago for a law firm, he stopped. He worried he didn’t have the time to run, and that what time he did have should be devoted to work. Then inertia set in.
“As an attorney, time is how I am measured, specifically the time I bill, which is not necessarily the same as time worked,” he said. “So there is pressure to use the hours for work. Honorable mention goes to my iPhone. It is a time drain.”
Wiseman wanted to find time to run again.

THE TIME HACKS: Wiseman worked with Nicole Coomber, a management professor at the University of Maryland who also runs Managing Motherhood, a media and consulting firm designed to help parents “manage the imperfection” and chaos better. She suggested four Timehacks:
1. DEFINE WHAT’S ESSENTIAL: Coomber had Wiseman work on an exercise that Warren Buffet encourages: list 25 things you’d like to accomplish in your life. And from that list, pick five that are essential. From there, figure out how to channel your time and energy into achieving your top priorities.
“Tim has, in the past, accomplished some great things like running a marathon. His job has become more demanding and takes up more of his time, and he feels guilty for not doing some of the things he used to find time for quite easily, like running, recreational reading, and having fun,” Coomber said. “As we become more busy and essential at work, it’s hard to determine what else in our life should take priority.”

Becoming clear on what’s essential helps alleviate the guilt that can arise when it comes to doing something enjoyable outside work.
2. SET A REASONABLE SCHEDULE: Coomber urged Wiseman to think differently about work – that he really couldn’t work around the clock without seeing diminishing returns at work and in life. She asked him to start tracking how much energy, emotionally, physically and mentally, went into the tasks he assigned himself, and start giving himself more reasonable deadlines.
3. CREATE NEW HABITS: Decision fatigue and information overload can cloud our choices. “Deciding to exercise becomes harder unless we can make it a habit,” Coomber said. “Figuring out the key to how you work and how you can make things habits for yourself, what motivates you, is truly key.
4. FIND THE MOTIVATOR: “I found that with Tim, motivation would be better when he figured out what would get him in his running shoes. For him, the competition was key to getting him focused!” Coomber said.
She suggested making a bet with a friend about running in an upcoming race. The competition would serve as motivation, as well as keep serve to keep him accountable to his goal.
DAY 21: By the time I caught up with Wiseman, he’d made running an automatic habit by following a half-marathon training plan and running five or six times a week, usually in the evenings after work. “It’s been a good way to unwind after the day,” he said.
He’d signed up to run the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon in Louisville. And, to keep his motivation high, he’d made a $200 bet with a friend that he would beat his best half-marathon time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. “Another friend thinks I won’t do it and has bet another $100,” Wiseman said. “So I want to double down on my training to show I can.”
Either way, he said, he can’t lose. “It’s been good to get back into running and just try,” Wiseman said “It’ll be a small price to pay if I don’t make it by a few seconds.”
Wiseman said figuring out his top, essential, priorities helped him see that running really is important to him, to his sense of feeling balanced, and is worth his time. That eased the feelings of guilt for making the time to do it. “I have tried to be better about not feeling “guilt” or whatever about taking time to do what I feel is important rather than what someone else may think,” he said.
He’s been working to set a more realistic schedule: “No more endless To Do lists that only serve to become sources of guilt,” he said.
“I’m low on the totem pole at the low firm, so I don’t have total control over my work schedule. But at least, I’m learning not to overpromise,” he said. “That’s a problem every junior attorney has: you overpromise and end up under delivering because there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
“I’m recognizing it’s OK to be reasonable, because you want to do your best,” he added. “It’s all about finding that middle ground.”
Since he’s been running, Wiseman said he’s been sleeper better, eating better, feeling better, and has a better attitude. And he thinks he’s working better, too. “At least I hope so,” he said. “We’ll see when I have my evaluation.”

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FOR MOMS AND DADS: HOW DAD...AND SOCIETY...CAN HELP MOM

Can women have it all?  Many still say no.  But there are ways for dads to help out more--and maybe a key is to overturn some of those assumptions we all still have.  Read on:

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When Anne-Marie Slaughter first gained attention in the wider world three years ago, not for her work at the State Department, but rather, for being pretty blunt about the fact that women still can’t have it all, her husband was there somewhere too.
“My husband, who has always done everything possible to support my career, took care of [their teen] and his 12-year-old brother during the week; outside of those midweek emergencies, I came home only on weekends,” she wrote.
And now that husband, Andrew Moravcsik, has written a piece in the Atlantic about why he put his wife’s career first, and what it means to be a man who is the primary parent.
[Why I put my wife’s career first]
Moravcsik has been able to do it because he’s in the position to, he readily admits. If he were an investment banker or shift worker or, well, worked at the State Department, that might not be the case. But he’s a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton. That sort of academic career lends itself to flexibility, but he wishes more parents, men in particular, could have the flexibility or opportunity he did to be the main caretaker.
The only way to get more dads to be able to be what he’s calling the primary parent, he says, is to change as a society. It should not be weird for the dad to be the one to take kids to doctor’s appointments, schedule activities, run to school when the nurse calls, do school pick up, make dinners and more.
“We should be doing things in society to put more people institutionally, culturally and socially in the position to do what I did,” he said in a recent interview. “And if we do that, then we certainly would be doing more for women to finish the unfinished business of the women’s movement. We’d be doing right by our kids with more options for a more caring family. And I think it would be good for men.”
As he said in the Atlantic piece: We know that a top regret of most men is that they did not lead the caring and connected life they wanted, but rather the career-oriented life that was expected of them. I will not have that regret.
So how do we fix this? Moravcsik has a few ideas.

Paternity leave: Dads also need time to bond with their children so they can have a “close and caring relationship with their kids,” he says. “They learn to do that. They need to be taught to do that by experience. And paternity leave is where that starts.”
Flexible working conditions: “I think it’s most important to have this ability to step in and out of the fast track during a career,” he said. There’s no question, he added, that his academic productivity isn’t rising like it was 15 years ago, but now he’s ramping it up again “as the kids are leaving the house. That’s not so easy in other professions.”
Values: It starts with our language. We say things like “working mothers” but not “working dads,” he says. “We say stay-at-home rather than lead parent” or primary parent. “This language is pejorative and it needs to be pitched,” he says.
Stereotypes: Thankfully, some stereotypes seem to be changing, but wow, they have a long way to go. “If you’re 30 and a guy and you’re involved in childcare, it’s very different than when you’re 50 and you take time off to deal with a teenage crisis. That’s still a little odd,” he notes. “We don’t have a social category for that.” Think about that for a second. Isn’t it important to be able to be there for your teens when life really can get hard? “People have this strange view that child-rearing is front-loaded,” as if the baby years are the only time you need to take off from work and be home more, he says. “It’s the other way around in our experience.” And don’t forget about money and the whole top earner stereotype: “I’m cool with my wife making more money. But a lot of guys, and interestingly, a lot of women, are not so cool with that.”

Empower men: Finally, Moravcsik says that both he and Slaughter have heard from men who say finding a true balance and allowing women to have it all is not just about empowering women. They kept hearing: “You have to understand how constrained guys are. How much we grow up with these cultural constraints,” he says. “There’s a whole cult of a certain kind of masculinity in society that is pretty pervasive.”
Take, for instance, this anecdote in his piece in the Atlantic: When Anne-Marie was interviewed by Katie Couric at the Aspen Ideas Festival about how work and family are balanced in our household, a woman in the audience asked me—without apparent irony—to stand up so she could make sure “he really still is an alpha male.”
Moravcsik’s advice to others seeking a better balance or split so both can have careers, but one can be more available for children? Try as much as possible to see what’s coming and work it out with your spouse in advance. He recalls talking to one of his role models, another academic who followed his wife to various (big) jobs. “I said ‘How do you manage this stuff? Is there some sort of quid pro quo?'” The answer: “You need to think it through so you don’t feel ripped off in 19 years.”

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FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS!!

Yeesh.  Last week you could tell it was week 1 still--I was only 9-8.  Now that everyone has played, maybe now we all know more.  On to week 2!!!!

COLLEGE PICKS

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame.  My pick:  FIGHTING IRISH.  Yes, ND has been hurt by injuries. And now Malik Zaire is out for the season.  But even with all their injuries, the Irish still have talent; everyone is picking Tech, thus giving the team something to rally around; and they are at home.  I can easily see ND finding a way, for one week anyway, to rally together and find a way to win.

Ole Miss at Alabama.  My pick:  CRIMSON TIDE.  Ole Miss has rolled up lots of points so far. They've been on the come the last year or two.  So why can't they knock off the Tide again?  Well, because...'Bama is at home, they still have lots of talent and Nick Saban, and they're still 'Bama.  I believe:  don't pick against them until they give you a reason to do so; haven't done that yet.

NFL PICKS

Houston at Carolina.  My pick:  PANTHERS   24-16.  Texans' Coach Bill O'Brien is already so desperate that he's switching quarterbacks.  Never a good sign.  Cam Newton and co. should do enough to win here.

San Francisco at Pittsburgh.  My pick:  STEELERS  28-17.  San Fran was impressive at home vs the Vikings.  But West Coast teams heading east the next week often struggle; and you have to think Big Ben and the Steelers will find ways to move the ball.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans.  My pick:  SAINTS  34-14.  Did you see some of the throws Jameis Winston made last game?  Horrible.  He'll improve; but facing an angry Saints team in the loud Superdome strongly suggests Winston will struggle again.

Detroit at Minnesota.  My pick:  VIKINGS 24-21.  I hate to pick against my Lions again; but going on the road for a second straight week is tough; and I can't believe the Vikes offense is as bad as it looked against the 49ers.

Arizona at Chicago.  My pick:  CARDINALS  27-20.  The Bears are tough at home; this will be a battle.  But if the Cardinals can keep Carson Palmer and all their playmakers healthy, I think they are a very strong team.

New England at Buffalo.  My pick:  PATRIOTS  23-21.  No doubt, that Buffalo defense looks strong. This game is at Buffalo.   Lots of folks on the Bills bandwagon right now.   This could be the game of the day.  But Belichick and Brady have quite the track record.  They know how to attack a Rex Ryan defense.  Beware of picking against Brady...

San Diego at Cincinnati.  My pick:  BENGALS  28-24.  This should be another excellent matchup.  Nobody has more respect for Philip Rivers than I do.  But the Bengals have lots of talent too. And once again--you have here a West Coast team having to go east and play.  Tough.  I like the Bengals here in a good game.

Tennessee at Cleveland.  My pick:  TITANS  21-20.  Very interesting--once again with the Titans we see a battle of the young QBs.  This time its Mariota vs Manziel.  Marcus Mariota was impressive last week.  Yes, he'll still struggle at times, because he's a rookie.  But he's shown more than Manziel has.  Look for Mariota to prevail in a close one.

Atlanta at NY Giants.  My pick:  FALCONS  31-24.  I  think the Falcons are an improved team.  And I ssuspect we'll see a Giants team nursing a hangover from their unbelievable screwup of last Sunday night.

St. Louis at Washington.  My pick:  RAMS 20-17.  It would not surprise me if the Redskins keep this one close, just like last week.  But the Rams look like an improved team to me with Nick Foles at QB; look for Tavon Austin to again make a big play and help win this one for St. Louis.

Miami at Jacksonville.  My pick:  DOLPHINS  27-14.  Miami won last week though they did not look that great.  But guess what--Jacksonville looked much worse.

Baltimore at Oakland.  My pick:  RAVENS  30-14.  Obviously the Ravens had their problems against Denver's tough defense last week.  But they are playing the sad-sack Raiders; 'nuff said.

Dallas at Philadelphia.  My pick:  EAGLES 31-27.  This should be another good game between the top 2 teams in the NFC East.  Dallas won every regular season road game it played last year; isn't the law of averages due to catch up to them?  It is hard to win continuously on the road.  Plus--for Dallas, no Dez Bryant.  That's tough.

Seattle at Green Bay.  My pick:  PACKERS  24-17.  Two good teams; but the Packers have Aaron Rodgers, who I believe right now is perhaps the best QB is the NFL.  And the Seahawks don't have Cam Chancellor, and you could see last week vs the Rams that they missed him--guys running free in the Seahawk secondary, tackles missed.  That's hurt you even more vs the Pack.

NY Jets at Indianapolis.  My pick:  COLTS 30-17.  The Colts have too much talent to play poorly again; they will bounce back at home.

I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING: THE BEST TIME OF DAY TO TAKE A BREAK

Because everybody needs to take a break now and then.  I too would have thought that in the mid-afternoon was the best time to take one...and the easiest time to convince one's busy self that it was okay to take one then.  But no--researchers find something different.  Read on:

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For most people, mid-morning is one of the busiest parts of the workday. Those 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock hours come after we've caffeinated ourselves, waded through morning email, caught up with colleagues and read up on the day's news. It's when meetings are held, our brains seem to function best and the real work of the day begins.
But it's also the most beneficial time of day to take a break, according to new research by professors at Baylor University.
That counterintuitive finding—many people after all would think the mid-afternoon lull is best for a work pause—was one of a few suggestions for better break-taking in a recent paper published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The researchers also showed that what makes breaks most beneficial is that you're doing something you like and something you choose, more so than that you're stepping away from the job entirely.
The researchers aimed to take a prescriptive approach to break-taking, something they say isn't studied enough in the academic literature. While there have been studies from software companies, for instance, reporting a productivity recipe (52 minutes of hard work, followed by a 17 minute break), academic research on breaks have been more experimental in nature and less focused on the average desk worker's day, the researchers said.
"There's not a lot of good empirical research on workday breaks, which is so surprising because it’s such a part of everyone’s work lives," said Emily Hunter, a professor at Baylor who co-authored the study with her colleague, Cindy Wu. "Most of the research in this area is from ergonomics, on manufacturing-type jobs and break timing. That's told us a lot, but it's not always applicable to computer or knowledge workers." 
Hunter and Wu asked 95 people who worked primarily in administrative jobs at a university to fill out surveys every time they took breaks over the course of a five-day work week, asking them both before and after the break about their levels of energy, motivation and concentration. The surveys also asked about things like eyestrain, lower back pain and how well they had slept the night before, as well as about their levels of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction at the end of the week. The researchers ended up with 959 break surveys in their sample.

One of their key findings, Hunter said, is that participants reported more energy, concentration and motivation after breaks in the mid-morning than they did following afternoon breaks. This wasn't just because people were still more rested in the morning, she said, because they were able to control for that factor. 

"We think we’re like our cell phones, and we should deplete all the way to zero percent before we recharge back up," Hunter said. "But we have to charge more frequently." By taking midmorning breaks, "we're not allowing ourselves to get so depleted that we're at the point where we want to just get to the end of the day."

Hunter and Wu's research also asked people what they did while on their breaks. And they found little evidence that going for a walk or gabbing about the men's U.S. Open final led to feeling more restored than doing something work-related (though not actual work), such as chatting with a colleague about the boss or answering work email away from your desk.

What did help? The break activity just had to be something the respondent liked more than their usual work.

"We tested many assumptions that people commonly hold about breaks," Hunter said, "like going outside or doing something that’s low effort or something that's not work-related. All these things did not matter as much as two things, really: doing something you prefer and taking breaks earlier in the day." 

The pair's finding follows other seemingly counterintuitive research. A professor at Portland State University, Charlotte Fritz, found that when it comes to "microbreaks"—pauses during the workday that are shorter, say, than lunch breaks—doing work-related things such as praising a colleague or writing a to-do list were the only activities that resulted in an increase in people's reported energy.

"Going outside for fresh air during microbreaks showed no statistical relationship to vitality and fatigue levels," she told the Harvard Business Review in 2012. "Helping a coworker did, though. The idea seems to be that when you’re in the middle of work, you’ll do better and feel better if you focus just on work."
Finally, Hunter and Wu found little evidence that longer breaks had more positive effects, but their data did indicate the value of taking frequent short breaks throughout the day.
And if multiple breaks are out of the question when you're buried under a mountain of work? Make sure the one you skip is the 3 p.m. coffee. "If you can only take one break," Hunter said, "then the midmorning one is going to be more effective than taking one at lunch or in the afternoon." 

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HEALTH UPDATE: THE GRAINS IN YOUR CEREAL

I just thought this was interesting---some fascinating impacts on your health here.  Read on:

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Oatmeal, particularly the slow-cooked kind, is generally healthier than Cheerios.

Both are made from whole oats, but the difference comes down to processing. Unprocessed whole oats, like those in steel-cut oatmeal, take a while for the body to digest.

With Cheerios and other processed cereals, “you basically have rapidly digested sugar mixed with bran and germ,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “It provides fiber and minerals, but also digests in the mouth almost immediately.”

That gives you a quick spike in blood sugar, but no energy for later.

One 2013 study, for instance, found that people who ate oatmeal felt fuller and had better appetite control than those who ate the same number of calories of processed cereal.

Both oatmeal and Cheerios are whole grains, which puts them ahead of cereals like Corn Flakes and Special K, in which the bran and germ have been removed, Dr. Mozaffarian said. Whole grains have more fiber and a wider range of vitamins and minerals.

As a practical rule-of-thumb, Dr. Mozaffarian suggests using the total carbohydrate-to-fiber ratio to find more healthful breakfast foods – aiming for a ratio of less than 10 to 1, which is comparable to the ratio in whole wheat flour.

A serving of Corn Flakes, for instance, includes about 24 grams of carbohydrate and 1 gram of fiber, a less-than-ideal ratio. Cheerios achieves the desired ratio of about 10 grams of carbohydrate for every gram of fiber. Instant oatmeals that contain lots of added sugar may be worse than Cheerios using this standard.

For his own breakfast, Dr. Mozaffarian eats Kashi Good Friends cereal along with fruit and full-fat milk. Kashi has more sugar than Cheerios or oats, providing about 42 grams of carbohydrate per serving. But it also has 12 grams of fiber, giving it a better carb-to-fiber ratio than many other cereals, Dr. Mozaffarian said.

The fruit adds even more fiber, and the full-fat milk digests more slowly than low-fat milk.

“If you eat a breakfast of refined cereal and skim milk,” Dr. Mozaffarian said, “your blood sugar is going to crash a few hours later, and you will be hungrier and eat more for lunch.”

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NEW YORK FASHION WEEK: MODELS WITH PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES BREAK DOWN BARRIERS

We are here, and we are beautiful in our own right.  And I am glad New York Fashion Week got to see it, too.  Read on:

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Born without a right forearm, Rebekah Marine was always embarrassed by her disability. As a youngster, she tried to hide it and nearly gave up her dreams of modeling.
Those dreams will come true in a big way Saturday when Marine struts down the runway at New York Fashion Week, knocking down barriers about beauty.
Marine, 28, of West Deptford, N.J., who has a bionic prosthetic hand, hopes to inspire others with disabilities, especially youngsters.
“We should all be celebrating uniqueness,” she said in a recent interview. “We don’t have to fit the stereotype.”
She will be joined on the runway by four others who don’t fit the mold, including Australian teen sensation Madeline Stuart, 18, who has Down syndrome and is also making her New York Fashion Week debut.

Rebekah Marine, 28, was born without a right forearm and has a prosthetic hand. Once embarrassed by her disability, she now hopes to inspire others when she struts down the runway at Fashion Week in New York. (Charles Fox/Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)

Stuart, too, hopes to open doors for people with disabilities. She has done an advertising campaign for the lifestyle brand EverMaya — with 5 percent of sales profits for a bag named after her earmarked for the National Down Syndrome Society — and posed for Manifesta, a fitness brand.
“I am a model. I hope through modeling I can change society’s view of people with disabilities. Exposure is creating awareness, acceptance and inclusion,” Stuart wrote on her Facebook page.
They will walk for the fashion designer FTL Moda, who has designed clothes for Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Earlier this year, the Italian company featured its first-ever male amputee model, along with models in wheelchairs and on crutches.
“It’s a matter of making this world a little better,” show producer Ilaria Niccolini said. “I would like to see this beauty coming out. We want to break the rules and have fun doing it.”
Marine walked in February’s New York Fashion Week and shot with Nordstrom for its 2015 anniversary catalog. She feels her acceptance is growing in an industry that celebrates perfect bodies.
She wears an i-limb quantum, considered one of the most advanced prosthetic hands in the world. She began modeling four years ago after getting the bionic arm at the suggestion of a friend.
“I kind of took the idea and ran with it,” she said. “It has become something bigger than me. I represent a whole group of people, thousands of people over the world who struggle with their image.”
As a child, Marine tried breaking into the fashion industry. Her mother toted her to agencies in New York.
“It became known very quickly that I wouldn’t have a future in it. I gave up the idea of modeling,” she said.
In high school, Marine said she was self-conscious about her arm. She was reluctant to talk about it or take photos in which it could be seen. She worried boys wouldn’t find her attractive.
“I always felt like I was the ugly duckling,” she said.
Despite recent success landing assignments, making headway in the fashion industry has not been easy. Marine still doesn’t have an agency behind her, and getting someone to give her portfolio a glance has been challenging.
But the difference, she says, is that now she exudes confidence. She has received support from Models of Diversity, an international advocacy group.
At 5-foot-3 and 110 pounds, Marine stands in stark contrast to her more traditional, statuesque counterparts.
“I always joke that my height is my biggest disability,” she said. “They always want taller models on runways. I got the short end of the stick.”
An advertising graduate of Rowan University, in Glassboro, N.J., Marine has spent most of her career as a car saleswoman. She currently is employed at a Nissan dealership.
She is a volunteer ambassador for the Lucky Fin Project, an organization that raises awareness and support for those with upper-limb differences. She spends time at camps teaching children not to let their disabilities limit their futures.
“She’s trying to change how people define beauty,” said Molly Stapelman, of Royal Oak, Mich., who founded the group in honor of her daughter, Ryan, 8, who was born with six fingers.
Marine said she would be thinking about how she can inspire others as she gets runway-ready for Saturday’s show. Her ultimate goal is to land on the cover of Vogue.
“I feel so blessed to be able to get a second chance” at modeling, she said. “You never know.”
© 2015 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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FRIDAY FOOTBALL PICKS!

As all of you know, I love football...and so, while we often deal with serious issues on this blog, during football season on Fridays we take a day and just deal with fun stuff.  Like picking football games, and seeing how often I can be right.  (usually not often enough).  Here we go:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS

Oregon at Michigan State.  My pick:  SPARTANS.  MSU is at home; they've been gunning for this game for a long time; they showed last January that they could beat a fast, run-and-gun bunch when they upset Baylor in their bowl game; and no Marcus Mariota anymore for Oregon.

LSU at Mississippi State.  My pick:  BULLDOGS.  LSU is supposed to be good.  They are ranked 14th; Mississippi State only 25th.  But I like MSU; note--they have played a game.  LSU has not.  Watch out for some LSU rust.

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NFL PICKS

Green Bay at Chicago.  My pick:  PACKERS 30-20.  Aaron Rodgers always seems to dominate the Bears.

Kansas City at Houston.  My pick:  CHIEFS  23-20.  A close one; but I like how Alex Smith seems to be progressing in Andy Reid's system; look for the Chiefs' offense to progress as well.

Cleveland at NY Jets.  My pick:  JETS  24-14.  Another McCown will be at QB for the Browns; that just can't be good.

Indianapolis at Buffalo.  My pick:  COLTS 27-24.  I expect the Bills to be better this year, as most do...but the Colts still have a big advantage at QB in having Andrew Luck.

Miami at Washington.  My pick: DOLPHINS   27-14.  Did you see the Redskins' O-line in the pre-season?  Not good.  And they have to face an improved Dolphins defense.

Carolina at Jacksonville.  My pick:  PANTHERS  20-17.  I suspect Jacksonville will improve this year, but...how much?  How soon?  Safe bet here is that Cam Newton will make enough plays in this one to pull Carolina through.

Seattle at St. Louis.  My pick:  SEAHAWKS  23-17.  Same thing here--I expect the Rams to improve.  But we haven't seen it yet; meanwhile, the Seahawks are the Seahawks.

New Orleans at Arizona.  My pick:  SAINTS  28-27.  The line has Arizona by 1; but I have a feeling the Saints are an improved team, and that Drew Brees will lead them to a late score in this one and a close win.

Detroit at San Diego.  My pick:  CHARGERS 24-21.  I don't like to pick against my Lions.  But Philip Rivers finds ways to win at home.

Tennessee at Tampa Bay.  My pick:  BUCCANEERS  17-14.  The battle of 2 rookie QBs.  Look for them both to struggle early--this is the NFL.  But the Bucs are at home...

Cincinnati at Oakland.  My pick:  BENGALS  28-13.  The perpetually-struggling Raiders now have a new coach, too; look for them to struggle early.

Baltimore at Denver.  My pick:  RAVENS  27-23.  Denver's offense seemed to be struggling in the pre-season, and I worry that it is not yet in sync.

NY Giants at Dallas.  My pick:  COWBOYS 30-24.  I suspect the Cowboys might not be quite as good as everyone thinks--losing DeMarco Murray is a big blow.  And the Giants might not be as bad as some think.  But the Cowboys will have enough to get by here.

Philadelphia at Atlanta.  My pick:  EAGLES  31-27.  Look for this to be a track meet; but I like that Philly offense.

Minnesota at San Francisco.  My pick:  VIKINGS  19-16.  Adrian Peterson will give the Vikes just enough punch to get over the hump.

HEALTHY LIVING UPDATE: 21 WAYS TO LIVE A LONGER LIFE

Here we go!:

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When we're young, we all believe we're going to live forever. But as we age, most of us realize that's not the case. What's more, it becomes clear that the choices we make can have an impact on how long we live. While there are no guarantees or methods that can tell you how many calendars you'll buy (despite what actuaries say), there are many simple benchmarks that can help predict if you'll live longer than most. Here are 21 of the most important reasons why you'll probably live longer than your peers—try not to rub it in.

You got married

Congratulations! We may be a little late on the wedding gift, but we figure that just the fact that you got hitched is reward enough since you'll be living longer as a result. A 2013 study by Duke University Medical Center published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine revealed that being married reduces the risk of premature death in midlife. The study looked at 4,802 people and those that were married through their middle decade were less likely to have an untimely demise. Researchers surmised that the act of having a partner to lean on and work with through any challenges faced in midlife make that era of life much easier to deal with.

You don't stress

In a 2015 study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that women who are under chronic stress have lower levels of klotho, a hormone that promotes brain and body health and regulates the aging process. Researchers believe low levels of klotho may be linked to an increased risk of accelerated disease development. Additionally, a 2012 study published in the British Medical Journal revealed that risk of heart attack and stroke increase 20% when a person suffers from chronic stress.

Your best bet to ward off high levels of the hormone is to try to lower your stress levels. If simple, do-it-yourself techniques like meditation or yoga aren't helping, you should consult your doctor.

You look young

Ever have one of those days that you just know you look good? How about a lot of them? Research published in the British Medical Journal discovered that looking young as you age directly correlates with living longer. The 2009 study looked at 1,826 twins and found that the twin who looked older died earlier than their younger-looking counterpart. If the disparity in their appearance was large, the older-looking twin was even more likely to die earlier than if the difference was smaller. What does this mean for you? Looking young and healthy is a great determining factor to living a longer life, so make efforts to look and feel healthy and, ultimately, you'll live longer as a result.

You're not alone

You may take your friends and family for granted sometimes, but the truth is they're a big reason you're going to live a long, healthy life. Researchers at Brigham Young University discovered that social isolation and loneliness can be as life threatening as obesity. The study, published in 2015 in Perspectives on Psychological Science, indicates that feelings of being alone impact on people of all ages and can be a precursor to premature death—even in individuals under 65. The study authors believed that their findings ultimately prove that more positive psychology means better overall health—emotionally and physically.

You've traded white bread for whole grains

Wheat, barley, rye—whole grains like these deliver essential nutrients that have life-lengthening benefits. Among those nutrients are polyphenols. A 2013 study sponsored in part by the United States National Institute on Aging and published in the Journal of Nutrition found that older adults who had the highest concentrations of polyphenols in their urine (and thus the diets richest in these micronutrients) had a 30% reduced mortality compared to those with less. Additionally, a 2015 study with more than 360,000 participants and published in BMC Medicine revealed that higher consumption of whole grains was associated with a lower risk of death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and other causes.

You know the value of a short run

Even if you have never trained for a marathon and don't exactly live in the gym, you may outlive the folks that do just because you jog. The ideal amount of running a person should strive for when it comes to living a long life is 60 to 144 minutes weekly, split into three jogs, according to a 2015 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The 12-year study tracked 1,098 healthy people and found that making this simple commitment was more effective than running for lengthier, more intense periods. "People overestimate how much time they need to devote to physical fitness in order to live a long, healthy life," says Michael Seril, a National Strength and Conditioning Association and American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer based in Whittier, Calif.

You are a social butterfly

If a Netflix binge sounds more appealing than a night out, you won't like this one. Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered that your social life is a great indicator of how long you'll live. The 2010 meta-analysis published in PloS One indicates that social isolation is a detriment to our health. In fact, people who have a healthy social life are 50% more likely to outlive the local hermit. For a little perspective, these findings mean that social isolation is comparable with other mortality risk factors like smoking and alcoholism, and exceed the risks associated with obesity and physical inactivity.

You aren't apple-shaped

Having a big belly can almost double your mortality risk—even if your body mass index falls within the "healthy" range, according to a 2008 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study, which looked at more than 350,000 people in Europe, found that having greater than a 47.2-inch waist for men and a 39.4-inch waist for women doubled the risk of premature death compared with people who had smaller waists.

You have a sense of a higher purpose

This may sound like a trick question, but do you feel like your life has meaning? Think carefully—your answer might dictate how long you live. According to research published in Lancet, people who believe their lives have more purpose live longer than those who don't feel a clear sense of meaning in life. The study looked at nearly 9,000 people and ranked them according to four categories on a range of personal wellbeing from highest to lowest. The results were intriguing: People who felt they had more meaningful lives outlived their peers who did not. People in the lowest category in the study had a 29% mortality rate in an eight-year span while those with the highest sense of purpose had only a 9% mortality rate. If you figure you're not in that latter category, bring some meaning into your life: Volunteer, get a pet, start a project, or find that special something that makes feel like you're making a difference.

You're a conscientious person

People who've lived to 100 tend to have the same personality traits in common: They're conscientious, extraverted, and open, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Age. Researchers speculate that conscientious people are more self-disciplined when it comes to diet and exercise and less likely to smoke and drink. Meanwhile, an extraverted personality is associated with optimism, which translates to lower stress levels.

Your grandparents lived until they were very old

How long did your grandparents live? Chances are that if they lived well into their golden years, you have a very good chance of living long too. According to a 2010 study published in the journal Science and updated later in PloS One, healthy aging can be based on two important factors: Genetics and environment. The original study looked at 1,055 centenarians (people who lived past 100 years) and 1,267 controls and found that they could predict long life with almost 60 to 85% accuracy. How? Apparently genetic markers and variants help dictate longevity in spite of environmental factors. While the study does not say if these genes can be passed down, it does lend some credence to the idea that if your grandparents lived a long life, it may be in your blood to do so as well.

You aren't obese

Obese people who have a BMI of 35 or higher have a 29% increased risk of death over normal-weight individuals, according to a 2013 review of more than 100 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This report also made headlines for a shocking revelation: people who are overweight (but not obese) may live longer than normal-weight individuals. Still, this news doesn't give you permission to pack on extra pounds. Being overweight still increases your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

You drink alcohol (but just a little bit)

Averaging more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and two for men increases risk of cancer, liver disease, and heart disease—but having just a little bit of booze each day may actually extend your life. One Dutch study found that having slightly less than one daily serving of wine, beer, or spirits was associated with a 36% lower risk of all causes of death and a 34% lower risk of cardiovascular death. Similarly, a Spanish study of 15,500 men and nearly 26,000 women found that long-term moderate drinking decreased risk of heart disease, especially in men.

You get the right amount of sleep

According to research from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine and the American Cancer Society, it seems the sweet spot for sleep—and living a longer life as a result—is to get about seven hours of shut eye every night. The study, which was published in the British Medical Journal, looked at 1.1 million adults between 30 and 102 years old over a six-year period and found that people who slept for eight hours or more each night or less than four hours died earlier than those that slept somewhere in between. Shockingly, even people who slept only five hours each night on average lived longer than the folks who snoozed for eight or more. The best survival rates found in the study were for subjects who averaged seven hours each night. The lesson: Get yourself up to seven hours and you'll be your best every morning—and have a lot more mornings to look forward to in the process.

You eat fish

A seafood-rich diet supplies you with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which might help lengthen your life. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at more than 2,600 adults and those who had the highest omega-3 blood levels reduced their overall risk of death by 27%, and even had a 35% lesser chance of dying from heart-related issues. "Aim to eat about 7 ounces of fish on a weekly basis for greater overall health," suggests Chicago-based dietitian Jenny Westerkamp, RD.

You lift weights

Go ahead and flex those muscles! Lifting weights strengthens your body with lean muscle mass, which not only helps you look better, but also live longer. In a University of California, Los Angeles study of 3,659 adults, people who had the most lean muscle mass were the least likely to die prematurely. "Working out doesn't stop when you get older," Seril says. "Staying in shape is a lifelong commitment and retaining muscle mass as you age will keep you alive a lot longer than people who skip the gym as they age."

You had a child later in life

Maybe you were a late bloomer, or maybe love hit you a little later in life than you had planned. If you gave birth to a child after the age of 33, chances are you'll live longer than your friends who had their last child by age 29. A 2014 study published in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society looked at 551 families and found that women who gave birth later in life lived longer. In fact, women who gave birth after age 40 were four times more likely to outlive those who delivered a decade earlier.

You took care of those cataracts

According to research published in the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, taking care of your peepers reduces your risk of mortality by a whopping 40%. Head researcher of the study, Jie Jin Wang, PhD, believes that the link between living longer and cataract surgery is likely attributed to better mobility, improved physical and emotional well-being, overall optimism, and greater confidence living after besting visual impairment.

Your dad was a little older

If your dad was the oldest on the block, you should call him up and thank him for waiting so long to bring you into the world. Having an older father is a good indicator that you'll outlive your peers, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. What does this really mean for you? If your dad reproduced when he was older, that means his life and environment were more favorable than his ancestors, which is a good precursor to your ability to live longer. Why? Simply put: If his life was better, yours will very likely be even better than his!

You never smoked

One of the main reasons you'll be outliving most of your best friends is simple: You don't smoke. According to the CDC, people who never got into the habit of smoking live about 10 years longer than their tobacco-loving counterparts. But if you did partake in some puffing when you were younger, you'll still outlive the diehard, never-quit smokers if you ditched the habit before you hit your midlife crisis. Why? Because your risk of dying of smoke-related disease decreases by 90% just by quitting before age 40, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

You're spiritual

Measuring the power of prayer has long been a point of contention for many in the scientific community. But in a 2011 study published in the Journal of Religion & Health, researchers looked at more than 92,000 women, including smokers, drinkers, and women who exercised (and those who didn't). Regardless of unhealthy or healthy habits, the study found that people who attended one religious service each week were less likely to be depressed than those who did not. Since depression can impact longevity, such attendance might help. And a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that elderly community residents who regularly attended church services lived longer than those who did not partake.

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ISSUES AND ANSWERS DEPT: WHAT KINDS OF SERVICE/THERAPY ANIMALS ARE LEGIT...AND WHICH ARE NOT?

The issue sometimes is not nearly as cut-and-dried as you might think; it certainly isn't when it comes to state and federal law.  I think the important principle to remember is that we indeed want service and therapy animals used who are truly and sincerely needed, and (I would assume) have had some kind of training.  Otherwise, they could ruin it for the service animals who are truly caring, beautiful, and essential to their owners.  Read on:

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ORLANDO, Fla. — A woman and a kangaroo wearing a diaper walk into a McDonald’s, and the woman says: He’s my service kangaroo.

No, it’s not the setup for a joke. But it may be a sign of the times.

In a culture that has increasingly embraced animals as an extension of family, the kangaroo incident earlier this year seems to be part of a growing problem. With pigs flying — literally — aboard passenger flights, monkeys cruising the grocery aisles and large snakes hanging out in restaurants, the issue of what’s legitimately a service animal for someone with a disability can get murky.

“A lot of people don’t understand there’s a distinction between a therapy animal and a service animal,” says Dr. Rick Marrinson, owner of Longwood Veterinary Clinic. “And because of that confusion, I worry that the people who abuse the law are ruining it for the people that really need it.”

In Beaver Dam, Wis., for instance, the woman with the kangaroo ultimately sparked a call to police, and officers asked her to leave. But just weeks ago in Missouri, a man with what was thought to be a boa constrictor casually lunched at a Mexican cafe, claiming the snake helped him cope with depression.

The owner told reporters he thought the patron had a legal right to his “service snake” and couldn’t be booted out — despite the fact that other customers hurriedly left.

Elsewhere there have been parrots, ferrets and flying squirrels that allegedly disrupt panic attacks, alert their humans to impending seizures or allow people to overcome such disorders as agoraphobia. Security officials at Orlando International Airport say they’ve screened what was described as a “service monkey.” (Because the monkey carried no explosives or poison, it passed.)

The help those critters provide may — or may not — be real. Regardless, federal law doesn’t recognize those species as having access rights to public spaces and private businesses, though state law can.

Two years ago, a campaign to crack down on phony service dogs, backed by Central Florida groups that train canines, appealed to the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene — to no avail. The proliferation of official-looking doggy vests bought online, the groups said, allowed badly behaving pooches to show up in restaurants, hotels and theme parks, hurting the public image of their legitimate counterparts.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, only dogs and in some cases miniature horses can be considered service animals, and those must perform specific tasks to aid people with disabilities — such as guiding the blind, alerting the hard of hearing, pulling a wheelchair, retrieving objects or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors.

But the law also says a business owner or employee can ask only two questions of the person: Is the dog (or miniature horse) a service animal required because of a disability, and what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? You can’t ask for documentation, require that the animal demonstrate its service or ask about the nature of the person’s disability.

Further, there’s no universally recognized vest the animals wear nor central agency to certify their training.

And that, says Kevin Fritz, a Chicago attorney on ADA public accommodations, can make matters fuzzy.

“Every time an animal is deemed to have some health benefit, people become more imaginative in their claims,” he says. “And it becomes even more confusing because individual states can have broader definitions than the federal law in allowing other species to be service animals.”

Florida follows the federal law, limiting service animals to dogs and miniature horses, and Fritz says it’s one of the few states to crack down on abuses, at least for those who get caught.

Earlier this year, legislators in the state made it a second-degree misdemeanor to misrepresent yourself as a person with a disability in order to bring your animal into a public facility or business. Punishment is a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail and 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves people with real disabilities.

That wins the approval of guys such as P.J. Suss, a 26-year-old Orange County resident who breeds and sells snakes, specializing in ball pythons.

“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved all kinds of animals,” says the former zoology major. “I feel a kind of kinship with all species. But the last thing we need is some idiot who brings a snake into a restaurant. We have enough trouble with our public image.”

And as much as Suss enjoys watching TV with one of his more docile pythons in his lap, he doesn’t see snakes in a service role.

“I have customers who tell me their snakes are ‘just like a dog,’ but I don’t buy it,” he says. “They do have individual personalities, but most of their brain is devoted to just surviving. You may be attached to them, but I don’t see them becoming emotionally connected to you.”

That’s not to say a snake — or a range of other creatures — can’t provide comfort or emotional support. It just means they don’t have the same rights as service animals.

“Much of our relationship with animals is our projection anyway,” says Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. “You believe that your golden retriever is listening to you, and you interpret this as love. We humans are social animals, and we need social support.”

Emotional-support animals — also called therapy animals or comfort animals — do have limited legal standing.

According to Pet Partners, a 40-year-old national nonprofit for owners of therapy animals, such pets must be prescribed by a licensed mental-health professional for a person with a mental illness and can only accompany their owners in public areas with permission from the facility’s owners or managers. But they can live in apartments, regardless of a “no pets” policy.

“Any animal has the potential to be therapeutic,” says Marrinson, the veterinarian. “From a neurochemical standpoint, attachment is attachment. When it comes to the neurological response of caring for another creature or getting some attention back, I’m not sure it matters if it’s a dog or a rat or an iguana. We love them, and we totally grieve for them when they die.”

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I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS INTERESTING: WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE NOT AFRAID?

The below is a blog post written by the inspirational blogger Eleni Makedonas.  She asks an interesting question.  See what you think:

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"Loneliness is dangerous. It's addicting. Once you see how peaceful it is, you don't wanna deal with people."
-- Unknown
This is a difficult one for most people to understand. For me, it's especially hard because I have a massive fear of abandonment, and feeling lonely brings out those fears in full effect. Learning to sit with that emotion and realizing that it's actually not as bad as I imagined it would be has been something I continue to work on. Learning to love my own company and not need anyone else but myself has been liberating and although it is still largely a work in progress the peacefulness that comes with it is more satisfying then anything I have ever experienced. Recently, I have made difficult decisions in my life and I attribute that solely to learning to face my fear of abandonment and therefore being alone and for that... I am very grateful. Through this I have learned that the only thing my fear of being alone has ever done for me is made me feel more alone. Yes... that's right. That which we fear is what our lives will continue to produce for us. Not until we learn to face those fears head on will we be able to diminish -- and hopefully destroy -- any hold it has on our lives. Not until we stop pretending those fears don't exist and bring them to the surface will we be able to break free from the shackles of our fears.

Each of us face different fears. I believe our fears are made up from our life experiences and mostly our childhood. Only in the last year have I been able to identify the root of my fears -- fear of loss and fear of abandonment -- and tie them to my behavior and actions throughout my life. It has brought me such a wealth of understanding of myself and who I am and most importantly it has allowed me to grow as a person in ways I never thought possible. Don't get me wrong... I am still a HUGE work in progress and my fears continue to influence many of my decisions, however, I am aware of them now and I am working on building my strength against them. I don't think these fears -- that have been ingrained in me from a child through some very specific experiences -- will ever disappear but what I hope is that I will one day be stronger than my fears and they will no longer control me. My hope is that I will one day be fully at ease with being alone and therefore never have to fear loneliness again.
My message is this... face your fears, sit with those unwanted emotions and free yourself from the shackles of fear. Fear keeps us in that unfulfilling career, in the unsatisfying relationship. It keeps us from living our dreams and moving forward with what we really want. We fear that if we let go of that job or relationship we will never find better so instead we hold onto mediocrity rather than strive for something better. Truthfully, wouldn't having no relationship be better than having a mediocre one? Wouldn't having a job that just pays the bills be better than one that stresses you out and consumes you or depletes you to the very core? Follow your heart and believe that everything that crosses your path was meant to cross your path for a reason.

Sending all my love... Eleni... xoxox!

"Fear comes with uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better."

-- Bruce Lee

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AUTISM UPDATE: NEW GENETIC TESTS

Because sometimes, though by no means always, those with Moebius Syndrome might also be affected by autism; therefore we keep an eye on autism findings on this blog.  The latest update:  can new genetic tests help reveal the challenges children with autism will face later in life?  Read on:

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A pair of genetic tests could help parents and doctors better understand the numerous challenges that a child newly diagnosed with autism might face throughout life, a new study suggests.

The tests tracked down genes that could explain the nature of a child's autism susceptibility in nearly 16 percent of cases, according to findings published Sept. 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

That number increased to almost 38 percent when researchers used the cutting-edge tests to assess children with certain physical abnormalities. These birth defects are an indication that those children had suffered developmental problems stretching back to the womb, said senior study author Dr. Bridget Fernandez, chair of genetic medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada.

Fernandez and her colleagues anticipate that genetic testing of children with autism will continue to increase. She and some other experts believe that, based on the study results, doctors should encourage these tests for kids who show physical signs of developmental problems.Doctors may be better able to care for children with autism using these tests, because they will have a basic genetic understanding of the kid's condition, Fernandez said.

For example, the genes linked to a child's autism might predispose them to obesity or diabetes.

Another autism-linked gene can make children much more prone to seizures, said Mathew Pletcher, vice president and head of genomic discovery for Autism Speaks.

"With that knowledge, now you can start to plan for, prescribe for and treat for those [pending] health issues," Pletcher added.

The two genetic tests are called chromosomal microarray analysis and whole-exome sequencing. "They are two very comprehensive tests that haven't been around for too long," Fernandez said.

Chromosomal microarray analysis identifies abnormalities in a person's chromosomes, and already is recommended as a first-tier genetic test for people with autism, the researchers said in background notes.

Whole-exome sequencing examines the protein-encoding parts of all of someone's genes, to look for potential disease-causing anomalies. This test is used mainly in a research setting, Fernandez explained.

It's estimated that one in 68 American children is on the autism spectrum. The term refers to a group of complex disorders of brain development.


To examine the tests' potential, the research team used them to assess 258 unrelated children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Their average age was 4.5 years.

Separately, each test was able to track potential genetic causes of autism about equally -- about 9 percent for chromosomal microarray analysis and more than 8 percent for whole-exome sequencing.

But the combined tests were effective almost 16 percent of the time. And that effectiveness more than doubled when assessing kids with subtle physical signs of developmental problems, such as differences in the creases on a palm or an oddly shaped ear, the researchers said.

Fernandez expects that the effectiveness of the tests will increase over time, as researchers identify more genes related to autism. "There are still things out there that we don't know to look for," she said.

She hopes that knowledge of the genetics behind autism will lead to medications that target those particular faulty genetic pathways. In that case, these tests could help doctors prescribe appropriately targeted drugs to autistic children.

Years down the line, the tests might also be useful in screening siblings of children diagnosed with autism, to see whether they might develop problems related to autism, she said.

But at this point "the tests aren't cheap," Fernandez said. Whole-exome sequencing can run from $3,000 to $5,000, while chromosomal microarray analysis costs about $1,500, she said.

Despite this, the tests are so useful that parents of an autistic child should consider them even if their child underwent a genetic exam years ago, said Dr. Judith Miles, a professor emerita of child health genetics at the University of Missouri's Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

"Things have changed," Miles said. "Families who were evaluated a while ago, it's very reasonable to come back and allow us to have another look. These tests give you a more specific diagnosis that lets us personalize the care."

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WHAT IS BEAUTY? WHO HAS TO BE FIXED?

The below is an advice column that Washington Post columnist Carolyn Hax wrote some months ago; but when she wrote it, it garnered some attention and became a hit.  We with Moebius can certainly identify with what Ms. Hax is saying; because the pseudo-prejudicial comment that got her fired up is just the kind of thing we sometimes face.  Read on:

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Dear Carolyn: My 13-year-old niece is tiny and has a big nose. We live in a community where a lot of teenage girls have cosmetic surgery at 16. I suggested to my brother in private that his daughter may be a candidate for this procedure. (My 19-year-old stepdaughter and my wife have had nose jobs.) My brother was deeply offended and angry over my remark. We are not talking. Was I over the line in making this suggestion in a private setting?


Answer:  Of course you were, and you know you were. You just called your niece so ugly she needs to be fixed, to her own father — and you presumed he needed you to say so. Insulting and self-important.

You sent a letter to me, too, so clearly you’re not some naif shaped solely by the values of your little button-nosed pond; you swim to some extent in the ocean of our culture. And while cosmetic surgery might be so common in our ocean by now that its bolder recipients laugh about it openly, it’s hardly the simple snip-and-go you make it out to be. There are legitimate matters of safety, body- and self-image, cultural identity and aesthetic value, just for starters, that are far from pat or settled — and that’s just in the collective view of society. Apply these matters to the life, confidence and physique of a barely pubescent girl, and you were into outrageous-overstepping territory pretty much when you opened your mouth.

All of the above makes your excuse — that many of the fish in your pond are surgically altered in youth — sound completely disingenuous, so you can add insulted intelligence to your brother’s list of valid grievances against you.
I’m saying all of this as someone who has no emotional ties to anyone involved and who fully supports the right of any adult to take control of his or her appearance, your wife and stepdaughter and the rest of Stepford included.
When I mentally put people and faces I love into this equation, though, I want to roar. People tend not to grow fully into their bodies until well after age 16. A nose that looks disproportionately large on a teenager can be Modigliani-stunning on a 26-year-old whose face has caught up. And even when it doesn’t, the thought of some uncle privately advising a dad about his beloved child of any age, “Uh . . . that whole face thing isn’t goin’ so well, is it,” I need to bite down on a stick.
“In private,” by the way, just tells me you were fully aware this was touchy stuff.
So take the above as a rough estimate of the repairs you’re facing with your brother. I won’t defend his not speaking to you — all this should be coming from him, not me — but I also wouldn’t expect him to bounce right back if you merely toss off an “I’m sorry.”
This apology has to show your brother that you get it now, that you should have before, that your values need an overhaul and that you don’t expect him to trust you until you prove you’re worthy of that. In other words, apologize, make it good and try some scrutiny — of yourself and of the moral dry rot in your community — while you wait.

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PREJUDICE WATCH: WHAT IF...?

Check out the story below.  It is obviously a complicated story, and that should be kept in mind.  But--it does kind of sound like the child below, who has Down's Syndrome and thus has special needs, is not really wanted at the school in question.  And so the question we want to ask is this:  what if this kind of thing happened to a child with Moebius Syndrome who has special needs?  I hope young Aiden Killoran gets the schooling he needs, at the school his parents believe is best for him.  Read on:

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For one Long Island, New York, father, an issue that has been building for two years appears to be headed to a dramatic head on his son's first day of school.

Christian Killoran of Remsenburg, New York, wants his 12-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, to attend the same middle school as his friends and siblings, but says the Westhampton Beach School District will not let Aiden Killoran in.

But his dad says he plans to show up at the school on the first day, Wednesday, with Aiden and supporters. The school had requested a temporary restraining order to keep the Killorans off school property. In U.S. District Court on Monday, the family and the school reached an agreement that a restraining order would not be needed.

"They [the Westhampton School District] has never in history allowed an alternately assessed special education student to attend its middle school," Killoran told ABC News of students with disabilities whose performance is evaluated in ways other than traditional testing.

This would include students with cognitive and other disabilities.

Killoran said denying Aiden entry is a violation of his civil rights and that if the school is going to deny him entry, "they should have the b**** to look him in the eye and tell him he is not wanted."

In the past, according to Killoran, students with certain special needs have instead attended a nearby school but he said because "99 percent" of graduates from Remsenburg-Speonk elementary school go to Westhampton Beach Middle School, Aiden should be able to as well.

Christian Killoran said he has reached an agreement with the Remsenburg-Speonk School District that Aiden would return to his same elementary school this year. However, the family has reportedly filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Westhampton Beach school district, alleging that the district does not want to educate certain special needs in its middle and high school. The lawsuit is pending.

In a statement to ABC News, Superintendent of Westhampton Beach School District Michael R. Radday said, "In accordance to New York State and Federal privacy laws, the district is legally prohibited from discussing individual student matters and cannot comment on pending litigation."

The president of the Westhampton Beach Board of Education responded to ABC News' request for comment. But in a letter sent to The Southampton Press by school board member Suzanne M. Mensch and obtained by ABC News, Mensch wrote she was "extremely disheartened by the Killoran family’s repeated public efforts to bully the Westhampton Beach School District into developing an educational program for their son" and that "Westhampton Beach has not been a party to this discussion" regarding Aiden's placement.

“On July 22, the superintendent of Remsenburg notified Westhampton Beach that a resolution had been reached that did not involve Westhampton Beach and that the child would be attending Remsenburg-Speonk for the 2015-16 school year,” the letter states. “Why would the Killorans willingly enter into such an agreement with Remsenburg-Speonk and then threaten legal action about the placement they agreed to.”

She added, “The challenge we have faced is that oftentimes the numbers of students with similar educational needs within a specified age range is very small. In these cases, students can be better served in specialized placements at a partner district or the Board of Cooperative Educational Services.”

The district has reportedly told the family it does not have the programming to teach Aiden, and they should consider other districts.

According to Christian Killoran, however, the conversation regarding Aiden's placement in middle school was started with the Westhampton Beach School District two years ago. Killoran told ABC News he was told that because Aiden was, at the time, enrolled in the Remsenburg-Speonk School District, the Westhampton Beach School District could not discuss the issue. Remsenburg-Speonk does not have middle and high school schools so its students feed into neighboring Westhampton Beach schools.

"We told them two years ago we would not be victimized by their culture [of not allowing certain students with special needs entry] and wanted to develop a plan," Killoran said.

Professor Sue Buckley, director for Science and Research at Down Syndrome Education International in Portsmouth, U.K., said in an email to ABC News, "I am appalled and saddened that any school should prevent a father and child from entering the grounds by law. All the research studies show children with Down syndrome achieve more in inclusive education – better reading, maths and spoken language outcomes, more socially mature and fewer behaviour challenges – yet many US school districts seem to ignore this information. All children should be welcomed in their local community.

“What message are the educators giving all the other children in their school if they exclude a child with Down syndrome? I agree this is a clear case of disability discrimination," added Buckley a leading expert on inclusion for students with Down syndrome.

In Mensch's letter, she takes issues with the Killorans's account of the situation. "As a parent, I continue to be disappointed in the Killorans’s unwillingness to be completely honest about their situation. I am particularly outraged by Mr. Killoran’s suggestion that he will bring his son to the Westhampton Beach Middle School on opening day knowing full well that he is enrolled as a student elsewhere."

But Killoran said Aiden has a right to attend the same school as the kids he has known all his life and not be discriminated against because of his diagnosis. Aiden, who he called "incredible" is the first student with Down syndrome to graduate from Remsenburg-Speonk elementary. "If you ask the community what they want, you'd find they also want Aiden included. Everyone benefits from his empathy and kindness. We have faith in the school, teacher and staff to provide him with a great education and are committed to changing this."

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