If someone you know with intellectual disabilities has behaviors, they’re normal. Everyone has behaviors.

When I’m in pain, I might squint my eyes, grimace and curl up in a ball, or I might scream and yell out causing alarm and anxiety to those around me. If my head hurts, I can get grumpy and want to cover my head to block out light and my ears to block out sound, or maybe just move to a quiet room. The list goes on and on…

Behaviors as a Language

When we hear the term “behaviors” relating to people with intellectual and development disabilities (IDD), what is usually being referred to are adverse actions that cause some sort of harm to or disrupt the lives of the person with disabilities or others around them. What’s often missed is that these behaviors are rarely “just because someone has a disability and that’s just what they do.” With careful investigation and an understanding of the “language” of behaviors, a cause can often be found. And, even better, many of these causes do not need treatment with antipsychotic medications.

The less able we are to communicate with words, the more likely we are to communicate with gestures and actions. Have you ever found yourself using hand gestures when trying to communicate with someone from another country that doesn’t speak your language? Actions do sometimes speak louder than words. When you walk by someone and they have their head down, they’re holding their right cheek and have a grimace on their face, you may be on the right track assuming that they may be experiencing some sort of dental pain. Learning patterns of particular behaviors can often help pinpoint the cause of them.

Let’s talk about a few categories of fixable causes for adverse behaviors.

Environment

What do you do when you are hot, or cold? Do you remove your clothing? Would you “steal” someone’s blanket from them? You might ask first for the blanket, but what if you were not a person who communicates with words? What if you are in a room that’s really noisy and your head hurts? You’d likely want to move to a quieter place. But, how about if you could not move yourself or communicate to someone else what you are feeling? Might you yell and become agitated?

We should think about environmental causes of distress. Many of these can quickly be remedied and can make a difference in a person’s overall state of distress.

Sensory Issues

Some people have aversions to various sensations. One of mine is something cold touching my skin. When a person with cold hands touches me, it literally feels something like a shock that makes me recoil and even sometimes give an angry look and a gruff vocalization.

Could the feel of a particular clothing item be causing distress? Is there a repetitive sound that is exceedingly irritating to some and not to others? Could certain food textures feel repulsive to someone causing them to spit the food out? The answer to these is “yes.”

Look at what a person is experiencing in sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell when a particular challenging behavior presents itself.  It’s possible that you might identify a pattern that points to something that is easily avoidable.

Social

There are people we like being around and people we don’t. There may not be anything particularly “wrong” with that person at all. It’s just a preference. If we have no real choice about who is around us for hours at a time, we may express our preferences through agitation, resistance, self-abusive behavior or aggression toward others.

Learned Behavior

We should also consider the possibility that a person is doing something adverse because they learned that stopping that behavior will get them something desirable. “If you quiet down, I’ll give you a soda.” What is being taught here? I get noisy, then I quiet down, I get a soda.

Medical

As a physician, this is the area that causes me the most concern. To know that there are people who are in pain and are suffering with underlying health conditions that are not being diagnosed, or worse, inaccurately diagnosed as a psychiatric condition, is disturbing.  Clinicians simply MUST learn the language of behaviors and to see them as valid presenting symptoms of illness rather than just “something that people with disabilities do.”  There are a number of behaviors that can point to specific underlying health conditions that are too numerous to share here, but I want to give you a few examples:

• Spitting out food may be caused by pain when someone chews due to a dental abscess
• Becoming agitated and aggressive when heading towards the dining table may be a sign that a person experiences something painful before, during, or after eating such as reflux or aspiration
• Constantly putting their hands in their pants could be a sign of a genitourinary issue like a urinary tract infection or a yeast infection
• Screaming or resisting taking a bath could be a sign that something ‘bad” happens when their clothes come off such as abuse
• Waking up in the middle of the night screaming could be a sign of gastroesophageal reflux
• Becoming withdrawn, less alert, and less interactive could be a sign of constipation
• Being “hard to reach” could be associated with seizures
• Scratching and hitting one’s chest along with anxiousness could be a sign of chest pain

Learn More About Easily Treatable Behaviors

I’ve seen many people in my clinical career on psychotropic medications in an attempt to reduce some of these behaviors only to find later that there was an underlying, treatable cause. Imagine if you were experiencing painful acid reflux that caused agitation, could tell no one, and were then sedated so that you would no longer “act out.” You’d still have the painful reflux, you just might be too sleepy to try to let someone know through your behavior. We can do better than this! Educating families, supporters, and clinicians in the language of behavior of people with IDD can go a long way to relieving unnecessary suffering.

Take time to learn more about behavioral manifestations of underlying medical, environmental, social, and sensory conditions. Then, share what you learn with supporters of people with IDD and clinicians who treat them. It just might make a big difference in the quality of life of someone close to you who can speak for themselves.

Dr. Escudé is a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and one of the few Fellows of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine. He is the president of Health Risk Screening, Inc. which specializes in risk identification and mitigation in people with IDD and other vulnerabilities. HRSTonline.com. He is the author of Clinical Pearls in IDD Healthcare and the Curriculum in IDD Healthcare, an online course for physicians, nurses and other clinicians that teaches the fundamentals of IDD healthcare.

Kyle Hahn is 32 and works at the Walgreens distribution center in Windsor, Connecticut. Nothing unusual about that, except that Hahn lives with a disability — he has attention deficit disorder (ADD). Many companies might not take a chance on Kyle, but he found himself quite welcome at Walgreens, a company that has a policy of hiring persons with disabilities. Hahn came to Walgreens through the company’s Transitional Work Group Program, a 13-week training series for people with disabilities.

“It helped me learn how to do different functions,” Hahn said with excitement. “It felt great unloading my first truck, and I’m still unloading trucks today.”

Disability Advocates: Walgreens

Carlos Cubia, Vice President, Global Chief Diversity Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, spoke with the Disability Tribune about what inspires the company to be inclusive of people with disabilities.

“At Walgreens we believe everyone, regardless of the community in which he or she lives, deserves to live a good, healthy life,” Cubia said. “These company values extend to our commitment to being an inclusive and diverse company. We champion diversity and believe that we should reflect all the communities we serve.”

Cubia pointed out that 78% of the United States population lives within five miles of a Walgreens, and that Walgreens interacts with approximately eight million customers from across a diverse array of groups in their stores and online each day.

People with disabilities make up one of the most under-represented groups in today’s workplace, Cubia shared. He noted that several studies have shown that companies that champion people with disabilities outperform others. Revenues are 28% higher and profit margins were 30% higher.

“We know that our employees with disabilities help us foster collaboration and better connect with customers,” he said. “They enhance overall employee engagement, and their unique perspectives help us to increase innovation.”

The first step towards a more inclusive workplace, Cubia noted, is for employers to educate themselves about people with disabilities.

“We believe that as employers explore how they can be more inclusive, they will realize there are tremendous benefits for their businesses, their company culture,” he said. “By being inclusive, they also contribute to improving society for everyone.”

Hahn is one of many graduates of Walgreens Traditional Work Group program. Initiated more than a decade ago, TWG partners with state agencies and local non-profits to identify job candidates, provide orientation curriculum and on-the-job training. The program also provides support for candidates with a job coach to guide them through the employment training.

“As of August 31, 2019, Walgreens had nine distribution centers and regional warehouses in the United States running the Traditional Work Group initiative,” said Cubia. “Roughly 14% of employees at Walgreens distribution centers and regional warehouses self-identified as disabled as of the end of the fiscal year. The program provides training on all facets and functions at our distribution centers from how to unload delivery hauls, check-in and tag deliveries and prepare product for shipment to stores.”

Hahn credits the program with teaching him how to perform at his best, as well as in helping him to navigate the workplace.

“It helped me to learn how to do different things,” he said.

Hahn admits that he’ll sometimes get stressed — especially when there are major changes to protocols — yet he feels supported by his team.

“I love my managers,” he said. “My co-workers are great to work with and they help me out. It’s not too bad. I feel like Walgreens is a second home to me.”

“TWG helps us to foster an inclusive culture where growth and development opportunities are provided to individuals with disabilities, and at the same time increasing knowledge and understanding about disabilities across our workforce,” said Cubia.

Walgreens also runs a second training program for people with disabilities looking to specifically work at a retail pharmacy. The  Retail Employees with Disabilities Initiative (REDI) focuses on recruitment, training and hiring people with various levels of ability to work in the company’s retail pharmacies.

“We partner closely with publicly funded community providers on this effort,” said Cubia. “REDI expanded to a total of 37 states and 278 stores during fiscal 2019, up from 227 stores in fiscal 2018. Through the REDI program, hundreds of potential employees have been trained to work in our stores.”

Beginning in 2019, managers were given the option to extend training on a case-by-case basis by up to three weeks to allow more time to improve performance of particular tasks that a trainee may struggle with.

“REDI’s primary focus is to train individuals with disabilities to work in a retail setting,” Cubia said. “Although there is no guarantee of employment at Walgreens, following successful completion of training, candidates are encouraged to apply for open positions at any Walgreens.”

Disabled employees receive the same pay as their non-disabled counterparts and are held to the same job performance standards. All kinds of disabilities are represented in the company’s training programs and hiring practices. Cubia feels that an inclusive environment, one that welcomes people with differing abilities, is a win for all.

“We have seen an incredible dedication and work ethic from people with disabilities,” he said. “It’s about giving everyone opportunities to demonstrate their capabilities and contribute to society. That’s what we are doing here through these programs.”

There are two ways for a person to be hired into the Traditional Work Group Program. The first is a direct referral from state agencies, which is the case for people who have held jobs before or have some warehouse experience and would enter through the company’s application process.

“The second, through the TWG program, is where we utilize our partner to filter our candidate through local and state agencies,” said Cubia. “We rely on our vendors connected to our distribution center locations to identify interested and qualified candidates for TWG.”

For the REDI program, candidates are referred by state agencies to local organizations that provide job skills training.

“Another way that REDI gets their candidates is from the providers themselves,” said Cubia. “We also rely on the providers to screen these candidates to see if they’d be a good fit for the retail environment.”

Hahn said that he’s proud of the work he does.

“I’m most proud of serving our stores, working with my colleagues, with disabilities and without disabilities,” he said. “I feel proud of working for a great company that accepts me for who I am and trusts me to do the job right and to get it done. I feel like I am a great team member and that I could be here for a long time. My team members have supported me when I’ve needed a little help. It’s great to have team members who are willing to help you.”

Cubia added that Walgreens is proud of these programs because they have allowed individuals to gain their independence.

“Whether it is working independently, holding a job or purchasing their own home, these programs are allowing people with disabilities to open new doors for themselves and to write their own ticket.”

For more information about these programs, read the REDI program guide and the TWG program guide.

How can I learn more?

The SEC has a website dedicated solely to helping investors make smarter investment decisions. Investor.gov is a resource with information about fraud, tools to check the background of financial professionals, answers to common questions, and more. And for more tips, follow @SEC_News and @SEC_Investor_Ed on Twitter.

Should we fear a second wave of COVID-19? I’d suggest preparing but keeping fear to a minimum. There are a few good reasons why we may be less likely to have an intense second wave than we were in past pandemics:

1. Near instantaneous transfer of information. The lightning speed at which new cases can be identified, pinpointed and contacts traced will help reduce the likelihood of a quick spread to a large group.
2. The widespread availably of testing will help to identify cases rapidly and isolate them.
3. Better sanitation procedures including hand washing and the availability of hand sanitizers. The importance of cleanliness and the availability of cleaning supplies and sanitizers compared to past pandemics will certainly help.
4. Greater understanding of the disease itself, the early symptoms and the risks of transmission will help to focus our efforts to stay healthy where they have the most benefit.

Remember that numbers can be misleading. When looking at the numbers of cases that are being reported, focus on the trends and not just the number itself, because the more testing that’s done, the higher the number of positive cases that will be reported. It’s a better indicator to look at the percentage of positive tests rather than just total number of positive ones.

Kids with a cognitive disability and COVID-19

Nonetheless, people with cognitive disabilities, also known as intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), are at greater risk of death from a COVID-19 infection according to a new study. People with IDD had higher prevalence of specific comorbidities associated with poorer COVID-19 outcomes. Distinct age-related differences in COVID-19 trends were present among those with IDD, with a higher concentration of COVID-19 cases at younger ages. In addition, while the overall case-fatality rate was similar for those with IDD (5.1%) and without IDD (5.4%), these rates differed by age: ages ≤17 – IDD 1.6%, without IDD <0.01%; ages 18–74 – IDD 4.5%, without IDD 2.7%; ages ≥75– IDD 21.1%, without IDD, 20.7%. The study concluded that, though of concern for all individuals, COVID-19 appears to present a greater risk to people with IDD, especially at younger ages.

What can you do to stay healthy?

1. Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands regularly and teach your loved ones to do the same. Modeling behavior that we want others to do is an important, non-verbal way to communicate healthy practices.
2. Have a supply of hand-sanitizer available. Use ones that are at least 60% alcohol and use them regularly. Take care to prevent ingestion by those who love to “sample” new things.
3. Ensure an adequate supply of a person’s medications in the event that trips to a pharmacy become difficult.
4. Fortify supplies of household items, personal care items and cleaning supplies before a shortage might present itself.
5. Encourage appropriate mask-wearing. For those that might have difficulty wearing one, there are a few tips below.
6. Strengthen your support network to provide assistance with daily life in the event that members of your usual support system become ill or affected by a new quarantine.
7. Expand the availability of activities and entertainment should the need for social distancing or quarantine become necessary. This might include online visits with friends, web-based group activities and outdoor activities that can be done during these times.

Masks can play a role in reducing the spread of infection. They seem to be better at keeping someone who is infected from unknowingly spreading disease than the other way around. Regardless, some places require a mask to be worn and some people with disabilities may be strongly resistant to the practice.  Here are a few ways to encourage mask-wearing:

1. Model it. When people see others wearing a mask, they are more likely to feel comfortable doing it themselves.
2. Make it fun. Let them help in either picking out or designing their own mask. If a person likes superhero movies, find one that wears a mask and show them that it can be pretty cool! Many old western movies show mask-wearers, as well.
3. If they have a favorite stuffed animal, put a mask on them, too!
4. Let them carry a mask around, even if they don’t want to wear it. It may help them feel comfortable having one around and later they may decide it’s OK to wear.

For more mask-wearing tips check this out.

Many of the suggestions in this article are good practices regardless of the presence of a pandemic. They could come to serve you well for pandemics, natural disasters or other emergency situations. Remember the old Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared!

Dr. Escude is a board-certified family physician and one of the few Fellows of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine. His is the president of Health Risk Screening, Inc. which specializes in risk identification and prevention in people with IDD and other vulnerabilities. HRSTonline.com.

Four television shows and one feature film have been honored with the “Seal of Authentic Representation” from the Ruderman Family Foundation. Established in Boston in 2002, the Ruderman Family Foundation works toward the inclusion of people with disabilities in society. The Foundation’s Seal of Authentic Representation recognizes films and television shows that have demonstrated a commitment to the full inclusion of people with disabilities in popular culture. This is particularly important as so many productions have cast actors without disabilities in roles that portray disability.

Disability in Film: The Honorees

This marks the fourth time the Ruderman Family Foundation has bestowed the Seal. The current group of honorees are:

See, a science fiction drama produced by Apple TV+. The series is set in the distant future at a time when the human race has lost the sense of sight and society must find new ways to interact and survive. See has cast Marilee Talkington and Bree Klauser, both of whom are legally blind.

This Is Us, NBC’s comedy/drama about a set of triplets, their parents and the family’s struggles, has cast Blake Stadnik, an actor who lives with Stargardt Disease, a form of macular degeneration. Stadnik plays Jack Damon, a character who lives with retinopathy of prematurity, a disease of the eyes which can cause blindness.

Atypical, a coming-of-age series produced for Netflix, tells the story of 18-year-old Sam Gardner, who has autism spectrum disorder. The show has cast three actors with autism: Dominique Brown, Layla Weiner and Spencer Harte.

Also produced for Netflix, The Politician earns kudos for casting Ryan J. Haddad, an actor who lives with cerebral palsy, as Andrew Cashman, a character with cerebral palsy.

And finally, the feature film Spare Room, a romantic drama, co-stars Cole Sibus, an actor with Down Syndrome who plays a character with the same disability.

Advocating for Actors with Disabilities

The actors couldn’t be more pleased with their jobs.

“I am grateful to the Ruderman Family Foundation for its steadfast commitment to disability inclusion in entertainment, and I thank the Foundation for recognizing The Politician with its Seal of Authentic Representation,” said Ryan J. Haddad in a statement. “Series creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan set out to populate the world of their satirical high school with a variety of voices without calling attention to it in the scripts. It’s been a privilege for me to inhabit their story and their words. This kind of disability inclusion is refreshing, truthful and necessary. We exist in the world, we can be part of any story, and those stories need not be laser focused on our disabilities in order for us to play meaningful roles.”

“It is incredibly important for the entertainment industry to authentically cast characters with disabilities,” added Blake Stadnik. “Not only does it deservingly give work to some of the most talented actors I know, but it also influences the audience’s perception of disability as a whole. Personally, it would have been beyond meaningful to me to see a person with low vision play a character like Jack when I was growing up. I am honored to possibly be that for someone now, and I am so proud to be part of a show that wants to authentically represent everyone’s story.”

Disability Advocate: The Ruderman Family Foundation

The Ruderman Family Foundation conducted a study in 2016 that found that only 5% of characters with disabilities on television were played by actors with disabilities. In February 2020, the Foundation released a new study that showed that the number of disabled characters played by actors with disabilities has risen to 22%.

For more information on the Ruderman Family Foundation, please visit https://rudermanfoundation.org.

Photo: Jason Momoa and Hera Hilmar in See. Photo courtesy of Apple TV+.

As a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a writer “when I grew up.” The problem was, I couldn’t read or write. I realized at a young age that I didn’t learn like everyone else. I felt stupid, different, and disconnected from others. I struggled to read, write, and spell for the entirety of my childhood.

I was in seventh grade when my mother had my brother and I tested for a learning disability. At age 12, we discovered we both had dyslexia. I could barely read on a third-grade level, and I couldn’t even spell on a first-grade level. Along with the news that my brother and I had dyslexia, they also told her it was highly likely that neither of us would graduate high school. Looking back, it was a blessing that my mother never told us.

Not only did I have to learn how to navigate the world with a learning disability, but I also survived physical, sexual and emotional abuse. My father was fervently abusive and full of rage for as long as I can remember. At age 8, my older cousin sexually abused me until I was almost 13. At 16, I dated a handsome, charismatic boy from high school who was emotionally abusive and eventually married him. All of these challenges further diminished my self-worth and self-confidence.

As an adult, years after I had overcome many obstacles, I started focusing on how I had overcome all of my trauma, especially the abuse. My desire was to help others overcome and heal from their challenging experiences. That is when I started writing Finding Your Voice: A Path to Recovery for Survivors of Abuse. As I formulated the book, it was a journey of self-discovery as well, as I began to realize the tools I had used to overcome adversity as a young woman.

The desire to overcome my disability and abuse was directly correlated to my mother’s patience, support, and unconditional acceptance. She was a vital part of my survival (and eventual thriving) as an individual. She always said, “Mannette, you are just different. You’re not stupid. Everyone in this world has something to offer; you will just have to discover what it is you have to offer.”

Her support and encouragement were the biggest reasons I graduated high school and never gave up. Every child (and adult) who has faced adversity needs someone in their corner, whether it is a parent, grandparent, teacher, or mentor who accepts and supports them. We all need hope for the future and a feeling of purpose to move past our challenges and grow.

Another key to overcoming adversity is changing our perspective. Self-worth is not only the first self-belief we lose, but it is also the hardest to regain. Knowing your worth is vital for every individual and is what I believe to be the foundation of our self-confidence, self-acceptance, and self-respect. These were the self-beliefs I lost as a victim and growing up with a disability. In order to move forward, I had to let go of a belief that I was stupid, as well as one of being a victim. Instead, I changed my perspective and became a person that believed I was capable of learning. I learned to leave behind the label of victim and believe I was so much more: I was a survivor. I learned to believe in myself and my abilities, and, over time, I regained my self-worth and discovered my value as an individual. The shift in my perspective lead me in a more hopeful and positive direction as I regained my self-worth.

As I matured, I found happiness and contentment in my roles as mom, daughter, sister, wife, small business owner, and, most of all, an individual. I accepted that my life would always be full of ups and downs — along with the occasional abrupt stop. But I had acquired confidence along with a strong self-worth, which allowed me to keep pushing through any challenges life threw my way.

My advice to others with disabilities and those who have survived abuse is to take back your self-worth and continually take action to work through your challenges. Don’t just wait around for your life to change — you have to take the steps! Let go of limiting self-beliefs and replace them with truth. If you’re a parent of a child with a disability or survivor of abuse, learn to be patient, supportive, and accepting as you lead your child toward self-reliance and independence. Empower them to be all that they can be, and never limit them or their dreams. They just might write a book one day!

Learn more about the book Finding Your Voice: A Path to Recovery for Survivors of Abuse on Amazon

Mannette Morgan is an inspirational speaker, author, and abuse survivor who is on a mission to stop the cycle of abuse in our society. After 30 years of intense self-work, she overcame her past trauma of emotional, sexual and physical abuse along with powering through the limitations of her learning disability, dyslexia. A life coach certified through the Academy of Solution Focus Training and the American University of NLP, she has emerged as a leading voice among abuse survivors and today inspires others to rise above adversity and strive for a better life. Her incredible story of survival and recovery is documented in the book “Finding Your Voice.” For more information visit: https://mannettemorgan.com

It is increasingly well-documented that hearing loss is likely the largest modifiable risk factor for dementia — more important than quitting smoking, managing blood pressure, getting physical exercise or overcoming social isolation. This was pointed out in a 2017 medical report in The Lancet and reiterated as recently as December, 2019 in The New York Times.

And, if you (or a loved one) are suffering hearing loss, getting treatment — which often means a hearing aid — can be the most significant thing you do to reduce dementia risk (and better hear the people around you).

How does hearing loss increase dementia risk?

As a neuroscientist, I study the operation of the brain, and the answer may surprise you. It’s not so much the hearing loss that drives dementia risk, the real culprits are changes in your brain that drive the hearing loss. Let me explain.

Beginning in our late 20s, the brain’s speed of processing begins to slow. The changes are small but accumulate with each passing year. By the time we enter our 40s, and with each successive decade, the brain becomes measurably (and noticeably) slower.

When it comes to hearing, many find that in our 50s the interjection “Huh?” becomes a more and more frequent response to what others say. It’s not that you didn’t hear them — if you hadn’t heard them, you wouldn’t have said anything — but, at that particular moment, their speech came in faster than you could process it.

Typically, speech contains about 10-20 speech events per second (think of a speech event as a change in a vowel or consonant), which works out to a processing speed of 50-100 milliseconds per event. Studies show by their early 70s, most people are processing at a slower rate, and operating not based on capturing the fine details of speech, but instead on capturing enough of the speech to reliably interpret its meaning within the context of what is being discussed.

Another thing about cognitive aging is there also is a degradation in the accuracy of sensory perceptions. An example — unrelated to hearing — is that an 80-year-old relative may observe they just don’t make that chocolate bar the way they used to. In fact, the recipe has not changed, but our taste buds have.

Similarly, when it comes to hearing, the hair cells (stereocilia) in the cochlea — which is the part of the ear that captures sound waves and turns them into electric impulses that the brain interprets as sound — become more brittle as we age, meaning we have trouble accurately capturing high frequencies. Voices of children and women tend to use higher frequencies, as do certain parts of speech, such as the consonants s, h, f (and many other speech events).

This age-related high frequency hearing loss is called presbycusis. It’s a bit like being on a cell phone connection that keeps going in and out. This issue is magnified by the overall slowing of the brain processing, since higher frequencies are in fact those with faster vibration of sound.

These factors combine to create what we neuroscientists describe in lay terms as a “noisy” brain processing. You are no longer capturing all the fine detail. Noisy processing leads to lower cognitive function and lower performance in the world — when that gets bad enough to be a severe decline in cognitive abilities and in real world function, it’s the very definition of dementia.

So, what does this mean for us?

Two things.

First, if you have hearing loss that can be helped by a hearing aid, you should get one —not only so those around you are less annoyed, but for your overall brain health.

Second, engage in behaviors that challenge your brain to operate faster and with greater sensory precision. For hearing, that could be learning to play a musical instrument, to speak a foreign language, or engaging in a specific type of computerized brain exercises.

In the past two years, some Medicare Advantage plans and hearing aid providers have begun offering computerized brain exercises shown to improve speed of processing and accuracy. I know about this because I helped develop the exercises in BrainHQ, which are used not only by older adults with these concerns, but by others who see benefits from having a faster brain, such as pro athletes and elite military forces. In fact, a faster and more accurate brain is of benefit just about every waking moment.

Dr. Henry Mahncke received his PhD in neuroscience in the UCSF lab that discovered that the brain remains plastic — capable of change — throughout life, before being asked by his academic mentor to lead the science team that makes BrainHQ.

For most young people, adolescence is a time filled with fashion and romantic concerns. For Alex Koren, his teen years were the beginning of a quest for equal access for the hearing impaired.

“When I was 13,” Koren shared, “I went to a camp that had a program for deaf kids as well. We shared bunks, activities, everything. Some of the counselors were deaf and we had interpreters on staff to help bridge the gap, but we were all encouraged to learn some sign and just truly be friends with no barriers.”

But as inclusive as the camp felt, Koren discovered there were some activities that could not be truly all encompassing.

“We’d get back to our bunks afterwards,” continued Koren, “and laugh about what we’d done that night, often inadvertently leaving out our deaf friends who had missed out. It had an extremely lasting effect on me and was probably my first glimpse into the separation that exists between the deaf and hearing communities.”

Years later, Koren found himself in a similar situation when a friend with a hearing impairment vented to him about a theater experience.

“When Marty, my family friend, approached me to describe his horrible experience at the theater using an assistive listening device, it brought me right back to those years in camp.”

Fueled with the desire to make the movie-going experience more inclusive, he applied to the Thiel Fellowship — a $100k grant awarded by the Thiel Foundation that allows young people to drop out of college to pursue entrepreneurial projects — and he received the prize in 2014. Koren left Johns Hopkins University his sophomore year to work on technology that bridges the gap between the able-bodied and people with disabilities.

Now 24 years old and a Berkeley, CA resident, Koren is the co-founder of Actiview — the mobile app that provides audio description for the blind, closed captioning for the hearing impaired, and Spanish translation to films at the theater.

“We quickly realized that the need went further than just amplification and we set out to make the ultimate access tool for entertainment, offering audio description, amplified audio, closed captions, sign language interpretation, and multi-language support,” said Koren.

Koren’s co-founder is 20-year-old entrepreneur Braun Shedd. The duo was later joined by Pixar’s former head of post production, Paul Cichocki, who came on board after seeing the Actiview demo. Actiview backers include the ex-CEO of DirecTV and the Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco.

While Actiview’s initial launch was focused on providing better access to the movie-going experience for people with disabilities and non-English speakers, the startup has big plans for expanding their reach.

“While we’re doing theatrical releases in the very near future, we’ve been building our technology with so much more content in mind. Actiview will be available for online streaming services in the home as well, and we’re working on extending the technology to live theater and sports stadiums too! Actiview will be your one-stop shop for entertainment access,” said Koren.

To learn more about the app and to be notified of service updates, you can follow Actiview on Twitter or join their newsletter by visiting their website at: www.actiview.co.

Belo Cipriani is an award-winning author and prize-winning journalist. His new book, Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities is now available on Amazon.

“We are committed to inclusion,” said Emily Minardi, associate marketing director of Rice Krispies Treats, “and we want everyone to have access to messages on our packaging.”

In the summer of 2017, Rice Krispies Treats released writable wrappers, which made it possible for parents to pen messages onto the wrapper of the chewy snack. While the message sharing became a popular way for families to bond over the lunch hour, it was 11-year-old Eme Butler-Mitchell, a blind student and musician, who reminded Rice Krispies Treats that not everyone had access to the written notes.

“With more than 62,000 blind and visually impaired children across the U.S.,” shared Minardi, “it was important to us to find a way to include this community.”

Rice Krispies Treats partnered with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) — the largest blindness organization in the U.S. — and began the process of making the Rice Krispies Treats writable wrappers inclusive to children and parents with vision loss.

“When we were approached by Kellogg’s,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the NFB, “we were very excited at the opportunity to raise the profile of blind people. There was a focus on building awareness around the idea that tech has not replaced Braille, and that Braille is still important.”

“In the U.S.,” continued Riccobono, “the idea of putting Braille on packaging has not gotten really far. Kellogg’s is the first to make such commitment, and I hope this serves as a springboard for more package and consumer goods with Braille.”

The stickers are heart shaped and the Braille dots are well defined on the adhesive paper; the eight colorful messages range from “Love You Lots” to “Good Luck.” The re-recordable audio device is for auditory learners, or kids who do not read Braille, and are rectangular shaped. It opens up like a book and plays a 10 second voice message. The box fits two Rice Krispies squares, and allows for voice messages to be re-recorded up to 1,000 times.

“This is our first campaign with a Braille focus,” said Minardi, “but Kellogg’s has a long history of working with the blind community.”

“Our founder,” she continued, “W.K. Kellogg, went blind near the last ten years of his life. He instilled a culture of inclusion that is still going strong today.”

While supplies last, you can obtain a free sheet of Braille stickers or an audio device at https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/love-notes/braille-stickers.html