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Chris
12-11-2013, 08:38 PM
The law run amok...

City Government Prohibits Autistic Boy's Therapeutic Pet Chickens


The Hart family found a way to help their autistic toddler through animal therapy, specifically with pet chickens. Now, their local city council in DeBary, Florida – fully aware of the boy's condition and treatment – is telling the family that they have to get rid of their pets.

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The Harts discovered the transformative effect chickens had on their son, J.J., last year. The boy previously experienced long bouts of silence and fits of anger. J.J.'s mother, Ashleigh, told the Orlando Sentinel about the positive effects the birds have had on her son, "he's now going to a new preschool, and he's able to communicate much better. And it all has to do with the chickens. He plays with them. He cuddles with them. And he runs around the yard with them. … It's made a tremendous difference.”

The city initially cited them for a code violation, but the Harts petitioned to be allowed to keep their pets and DeBary city council began a pilot program. The city allowed chickens, though required a permit. Reports indicate that the Harts and one other household, which was raising the chickens for eggs, participated in program.

Yet, the council voted last week 3-2 to yank away residents' privilege to care for these animals. Mayor Bob Garcia was among the dissenting voices. He expressed to Fox News his view that "if we make laws that take away rights of individuals, especially children, those laws should be abolished. We should be protecting the rights of individuals, not suppressing them."...

waltky
06-23-2016, 06:31 PM
Helping autistic kids with Google Glass...
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Google Glass finds use in helping autistic children
Fri, Jun 24, 2016 - Like many autistic children, Julian Brown has trouble reading emotions in people’s faces, one of the biggest challenges for people with the neurological disorder. The 10-year-old San Jose boy is getting help from “autism glass” — an experimental device that records and analyzes faces in real time and alerts him to the emotions they are expressing.


The facial recognition software was developed at Stanford University and runs on Google Glass, a computerized headset with a front-facing camera and a tiny display just above the right eye. Julian is one of about 100 autistic children participating in a Stanford study to see if “autism glass” therapy can improve their ability to interpret facial expressions. “There’s not a machine that can read your mind, but this helps with the emotions, you know, recognizing them,” Julian said. Julian wears the device each day for three 20-minute sessions when he interacts with family members face-to-face — talking, playing games, eating meals. The program runs on a smartphone, which records the sessions.

When the device’s camera detects an emotion such as happiness or sadness, Julian sees the word “happy” or “sad” — or a corresponding “emoji” — flash on the glass display. The device also tests his ability to read facial expressions. “The autism glass program is meant to teach children with autism how to understand what a face is telling them. And we believe that when that happens they will become more socially engaged,” said Dennis Wall, who directs the Stanford School of Medicine’s Wall Lab, which is running the study.

Stanford student Catalin Voss and researcher Nick Haber developed the technology to track faces and detect emotions in a wide range of people and settings. “We had the idea of basically creating a behavioral aide that would recognize the expressions and faces for you and then give you social cues according to those,” said Voss, who was partly inspired by a cousin who has autism.

Google provided about 35 Google Glass devices to Stanford, but otherwise has not been involved in the project. The Silicon Valley tech giant stopped producing the headset last year after it failed to gain traction, but the device found new life among medical researchers. Brain Power, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based start-up, is also developing Google Glass-based applications to help children with autism improve their face-reading abilities and social skills. Autism advocates are excited that researchers are developing technologies to help the estimated one in 68 US children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2016/06/24/2003649377