Imagination Stage is a children's theater in the state of Maryland. A special performance is put on for children with autism (自闭症) each day. People with autism have difficulty communcating and socializing with other people. Children in the theater are allowed to move around during the performance. It's OK if they shout out or hold their ears when the music is too loud. These special performances are sometimes the only thing that a family can go to the theater together to see if a child has autism.

    That is the same idea with Autism on the Seas. This company organizes vacations for families of children with autism, especially vacations on cruise ships. Jamie Grover is director of group development in Autism on the Seas. He said, “With our staff on board, parents know that they are going to be able to relax, enjoy their vacation, and participate in ship activities. They know that their children are well taken care of.”

    The benefit of such vacations organized by Autism on the Seas is not waiting in huge lines on departure day. The company has staff to help in the ports. Waiting in long lines or being in the middle of big crowds can cause problem behavior in children with autism. Autism on the Seas helps families avoid situations like that.

    Autism on the Seas works with the help of cruise companies like Royal Caribbean. Special times or places are arranged for families to play video games, go skating or rock climbing, or eat dinner. Autism on the Seas also directs families to organizations that can help them pay for these vacations.

    Bambi Van Woert from the state of Michigan went on a cruise with her 7-year-old Ben, who has autism. She said, “I would never do something like this myself. I cannot take Ben shopping by myself at this point, so for me to try to do a cruise without help would be absurd.”

    Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone's life?

    If yes, don't care about sex or age! Come and join us, and then you'll make it.

Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant

(No Pay with Free Meals)

Place: Manchester

Hours: Part Time

    We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don't miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!

Role:

    You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary(首要的;主要的) concern is to let them know they are valued.

Skills and Experience Required:

    You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you'll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.

    "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be a kid?"My 7-year-old daughter once asked me.My initial reaction to her complaint was eye-rolling,along with thinking,“Being a kid is hard?Are you kidding me?”as I mentally ticked off（用记号勾出）all the hard things that her mama does.

    However,as I thought about it a bit more,I realized how silly my reaction had been.Yes,as we adults look back on our childhood,being a kid seems carefree and easy and full of fun.Coloring at school!Playing games!Riding bikes! How could that be hard?So I asked my daughter why being a kid was so hard.

    Her first answer didn't surprise me."Well,because you don't have your own phone,and you can't eat in the living room."

    I asked if anything else was hard about being a kid."Someone else is the boss of you,"she replied.

    I thought some more.What else is hard about being a kid?Well,sometimes,we don't really take kids seriously.

    There are times when I've responded to my children's tears with "It's not that bad,"or"You don't need to be upset about that."Because I believe that a cancelled playdate or a lost toy is no big deal.But for little ones,it is.

    We don't intentionally ignore these opportunities for connection,but sometimes,in busy moments of parenting, we respond unskillfully.We don't take our children's view,and we miss an opportunity to practice compassion（同情心）.

    Everyone who has eaten instant noodles knows that it's very easy to cook them quickly. However, have you ever heard of the danger of eating them?

When taking out the noodles from the packaging, you will notice that they are joined together nicely as a piece. Do you know that it needs some form of wax coating (蜡涂层) to make them joined together nicely? Many people don't really care much about it because this seems very normal. However, studies have shown that the wax coating is bad for our body.

    It is advisable to have a break of 2-3 days before we start to eat another packet of instant noodles because our body needs about 3 days to clear that wax coating away. Do you know the danger of having too much wax coating in our stomach? It will lead to CANCER if it is in our body for so long.

    Luckily, there is a way to reduce the danger before we eat instant noodles. First, wash the noodles with warm water, stir (搅拌) them and pour away the water containing the wax coating. Then repeat the first step and try to stir them again to wash away the wax coating on the noodles before cooking them. The shop vendors (供应商) will often wash away the dangerous wax coating.

    It is very easy to cook instant noodles but we must pay attention to the wax coating if we eat too much. Imagine having too much of it in your stomach. Oh, my! Hope this article will help more people know about the hidden danger!

                                                                                              America's top comic book stores

    New York City, NY － JHU Comic Books

    NYC has a number of impressive comic book stores. While other comic book stores in the city fill their shelves with other products like cards and board games, JHU focuses only on the comics themselves, with shelves filled with great selections of the latest releases and back issues from wall to wall. (32 East 32nd St, 212 — 268 — 7088)

    Austin, TX－Austin Books & Comics

    Opened in 1977, Austin Books &. Comics is one of Texas' biggest and longest running comic book stores. Not only do they sell the latest issues, they also carry many first editions and back issues. Good news is that they often hold regular book purchase discount activities, which means that you'd better consult them before your visit. (5002 N Lamar Blvd, 512－454－4197)

    Washington D. C. － Big Planet Comics

    This store, originally from Georgetown, prefers the more independent, small-press titles as well as stuff from Europe and Japan that your kids probably haven't even heard of, but they also carry the more popular ones. True to its name, BPC has established its own comic book world, with book signing and meet-and-greet events, and their very own, though tiny, comic book publishing house. (1520 U St NW, 202 —342 —1961)

    Portland 9 OR － Floating World Comics

    Floating World Comics is not only a comic book store but a community hosting art shows. Priding itself on cool style, this is an ideal place for comic books, where art books fill shelves just as much as the more mainstream comics. Both the future artists and the comic book lovers in your family will more than appreciate a stopover during your Portland vacation. (400 NW Couch St, 503－241－0227)

    Monty Hempel is a professor of environmental sciences at Redlands University in California. He studies ecological literacy­or eco-literacy, for short. Eco-literacy is the ability to think about and understand the natural processes that make life possible.

    Monty Hempel says eco-literacy gives people knowledge about environmental problems. But he says it does not always work on getting them to change their behavior.

    Mr. Hempel wrote part of the Worldwatch Institute's latest State of the World report. He says in his article, "Some people think that eco-literacy is just a green form of science literacy. And what I have tried to ask is whether that's enough. In other words, what an ecologically-literate person needs to know might include things like the effect of environmental pollution on ecosystem, the energy systems, and all of those kinds of things that we would call the science of ecology."

    "That doesn't seem to lead to action to protect our environment ­ to protect our life-support system to the level that we need to. Just knowing a lot about the environment doesn't mean that we actually act to save it. After all, actions speak louder than knowledge."

    He adds that people may not be very worried about environmental problems if they seem far away. "Some people call it psychological distance. A lot of climate issues are worse in the Arctic and most of us don't spend time in the Arctic. And so, there's a certain distance. But there's also a distance that's happening in the world as it urbanizes ­ people spending more time in front of screens and less time out in nature. We become, if you will, disconnected from the natural systems that used to be the key to success for a human being."

    To help children discover the wonders of nature, he adds that children should learn about nature in school. But he also points out we have a high mountain for people to climb from knowledge to action.