Book Nook - Program Your Parents: The Hilarious Robot Game Where Kids Give the Commands and Grown-Ups Do EXACTLY What They're Told

One of the assignments I remember best in high school was when our English teacher had us write a descriptive essay on how to make a peanut butter sandwich - and then followed the directions exactly, sometimes to hilarious results. Imagine a student starting the essay with "put peanut butter on the bread" but hasn't actually mentioned opening the package yet. 

As a teacher, I have also incorporated the idea of programming into my math classes, and used it as a homeschool mom. With coding you have to be exact and recognize the robot's limitations. That's the idea behind Program Your Parents: The Hilarious Robot Game Where Kids Give the Commands and Grown-Ups Do EXACTLY What They're Told. 

This book is great for a variety of reasons. It lets kids "be in charge," it teaches the importance of precise language, improves communication skills, works on critical thinking and logic, and also teaches troubleshooting - skills that are important in school and in future careers. And it does this in a humorous, low-pressure way that requires no deep understanding of programming on the part of the adult.

This book would be an excellent resource for all families, especially those who homeschool or want to do some extra enrichment, and could also be incorporated into classrooms in small group settings. There are suggestions for each activity, safety notes, and also clearly laid out ground rules to make sure that everyone has a positive experience.

Book Nook - Where Wonder Leads: Finding God Through Fairy Tales, Myth, and Contemplative Prayer

 My adult daughter and I love reading fantasy fiction, so I was really excited about the concept of the book Where Wonder Leads: Finding God Through Fairy Tales, Myth, and Contemplative Prayer and was happy to get a chance to review the book.

Award-winning author Eric A. Clayton invites readers to rediscover imagination as a pathway to encountering God. Drawing from fairy tales, fantasy, mythology, and the Ignatian tradition of imaginative prayer, Where Wonder Leads offers thirty-five guided meditations that awaken curiosity, wonder, and a deeper awareness of God's presence in everyday life.

I liked the organization of the book. It started with a section on the power of wonder and imagination to spark discovery. Then there was "the adventure" section - a chance to be immersed in a story and meditate on the spiritual lessons in the adventure. I've read other books that use fantasy fiction as a chance for spiritual reflection, so this felt familiar, yet also different enough that it was worth exploring. At the end are appendices for using the book in retreats, with families, and in other situations.

If you're someone who enjoys reading fantasy fiction, this is an excellent resource for spiritual exploration. Even if you aren't, it's still worth reading, to gain a new perspective and a fresh outlook on what you believe.

Money Matters - Disability Employment Rates by State

A study from autism therapy app Autism360 has revealed the best US states for disability employment.

The study analyzed data from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey to compile a top list, ranking states from 1-50, determining which state had the highest disability employment rate.

The count covers working-age adults who are disabled and employed. Calculations were done by finding the percentage of disabled people employed from the total disabled population who are between the age of 18 and 64.

Top 10 US states for disability employment - National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Rank	State	Disability employment rate (%)	Disabled people employed	Disabled population 18-64
1	South Dakota	59	35,236	59,742
2	North Dakota	57.4	27,677	48,186
2	Nebraska	57.4	69,459	121,052
3	Colorado	57.3	208,103	363,341
4	Utah	57.2	118,272	206,731
5	Wyoming	56.1	20,648	36,821
6	Iowa	53.7	109,371	203,839
7	Idaho	53.1	80,121	150,853
8	Kansas	52.9	103,129	195,131
9	New Hampshire	52.4	51,673	98,670
10	Minnesota	52.3	183,604	350,750

South Dakota sits clearly at the top of this table with a disability employment rate of 59%. The state employs 35,236 disabled people from a disabled population of 59,742.

Neighboring state North Dakota ties in second alongside Nebraska with a disability employment rate of 57.4%. 

Colorado is third best for disability employment with a rate of 57.3%. The state has the greatest number of employed people in the top 10 with 208,103 from a disabled population of 363,341.

Ranking fourth is Utah, which has a disability employment rate of 57.2%, with 118,272 employed from 206,731.

Fifth comes Wyoming with a rate of 56.1%. The state employs 20,648 from a disabled population of 36,821. 

Iowa ranks sixth for disability employment with a rate of 53.7%, meaning 109,371 are employed from a disabled population of 203,839.

Next in seventh is Idaho, with a disability employment rate of 53.1%. 80,121 people are employed from a disabled population of 150,853. 

Kansas ranks eighth with a disability employment rate of 52.9%, employing 103,129 from a disabled population of 195,131.

The next state ranking in ninth is New Hampshire, which has an employment rate of 52.4%, meaning 51,673 people are employed from a disabled population of 98,670.  

Rounding out the top 10 is Minnesota with a disability employment rate of 52.3%. The state employs the second most disabled people in the top 10 with 183,604 from 350,750.

Top 10 worst US states for disability employment 

Rank	State	Disability employment rate (%)	Disabled people employed	Disabled population 18-64
1	West Virginia	38.3	65,011	169,952
2	Mississippi	39.2	106,699	271,953
3	Arkansas	39.8	111,504	280,483
4	Kentucky	39.9	177,179	443,687
5	Alabama	40.8	173,638	425,470
6	Louisiana	41.3	155,960	377,777
7	New York	41.8	527,621	1,262,474
8	New Mexico	42.5	75,245	176,945
9	Tennessee	43.4	234,088	539,774
10	Maine	44	50,268	114,289
10	Michigan	44	322,965	733,604

West Virginia is officially the worst US state for disability employment with a rate of 38.3%. 65,011 are employed out of a total disabled population of 169,952. 

The second worst US state for disability employment is Mississippi with a rate of 39.2%. 106,699 disabled people are employed out of 271,953. 

Arkansas ranks as the third worst US state with a disability employment rate of 39.8%, hiring 111,504 people from a population of 280,483. 

The fourth worst US state for disability employment is Kentucky, with a rate of 39.9%. 177,179 disabled people are in work from a population of 443,687. 

Alabama is the fifth worst US state with a disability employment rate of 40.8%, hiring 173,638 people from a disabled population of 425,470. 

Ash Bhattacharya, CEO and Cofounder of Autism360, commented on the findings: “As it is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, there is extra emphasis on these numbers. One thing particularly interesting about this data is that there is not one Southern state in the top 10. Nine of the states are in either the Midwest or the West, with New Hampshire located in the Northeast of America.

“And on the other end of the scale, seven of the bottom 10 are Southern states, so there’s a clear message here: the West of America simply hires more of the disabled population than the South, despite the South having a typically higher number of residents.

“South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska, commonly known as the Great Plains, top the table with the highest disability employment rates with mountain states Colorado and Utah not far behind. As for Nevada, with a strong 51.7% employment rate, they are performing well above the national average.”

Data courtesy: autism360.com 

Sources: https://www.census.gov/ 

Methodology: Using data from the US Census Bureau, this study looked at the number of disabled people aged 18-64 in each state and worked out the rate of employment to compile a list ranked from 1-50. 1 (South Dakota) being the best state for disability employment and 50 being the worst (West Virginia). 

Caring Causes - Marine Toys for Tots Legacy of Hope Gala (Universal City CA 10/24)

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, one of the Nation’s most enduring and respected charitable organizations, will host its inaugural “Marine Toys for Tots Legacy of Hope Gala,” presented by Colossal, at The Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California on Saturday, October 24, 2026.

 

Guests will enjoy celebrity appearances, live entertainment, and both live and silent auctions. Proceeds will support Toys for Tots’ mission of providing brand new toys, books, and other gifts to children in need at Christmastime and beyond. Says Lieutenant General James B. Laster, U.S. Marines (Retired), President and CEO of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation:  “We’re honored to celebrate the remarkable legacy of Toys for Tots through its inaugural gala and to recognize the generations of supporters whose compassion and generosity have helped bring joy and hope to children in need. As we look ahead to our milestone 80th anniversary next year, we are deeply grateful to the donors, volunteers, sponsors, and partners whose unwavering support has sustained this mission since 1947 and helped make a lasting difference in the lives of millions of children in need.”

 

For those who wish to donate and support, please visit:  https://www.toysfortots.org/.

ABOUT MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION

Toys for Tots, a 79-year National charitable Program run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, provides year-round joy, comfort, and hope to disadvantaged children across the Nation through the gift of a new toy or book. Providing toys, books, and other gifts to disadvantaged children offers recognition, confidence, and a positive memory for a lifetime. It is such experiences that help children become responsible citizens and caring members of their community. Since 1947, the Program has evolved and grown substantially, having delivered hope and the magic of Christmas to over 325 million children in need. Because the need isn’t just at Christmastime, the Marine Toys for Tots Program also provides year-round support to families experiencing challenges and exceptional circumstances, thus fulfilling the hopes and dreams of millions of disadvantaged children beyond the holidays. The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is a not- for-profit organization authorized by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of War to provide fundraising and other necessary support for the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. For more information, visit www.toysfortots.org.

ABOUT COLOSSAL

Colossal is the leading nationally registered professional fundraiser powering purpose-driven online competitions that inspire people to advocate for themselves and those in need. Through unforgettable experiences and community engagement, Colossal helps raise funds to support nonprofit organizations while creating life-changing opportunities for participants. www.colossal.org.

Book Nook - When Things Get Personal: a Philosophical Guide to Conflict

 Mark Schroeder, a philosophy professor at USC, has spent the last 14 years pondering how philosophy can help us take conflict less personally. I had a chance to review his new book, When Things Get Personal: a Philosophical Guide to Conflict (coming October 27 from Princeton University Press). In the book, he brings this experience to look at when and why we fail at listening to one another, seeing one another, giving one another credit, and many other issues that can affect how we get along with our children - and with our parents.

The book is a pretty good blend of philosophical explanations, specific examples, and tips for better communication. It is a little academic in tone, but not preachy or hard to understand - the academic nature works to give more background and insight into the nature of conflict. Specific topics in the book include parent-child relationships, immediate conflicts like bedtime, and conflict between partners.

You can learn more in this interview.

Conflict is of course something that we all have to live with and navigate. All of us could benefit from a better understanding of what we shouldn’t take personally and when to stand up for ourselves. Is this something that you have special training to study? Or how did you get started?

Actually, it was only through a bit of luck that I discovered how philosophy could help me to understand and work through some really challenging issues in my own life – originally, it was part of what I was going through while living with my mother-in-law for a year. Before then, most of my research in philosophy was about some very abstract questions that were hard to explain to people outside of my field. But I found philosophy so helpful in sorting through this relationship that I set out to re-orient my career around better understanding why it had helped me so much, and figuring out how to help others in that way. What I’ve come to realize is that the reason that none of my professional training as a philosopher specifically addressed the study of conflict is that even philosophers have been slow to appreciate the untapped potential of both ideas and methods from philosophy for understanding and navigating conflict. And I’ve made it my mission to try to reveal that potential to others, and to do what I can to tap it.

So what is it that philosophy brings to our understanding of conflict that is so different from other fields?

A lot of things, actually! But one of the most important, I think, is that we need philosophy in order to understand what makes conflicts “personal” – as opposed to “merely business.” It sounds redundant to say this out loud, but interpersonal conflicts are conflicts between people. We need to look to philosophy in order to understand what goes into being or being treated as a person. That is what my book is all about. It’s about how our understanding (and misunderstanding!) of ourselves and of one another as people shapes the dynamics of our relationships and the conflicts between us.

Okay, so let me pick up on that idea. What goes into understanding someone as a person?

The observation that I explore in the book is that one really important part of seeing someone as a person requires distinguishing what I call “signal” from “noise”. A lot of what someone does or says is signal – it reflects on them as a person, and paying attention it and responding to it is a way of seeing and connecting to them as a person. But sometimes some of it is just noise. If his anger at you is signal, then the right response might be to get defensive, or to feel guilty. These are natural responses as part of your relationship. But maybe what’s really going on has nothing to do with you or your relationship, because he is just hangry. In that case, the right response isn’t to get defensive or guilty – you should just hand him a Snickers bar and wait for him to calm down. That’s the noise. Seeing someone as a person requires seeing their signal through the noise.

Distinguishing signal from noise sounds like it can be really helpful for getting along with one another – it would be a shame to get into a fight with someone just because they are hungry. But in the book you say that our ability to distinguish signal from noise can get us into trouble. How does it do that?

That’s right – the ability to distinguish signal from noise is a great relationship tool. It’s one that we all have, and using this ability helps us to avoid mistaking noise for signal, and getting too worked up over things that don’t matter. But this same ability creates the possibility of making the opposite mistake – of confusing signal for noise. Imagine that you are trying to tell your husband something, and he just passes you a Snickers bar. Or maybe he responds by asking if it’s that time of the month. He’s not really hearing or listening to you, if he is interpreting what you are doing or saying as noise. Lots of relationship troubles turn, I think, on little ways in which we fail to genuinely see or hear one another because we are mistaking signal for noise.

Is distinguishing signal from noise something that we can get better at? How can we avoid this kind of problem?

Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to avoid making this kind of mistake, because there is no perfect test for what is signal! And even when we get it right, and correctly interpret someone else, sometimes they will still think that we are misinterpreting them, because they misinterpret themselves, which still leads to conflict. So I don’t think there are any easy solutions. Personally, I find this good news rather than bad, because it means that the fact that I find conflicts in all of my relationships doesn’t mean that they are bad relationships – it is just an inevitable consequence of everyone doing their best. But in the book I also show how merely understanding how these kinds of misunderstandings work can make at least some of them go away, and offer advice about how to use the ideas in the book to get better at perspective-taking.

Mark Schroeder is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, where he is founding director of the Conceptual Foundations of Conflict Project.  His books include Slaves of the Passions, Being For, Reasons First, and When Things Get Personal.