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Science

She tattooed half her face and you'd never know it. Her skills are just that good.

This incredible medical tattoo technology is giving renewed hope to burn victims.

All images via the CBS/YouTube

Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts...


Meet Samira Omar.

The 17-year-old was the victim of a horrific bullying incident.



A group of girls threw boiling water on her, leaving her badly burned and covered in scars and discoloration.

tattoo shop, hate crime, artistry

17-year-old Samira Omar

All images by CBC News/YouTube

She thought the physical scars would be with her forever — until she met Basma Hameed. Basma Hameed runs a tattoo shop, of sorts — but her tattoo artistry doesn't look like you'd expect. Basma is a paramedical tattoo specialist. Instead of tattooing vibrant, colorful designs, she uses special pigments that match the skin in order to conceal scars.

It looks like this:

human condition, diversity, equality

Basma looking at Samira’s facial scarring.

assets.rebelmouse.io

disabilities, health, reproductive rights,

Basma talking over the procedure.

assets.rebelmouse.io

body image, scarring, community

Visible scars and discoloration of the skin.

assets.rebelmouse.io

humanity, culture, treatment

Tattooing the visible scarring on her hand

assets.rebelmouse.io

With Basma's help, patients like Samira can see a dramatic decrease in their scar visibility and discoloration after a few treatments. She even offers free procedures for patients who are unable to afford treatment. That's because Basma knows firsthand just how life-changing her work can be for those coping with painful scars left behind.

Check out the video below to find out more about Basma's practice, including how she became her very first patient.

This article originally appeared on 01.12.15

Family

He made an app to help himself and people like him with panic attacks.

The next time you're on the verge of a panic attack, just give your phone to a stranger, and the Emergency Chat app can instruct them how to help.

Please note: This piece was written using identity-first language, which is sometimes preferred by people with autism and other conditions. You can read more here about the differences between identity-first and people-first language.

Have you ever felt totally overwhelmed by everything around you and just needed the world to stop for a moment?

Hey, it happens to the best of us.


GIF from "Community."

But for many people who fall on the spectrum of autism, these kinds of experiences can be all too common.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a range of neuro-atypical conditions typically characterized by impairments or difficulties in social, developmental, and occupational behaviors.

Autistic people often have to work extra hard to interpret social cues and communicate with others, which, well, can be really frustrating.

Think of your own worst memory of the stress caused by miscommunication. Then imagine pretty much every single social interaction you have being just like that — totally outside your internal comfort zone.



GIF from "Suburgatory."

You can see how easy it can be for an autistic person to be overcome by the sensory overload surrounding them every day from normal human interaction and communication alone.

People have different ways of responding to stress, such as panic attacks, a loss of speech, or an inability to move. For autistic people whose behavioral patterns are already considered atypical, these signs might be even harder to identify.

While it's nice when people try to help in those moments, sometimes their questions make things worse.

Especially when you can't give them the answers they need to help you.

Sometimes, when you're stressed out, the absolute last thing you need is for someone to ask you how they can help. It's a nice gesture, of course, but when you've reached a certain point in your panic attack, you probably don't have the brainpower left to articulate your needs.

And sometimes — particularly for autistic people — you actually, literally, can't talk.

It's not that autistic people are trying to be difficult. It's not that they're being stubborn or prideful or refusing help. When your body is too overwhelmed with stress and adrenaline, sometimes you just cannot fulfill the functions someone is asking of you.

Even if you really, really want to.

That's why Jeroen De Busser created the Emergency Chat app — for those times when verbal communication is just not an option.

Jeroen is an autistic computer science student. He shared with me by email his memory of a particularly harrowing meltdown in which he went completely nonverbal.

The situation was further exacerbated by the presence of his friends, who despite their best intentions, did not know how best to help him — and of course, he was unable to tell them himself, which made everything even more frustrating.

GIF from "Community."

This experience inspired Jeroen to create Emergency Chat, a text-based app that displays personalized instructions on how to assist or handle an individual during a meltdown or panic attack, instead of wasting precious time in trying to parse through verbal communication. The app is currently available for Android phones, but we're told that an iOS version is in the works. Update 8/10/15:An iOS version is now available as well!

Here's what Emergency Chat looks like:

All you need to do is hand your phone to someone, and the app will tell them how to best help.

Here's how Jeroen describes the user interface:

"It has a base text that explains to the person you gave your phone to that you can't use speech and want to use this app to communicate.

Both the title and text can be adjusted in the settings to be whatever you want the person you give your phone to to know."

The app then provides a bare-bones chat interface, that lets you communicate with the people trying to help:

Although the default screen is set for autistic people, it can be customized for any number of physical, mental, or emotional needs.

While most of the Emergency Chat's 500+ users have relied on its default functionality for autism, one savvy user has customized the app to help with their tracheostomy, in case there is ever a problem:

The best way to help one another is to listen, and things like Emergency Chat improve communication for everyone.

I know that deep within our hearts of hearts we're all good people, and we genuinely want to help each other. But I also know that even when we mean well, we need to be sure that we're helping people on their own terms, the way they want and need to be helped.

This is particularly true when it comes to autistic people. Just because they function differently from the majority of people doesn't mean they don't function at all.

What an app like Emergency Chat does is give autistic people, or people with PTSD, or people with tracheostomies, and so on, control over the way the world around them tries to help them function when they lose their ability to speak. It saves them the stress and anxiety of wondering what will happen to them, whether they're with friends or in a strange environment, and it ensures that they can ask for — and receive — the help they need.

In short — it's a win for everyone involved.

GIF from "Community."


When he was 12 years old, Alex Deans watched a woman with a visual impairment struggle to cross a busy street.

Image via iStock.


After a short conversation with her, Alex decided to use his love of science to improve the way people with visual impairments get around in their communities.

He started from scratch, teaching himself how to program and connecting with coders and inventors from around the world in online chat rooms. He thought outside the box when he began to build his new device and found inspiration in nature for tackling the woman's problem in a new way.

It took over five years for Alex to complete his device, which he calls an iAid.

He spent three years working on the prototype and then another three years refining it.

But, boom! He made it happen.

Like the echolocation system bats use, the iAid maps environments using sound waves.

Basically, the iAid is a belt with four sensors, attached to a small joystick.

When used inside , sound waves bounce off objects. The sensors communicate to a joystick, which pivots in the direction the user should go, allowing the person to navigate around obstacles without using a cane.

Images by Canada AM.

When used outside , the system uses GPS, Bluetooth, Google Maps, and a cloud service to send information to the user's smartphone, proving once again there really is an app for everything.

The iAid has received lots of positive feedback from testers at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

"One of the major things they said was the the device actually improved their confidence in navigation," Alex said in an interview with "Canada AM."

Alex was even named one of Canada's Future Leaders and recently took home the prestigious Weston Youth Innovation Award.

He hopes to use his new-found fame (and $2,000 in prize money) to continue improving the iAid. It's his goal to have the device on the market in two years.

Not bad for someone who's still in Grade 12.

Check out the iAid in action in this interview Alex did with Canada AM.

Family

12 haunting photos that capture how depression and anxiety can feel.

She captured in images what can be so hard to put into words.

Anxiety and depression are fairly prevalent.

One of the most common mental health disorders in the U.S., in 2012 the National Institute of Health found that almost 7% of adults had experienced a major depressive episode in the previous year. Even more prevalent is anxiety, with about 18% of U.S. adults reporting an anxiety disorder.

And yet it can be hard to explain depression and anxiety to someone who has never experienced those things.


That's why Katie Joy Crawford created a photo series she calls "My Anxious Heart."

Crawford, who is a photography student, has general anxiety disorder. She explains:

"Through this body of work, I am visually interpreting my own emotional and physical journey so that others may be able to understand this weight that so many bear in our society. The physical ramifications of the disorder, such as a racing heart, dizziness, shortness of breath and lightheadedness, frequently go unnoticed or are misinterpreted by those who have never suffered from anxiety. Although the physical symptoms make up a great deal of the disorder, the emotional outcome is exceedingly difficult to encapsulate as well. Anxiety bars the sufferer from the risk of discovery, the desire to explore new ideas, and the possibility of exiting a comfort zone. It makes sure that it will never be alone. It finds you when you're in the midst of joy, or alone in your own mind. It is quiet and steady, reminding you of your past failures, and fabricating your future outcomes."

Do any of these images resonate with you?

"I was scared of sleeping. I felt the most raw panic in complete darkness. Actually, complete darkness wasn't scary. It was that little bit of light that would cast a shadow — a terrifying shadow." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"They keep telling me to breathe. I can feel my chest moving up and down. Up and down. Up and down. But why does it feel like I'm suffocating? I hold my hand under my nose, making sure there is air. I still can't breathe." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"A captive of my own mind. The instigator of my own thoughts. The more I think, the worse it gets. The less I think, the worse it gets. Breathe. Just breathe. Drift. It'll ease soon." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"Cuts so deep it's like they're never going to heal. Pain so real, it's almost unbearable. I've become this ... this cut, this wound. All I know is the same pain; sharp breath, empty eyes, shaky hands. If it's so painful, why let it continue? Unless ... maybe it's all that you know." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"You were created for me and by me. You were created for my seclusion. You were created by venomous defense. You are made of fear and lies. Fear of unrequited promises and losing trust so seldom given. You've been forming my entire life. Stronger and stronger." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"No matter how much I resist, it'll always be right here desperate to hold me, cover me, break down with me. Each day I fight it. 'You're not good enough for me and you never will be.' But there it is, waiting for me when I wake up and eager to hold me as I sleep. It takes my breath away. It leaves me speechless." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"I'm afraid to live and I'm afraid to die. What a way to exist." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"It's strange — in the pit of your stomach. It's like when you're swimming and you want to put your feet down but the water is deeper than you thought. You can't touch the bottom and your heart skips a beat." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"My head is filling with helium. Focus is fading. Such a small decision to make. Such an easy question to answer. My mind isn't letting me. It's like a thousand circuits are all crossing at once." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"A glass of water isn't heavy. It's almost mindless when you have to pick one up. But what if you couldn't empty it or set it down? What if you had to support its weight for days ... months ... years? The weight doesn't change, but the burden does. At a certain point, you can't remember how light it used to seem. Sometimes it takes everything in you to pretend it isn't there. And sometimes, you just have to let it fall." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"Numb feeling. How oxymoronic. How fitting. can you actually feel numb? Or is it the inability to feel? Am I so used to being numb that I've equated it to an actual feeling?" Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

"Depression is when you can't feel at all. Anxiety is when you feel too much. Having both is a constant war within your own mind. Having both means never winning." Photo and caption by Katie Crawford.

In addition to finding Crawford's work on her website, you can also follow her on Facebook.