Houston organization is providing access to special education resources 'anywhere there is Wi-Fi'

Autism Awareness Month

Houston-based Incuentro provides online education with individuals with Autism, ADD, Asperger's, social anxiety, or learning differences — as well as parents or employers. Getty Images

A Houston-based online platform is hoping to provide easy access to special education resources to support individuals with special needs, as well as their employers, teachers, and caregivers — or anyone with internet access.

The online program, Incuentro, launched April 1, coinciding with the start of Autism Awareness Month. The first 15 classes are slated to go live in June. These virtual classes are intended to be a resource for people from first grade all the way through adulthood who are coping with Autism, ADD, Asperger's, social anxiety, or learning differences.

"Over 30 students participated in the pilot program over the past 9 months," says Wendy Dawson, founder of Incuentro. "I've seen students relate to the lessons, make connections with the topics, engage in peer conversation, and find support and learning in a safe environment."

Students learn and practice skills applicable to school, employment, and social situations in the virtual company of a qualified teacher and peers from the comfort of their own home. The teaching style is as interactive as possible and requires participants to engage in discussion.

Life education
Dawson says that students will get the most out of this experience if they are verbal, able to sustain attention, and participate in a video conference forum. Hour-long classes focus on friendship, behavior, social interactions in the primary and elementary years, while tweens focus on making peer connections.

"We want to provide help upfront to reduce the anxiety and depression that we commonly see later in life," Dawson says.

Teen classes set up students with skills for future employment and transitions post-high school. Adult learners benefit from job skills and workplace behavior norms.

Students who are employed or looking for employment learn about topics like conversing with coworkers and supervisors, appropriate social interactions, and understanding the rules of the workplace. Equally important, teachers discuss with participants ways that they can be their own advocate as they maneuver through society.

A focus on inclusion
Incuentro offers employer training as well, to help foster a climate of inclusion in the workplace, to discourage a lowering of expectations when accommodating employees with Autistic traits. Classes give supervisors understanding and practicalities that will foster a positive environment for employees who are also enrolled in the course.

"Employers are coached on topics such as: understanding a literal mind, being factual, making simple accommodations like visual schedules, delivering information in a low-stress manner, and understanding learning styles," Dawson says.

Incuentro helps to bridge the gap between the service and people in need through technology.

"There is a huge disconnect between the people who need services, and the actual resources. Many times they don't know where to go, or are too far away to access them."

All you need is internet access
Accessing the classes remotely removes the barrier of accessibility for people in rural areas, as well as people who would rather not drive to a class after a long day at work or school. Oftentimes, students will feel more comfortable participating in a one-hour, online discussion with 5-7 peers, rather than enduring the social pressures of a classroom setting.

"Our desire is to bring access to special education expertise to anywhere there is Wi-Fi," says Dawson.

Incuentro curriculum is created by Education Visionary Specialist Brandi Timmons, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA). Classes are taught by expert teachers who specialize in special needs education.

Family business
Dawson's passion behind Incuentro was inspired by her step-son, Cameron Dawson, who was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two.

"There were no services to fit his needs available in the market," Dawson says, "so we've spent 10 years advocating and learning, and figuring out how to best bring services to people who need them."

Cameron participated in the Incuentro pilot program while attending Texas Tech, and in May he will be graduating with his degree in Communication Studies. Upon returning home to Houston, he will be seeking a job in one of many local churches, where Dawson says he has experienced love and support throughout his life.

As a mother of a child with Autism and advocate for people with special needs, Dawson has seen the challenges faced by parents. Parents not only must navigate the ups and downs of school life and home life with their child each step of the way, but also plan next steps past high school graduation, and long-term care, if necessary. Incuentro helps to facilitate the discussion and provide resources for caregivers wanting to learn what options are available.

With April designated as Autism Awareness Month, Incuentro seeks to partner with organizations serving special needs populations, such as school districts, health clinics, or Autism support networks, and reach the people who need it most. Incuentro has pledged to donate a portion of its profits to a Houston non-profit that offers in-person classes for people with special needs, Social Motion. At its heart, Incuentro intends to be an answer to the question: how do we set individuals with special needs up for success, and help give them the tools to live an independent and fulfilling life?

Brandi Timmons (left) and Wendi Dawson, Incuentro founderCourtesy of Incuentro

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Houston lab explores how AI bots can help the elderly

AI for aging

The University of Houston’s Empathetic Lifespan AI & Robotics for Aging (ELARA) Lab is currently conducting research into how AI bots may be able to help the elderly live more social and independent lives through several ongoing initiatives.

The lab officially launched last month as part of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture & Design under the leadership of Assistant Professor Chorong Park. Part of the lab’s mission is tackling ongoing problems with aging, such as dealing with disabilities and social isolation. Researchers’ current work is focused on designing a new AI companion bot specifically tailored to the needs of older people.

“We need to take all the needs of older adults seriously,” Park said in a news release. “They won't use the robot if they don't feel at ease or if they feel they are being constantly watched.”

The field testing of new AI bots in this population hopes to overcome several traditional obstacles in technology use among the elderly. A study by Park shows that many older people have a fear of overt surveillance when using advanced AI. There is also ageism to consider. Most new technologies are designed with younger and employed buyers in mind, not retirees who may need help remembering daily tasks or accessing important information.

“The more older adults are excluded from technology development, the worse those technology gaps will become,” Park said. “AI and the majority of technologies are created for younger people, so my research method integrates older adults directly into the design process.”

ELARA recently collaborated with the Mamie George Community Center in Richmond, Texas, to track seniors’ response to desktop AI bots like Emo and Cupboo. Researchers also had participants use air-dry modeling clay to create their ideal robotic companion.

While the eventual AI bot may be able to help the elderly feel less isolated and more supported, there are concerns to consider. A study published in the Asian Journal of Psychology charted the development of delusional thinking in a 72-year-old woman who became convinced the empathic-response bot was in love with her. The rise of “AI psychosis” has the potential to exacerbate mental health problems, particularly in socially isolated people, which a quarter of Americans over the age of 65 are.

ELARA’s research is focused on creating “pet-like” AI models with enhanced trust cues. If it can overcome the dangers of socially isolated people relying on AI for companionship, it could be a big step forward for independent aging.

SpaceX IPO set to be biggest ever and could make Elon Musk a trillionaire

IPO News

SpaceX says it plans to raise up to $75 billion when it goes public this month, setting the stage for the largest-ever stock market debut and putting Elon Musk on course to becoming the world's first trillionaire.

The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said Wednesday it will sell 555.6 million shares at $135 a piece in an initial public offering. The estimated proceeds would easily top the $26 billion raised by oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019. The offering would also give SpaceX a market value of $1.77 trillion. Only six companies in the S&P 500 are currently worth more, with Nvidia tops at $5.2 trillion.

Besides the size of the offering and the expected proceeds, SpaceX's amended prospectus updates details about how much control of the company Musk will have. As SpaceX's CEO, chief technical officer and chairman, Musk's voting power will come primarily through his ownership of 5.22 billion Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. According to the filing, Musk would have 82.4% of the voting power in the company.

Forbes currently values Musk's net worth at $826 billion and his stake in SpaceX at $542 billion. The estimated value of his SpaceX holdings was based on an overall value for the company of $1.25 trillion. Based on those numbers, a $1.77 trillion valuation for SpaceX would boost Musk's net worth by $223 billion, making him a trillionaire. However, much of Musk's worth is in stock that he has yet to cash in.

Even as it makes a bid for a blockbuster market debut, SpaceX is currently losing billions of dollars a year. The filing shows that the company lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too.

Fantastical plans

Time will tell how SpaceX fares on the market. Musk's plans for the company are as fantastical as the money he hopes raise in the sale.

Colorful, even frightening in parts, the IPO document strikes a contrast with the typically dry, technical prose in IPO documents, detailing plans to use proceeds from the sale to help put men on the moon again and perhaps even Mars. In one section, it talks of a need to build "a permanent human colony" on the red planet with "at least one million inhabitants" as existential threats loom that could consign man to "the same fate as the dinosaurs."

Musk has almost equally ambitious plans for his other publicly traded company, Tesla. His goal is to transform the maker of electric vehicles into a producer of robotaxis and humanoid robots. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities wrote in a research note that he expects Tesla and SpaceX to merge next year.

AI plays a key role

Key to the success of both companies — and any merged entity — is artificial intelligence. In its IPO filing, SpaceX says it sees potential revenue from AI of up to $26.5 trillion. But that depends on another lofty Musk ambition — putting data centers in space, which is not technologically possible at the moment.

Transforming his space company into a primarily AI-focused company will be a challenge for Musk, who started xAI in 2023 with 11 other co-founders who have all since left. Some were recruited away by rivals.

Its main AI product, the chatbot Grok, is "less impressive than anything that we see from any other major player in the space, whether that's OpenAI, or Anthropic, or (Google's) Gemini," said IDC analyst Arnal Dayaratna.

Dayaratna said that doesn't mean SpaceX doesn't have potential as a major AI player, thanks in part to its computing partnership with Anthropic and Musk's recent deal that gave SpaceX the rights to buy AI coding tool Cursor for $60 billion later this year. Folding in Cursor's capabilities would give SpaceX access to the coveted business customers now using Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT.

SpaceX plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to fund the expansion of infrastructure for its AI and rocket businesses, and to beef up the constellation of satellites that power Starlink Mobile, among other investments.

The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "SPCX" and could begin trading as soon as the end of next week.

And SpaceX isn't the only colossal market debut investors are now bracing for. Earlier this week, Anthropic submitted a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to officially start its own IPO clock.

OpenAI has not yet reported filing the initial SEC paperwork, but an IPO from the ChatGPT maker is widely expected.

"This listing represents the first major test for public markets after years of muted IPO activity with SpaceX paving the way for AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI to follow soon after," Ives wrote.

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Associated Press Technology Writer Matt O'Brien contributed.

New UH survey reveals concerns over AI data center growth in Houston

data findings

A new report out of the University of Houston shows that area residents remain wary of the long-term effects of operating data centers.

The recent survey from the University of Houston’s latest SPACE City Panel, conducted by the Center for Public Policy at the Hobby School of Public Affairs, shows that while 85 percent of Houston-area residents use AI, nearly 63 percent oppose the construction of AI data centers within 1 mile of their homes.

Respondents’ concerns centered around data centers’ high energy demand and the area’s power grid reliability. According to the survey, 32 percent of residents who oppose local data center projects would be more likely to support the centers if they relied on renewable energy over fossil fuels.

“Respondents understand that AI can bring economic and educational benefits, but they are also concerned about the physical infrastructure needed to fuel AI, especially data centers,” Soran Mohtadi, post-doctoral fellow at the Hobby School and a researcher on the report, said in a news release. “This physical infrastructure demands more electricity and water, leading to environmental impacts.”

Experts estimate that 6.5 gigawatts of data center capacity will be added to the Texas grid by 2030. And Houston’s data center capacity is predicted to more than double by 2028.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas also projects electricity demand could reach 218 gigawatts by 2031, which would be more than double the record peak set in August 2023. Data centers are expected to account for 86 gigawatts of that new demand.

Survey respondents also said they are concerned about the state's future water supply, given the large amounts of water that data centers need to stay cool.

In terms of who’s responsible for that issue, 57.6 percent of respondents said they put the onus on Texas lawmakers, while 31.5 percent say tech companies should be responsible.

Additionally, more than 75 percent of respondents believed that data center developers and technology companies—not residents—should bear the cost of infrastructure upgrades to support data centers.

“Every decision legislators make has implications on residents’ everyday lives and local infrastructure now and in the future,” Maria P. Perez Arguelles, lead researcher on the report and research assistant professor at the Hobby School, added in the news release. “This issue is going to become more important in years to come, so this is just the beginning.”

Read the full report here.

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