Need an acromyn for the MP's, please be creative and help

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We need to come up w/ an acromyn for the MPs here on Elmendorf and Ft. Richardson. Something they can remember when they encounter a person w/ autism or AS.
This all came about because of the meeting I went to a couple weeks ago w/ the cops here, and the mother on post talking about w/ happened with her child. The thread is on here, this forum somewhere...anyway. I mentioned that because of my job I had access to one of the Generals here and was asked to bring this up w/ him the next time he came in.( Synchronistically, he showed up 3 days later ) Everybody who goes there knows of my daughter, her picture hangs inside, I do a lot of "Autism Awarness raising" there.So he was MOST admendable to helping us implement a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for dealing w/ this issue.
He suggests that we come up with an acromyn to help the MPs to recall the key points when dealing w/ someone on the spectrum. I have to agree that it is an excellent menomic device as I still recall 23 years later how to unjam my M-16 using "SPORTS" Slap(the magazine) Pull(the charging handel) Observe(for jammed round) Release (the charging handel) Tap (the magazine) Squeeze(the trigger)
Please unleash all that aspie creativity and help us come up with something to protect others. The General suggests something short and concise. This is for the military MPs, but who knows maybe it'll catch on. Anyhow your creativity is needed and all ideas will be forwarded to the person who is going to set it all up.My daughters very first teacher and the teacher of the child whos mom lives on post currently that brought this issue out to begin w/. (No way do I want to do all that "meeting" stuff, it was bad enough for me going to the first meeting. I'm just the person to who can hook up the right people ) Sorry so long. I always do that

If the cops were coming at you, what would you wish they KNEW about AS and autism w/out you having to say it.

Last edited by reika on 23 Sep 2007, 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

First I think we need to establish the points they will need to recall using this mnemonic.

The problem is its a complicated condition and for a mnemonic we need to break it down into single word points that will jog the persons memory for each.

Something perhaps like:
Slow down (rushing the individual to speak will only freak them out)
Honest (usual ways to detect lies don't work / more likely to tell you the truth than normal people).
Literal (At a car wreck the autistic driver may answer "where were you tonight?" with "In my car" by mistake)
Unpredictable (autistic person may suddenly do some seemingly random thing.. relax they're almost never intentionally dangerous)
Talented (while being a bit different autistic individuals are commonly very capable being condescending wont go over well).
Show tolerance (be patient and understanding with them and they will do the same for you)

SHLUTS? Uh yeah we need more vowels.

it's sounding a lot like another word for prostitute.

Hence why we need more vowels.. but at least they wouldn't have trouble remembering it

Here's some ideas:

S=Social Impairment
U=Unpredictable
N=No Shouting
T=Tactile Defensive
A=Avoiding Eye Contact
C= Calm

SUNTAC

sorry fraya,didn't know it was meant like that.
as long as none of them are stupid enough to go assuming the autistic is a slut,it'd be a good word to use.


have used some of frayas words for this:

A-avoiding eye contact,autists with eye contact avoidance are not trying to be trouble.
U-unpredictable-may show aggression,meltdown or any other behavior through a uncontrollable fight or flight response
T-thinks literally
I-injuring self,they may be hitting,banging,biting etc themselves due to not being able to cope with situation
S-sensory-they may react badly to noises,touch etc,and might seem drunk if their sensory system has been jumbled
T-touch-they may not like being touched,and having police up too close
I-inability to sit still-they might be rocking,hand flapping or spinning things etc.
C-communication-might be non verbal,or might be mute due to the situation,might answer with echolalia or palilalia

Ah thats a good one.

would be good if autistic had a h in it although cant expect people to go around calling themselves hautistics for the sake of it [honest should be in there,as people in authority tend to suspect people even more when they are being obviously honest]

That IS a good one kingdomofrats, maybe we could get "tells truth" in there w/" thinks literally. "I don't know, please everyone keep suggesting stuff, will take ALL suggestions to the meetings and we'll "wing it" as we go. Really appreciate everyones help on this. Who knows, this little acronym may be implemented thruout all 4 service branches, as they are going to be coming into more and more contact w/ people on the spectrum if the statistics are correct.

While I'm thinking up an acronym, a good bit of advice on dealing with aspies might be the catchphrase attributed to the old "Dragnet" TV show - Just the facts, ma'am!.

How about BLUES?

Body language
Literal
Unpredictable
Eye contact
Sensory

That at least would help them remember that autistics often interpret things literally, they may have sensory sensitivities, they can behave unpredictably, and that they should not be judged by lack of eye contact or "suspicious" body language.

Alternately, it could be CLUES if you exchange "body language" for "calm", as in "speak calmly to them."

These are ALL really good and please keep on coming up w/ suggestions, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to give them everything so we have one more day to come up with something. I like them ALL and feel anyone of them would be helpful.

I would take it a few steps beyond what you're attempting to do. It's apparent to me there is a serious lack of training. This to my understanding is relatively new, but there are further ramifications would be very far reaching. MP's very often go on in law enforcement in the civ world, so this training would be a carry over. Some police departments are getting hip to it, as well. I believe it was on CNN, they had a little blurb and showed a special unit in action. Other police departments are now doing the same. They have a general education course for the training of officers on how to recognize people with mental illness, please don't cringe at my choice of words. This is a broad program, but that it exists at all is a start. Are people on the spectrum included? I don't know to be honest. If memory serves me correctly the model for this program is in Nashville Tennessee. In a nut shell, officers at large are trained to observe those that are acting out of the norm and to react not in a forceful way. When needed the more thoroughly trained officers are called in to defuse what might well have ended in extreme violence before. I would do my homework on their program and introduce it to your General. Knowing the military, better then I would have liked to, you have a card that the General would like to play, he just doesn't know it yet. He gets to suggest a good upgrade in the military and he gets noticed and gets rank, they eat that s**t up. Would it help in the short term, maybe not, the military moves at a snails pace at times. At the very least you may well learn some thoughts from a police department already in tune with the real world, I do think it was Nashville. Something they might suggest for MP's to learn on the fly. Do your homework, write it out and always remember what they taught you about chain of command. You always have the right to go over your immediate superiors rank. If the General doesn't listen, go over his head, just very subtly mention it, in a way like, I wonder what General such and such would think of this, or do you think I should send this to the Pentagon or...you get the picture. They are so predictable it isn't funny. But watch them they will attempt to bury if it is has a chance of making them uncomfortable later, that's why you need an NCO on the inside, they make it tick, Generals are a bunch of wind.

They had "SPORTS"? Go figure, I never heard that one before. So do you remember which way the cotter key goes in the bolt? Put it in from the wrong side and it won't work. What an ill designed piece of crap it still is.

Just to let you know PP, our police dept. allready HAS a special unit that is currently training ALL the Law enforcement officials (EMTs and Firemen included) on how to deal w/ ANYONE on the spectrum. The thread about the meeting I attended is in this forum somewhere further back. They also have a afforable tracking system available to anyone intrested. I was happy on the whole w/ the effort being made by "The Man" , to accomadate for the eccentricties of people on the spectrum.
As for the General, he hardly needs to accquire any more rank, hes as high up as you can go if I remember correctly (4 star)and head of the Alaskan command. He's willing to help us implement this so quickly because not only will he be turning over command and moving on soon, but because I know him more on a social level, his wife and I have a lot of fun together cause they don't have to play the "Foo-foo, chi-chi" games when theyre w/ us at work.(We're all from the south origanally and bonded that way when we first met) They can just be PEOPLE, not high ranking officials always under scrunity. They know of my autistic daughter and some of the trials her and I have gone thru and my fears of her getting outside alone, ect.ect. The General has said to bring anyone on board who I feel would be benificial to implementing a program. I'm just gonna hand this off to the experts here who know better than I what the needs of the community are. I'm just a person who can get them all in the same room. The cop in charge of the Autism Special Unit is more than willing to go on post and train the MPs plus the Alaskan Autism Resource Center is getting involved also. All I wanted here was some "Aspie Creativity" to think of an acronym for the MPs to be able to recall under pressure when put in the situation, the Generals suggestion, not mine. I'm sure he knows his people better than I do, and anything I can do to help them, help people on the spectrum,I'm gonna try to do.
I still am trying to believe in the decency of humanity and feel that some people may just do things to "Help, because they can, not just so they can accquire rank."

Good deal, you did your homework. Let's hope it gets grass roots in the military. I don't really hate all officers nor all NCO's some I would have followed to hell and back. I just had no time for those that didn't earn respect and not just demand it because of some act of congress. Those were the ones I told to go take a flyin leap in two bounds across a wide chasm. Any acronym I would come up would be considered a serious social breach.

I salute you.

Don't salute me, I only made it 11 mos. and 4 days in the military My differences were made glaringly clear,(Problem w/ authority,problems taking orders from insepid idiots, unwilling to become an unquestioning "Sheep" ect.ect. ) from the outset, and I spent most of basic laughing in my Drill SSG face and doing push-ups and mountain-climbers.
I have no great love for the military, however as a "human being" I realize that "good and bad" exist everywhere, in every institution, and in every person. I'm just trying to do something I feel is "Good."
And Thank You PP for trying to warn me about the "evils of men". I am still, even after all I'v been thru, somewhat naive and trusting of others. I truly WANT to believe in the goodness of humanity and I get dissappointed on a regular basis, and thank you for looking out for me.