Autism and Effective Members

[Smithsonia]

I do not want to ignite another venting/flaming personal argument as we had on this topic earlier. That thread has been closed down. However there is a significant and vital story that was left behind when the previos thread was shut down.
Please see this article.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17687028

This article is about Temple Grandin an autistic and Colorado State University Professor. She is well respected through out the country with her insights into animal behavior and human interaction. This is worth adding to the conversation about CAP - EEOC - accommodation - and the substantial contributions of many people suffering from various disabilities.

[Eclipse]

Why is this "vital" - either the person can perform their duties as expected or they can't, end of story.
We should neither favor nor disfavor any syndrome, disease, or disability that does not hinder our mission or risk the
safety of our members or those we are trying to help, however...

CAP operates in a very unique and inflexible space - we are generally at the Space-A / benevolent mercy of the military
and others who provide us vital resources, and our staff are 100% volunteer with no funding from anyone for specialized
training in dealing with people who have special needs.

We should all be reasonable and flexible, but I could no more force the Navy to berth us on the first floor of a building
without elevators, than I could force the USAF to allow a wheelchair on a C-130 for an O-ride.  Nor do I have any way,
whatsoever, to force or expect members to endure the difficulties that people with special needs may require
to accommodate their participation.

CAP is not a school district, rec center, or anything like that where we can compel people by law to be involved.

All we can do is be compassionate and do what we can.   Nothing more.

Also this has nothing to do with the EEOC, at least for the rank and file membership.  The EEOC is concerned with employment.
This would likely fall under the ADA, although again, CAP is not an employer, so good luck with that (despite the fact that
we apparently promised Congress we would abide by the ADA, anyway).

[NIN]

Just an FYI, someone with autism is not "an autistic" any more than someone with cancer is "a cancerous."

My 12 year old daughter has autism. I seldom say she's autistic.  Its a subtle difference, but the reasoning is similar to that above.

My experiences as a squadron commander surrounding individuals with high-functioning autism has been discussed before here.

[HGjunkie]

Autism =/= ineffectiveness.  Depending on how severe it is, you might not even notice if a member has Autism.

[Smithsonia]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Nin;
Regarding the term "an autistic" - That is a self ascribed term used be Prof. Granden to describe herself. Her term not mine. This is how I used it in my post. No disrespect implied or inferred. But then, you'll need to read up on the Professor to see how she speaks.
Eclipse;
Agreed - on can anyone do the job or not. However, that was not the point of the article. That is an opinion and perhaps an agenda that you have imposed upon my post. 
The article I posted stands on its own and was posted as information and not an agenda.

I worked on the Boulder Fire last summer. Prof. Granden was a consultant in a chaotic situation with animal/pet recovery teams. She has great instincts on to how to settle down animals for moving these traumatized animals to safety. Remarkable woman who does remarkable work.

[NIN]

I've actually met Professor Grandin, and yeah, I know she occasionally uses that term. 

Again, I'm personally not a fan of it, but hey, it works for her, and I'm sure as hell not about to correct her.

[Major Lord]

Yes, its very politically correct to refer to a "Child with Autism" rather than an "Autistic Child" . This is the means that the advocacy groups use to frame a syndrome for public consumption, but has no use other than socially. They will change it from time-to-time to keep us struggling with keeping up with the newest and most politically correct term. We don't refer to a "Person with Diabetes" rather than a "Diabetic" even though non-medical personnel may not appreciate the terseness of the term. Autism is a spectrum of of presentations, and some people with high level Aspergers' may just seem like most of the kids who play world of warcraft....Some may be completely dysfunctional. I don't see that CAP has any special duty requiring  the creation of special accommodations or programs for any special needs population. I don't disagree with her assertion that we should have high levels of expectation, but I don't think we should expect anything less from any Cadet.

Major Lord

[Smithsonia]

I don't have any contention with any one on this matter. I think we are all trying to work out what we think about Gay marriage, The Muslim awakening, and, etc. etc. reality television. Working these matters out is part of the human duty to grow old and learn.

I suppose it is worth noting that certain people have gifts that might at first appear to be curses. They succeed where others fail because they have an adaptation of the norm... which then turns into the norm. Prof. Grandin is such a person. She went an obtuse direction and turned out to be far better at her business they the so called normal animal behaviorists.

I don't know that I can teach anyone anything about much. I do know that I have been impressed and surprised by people I wasn't expecting much from. The best HF/Ham I know is wheelchair bound and can't use one hands much to boot. He says, "I'll be here on the radio when the big one comes. I can't leave anyway... I might as well man the radio." He's a heck of a Comm volunteer. (although not CAP. He's with the Red Cross and is first rate)

His affliction didn't make him a better Ham of course but the fact that he could dedicate all of his time to it... made him the best. He is the best.

Our Wing PAO of the year has Parkinson's - He didn't get this award because of his affliction of course. He got it because he was the best and better than the rest of us by more than a bit. I know his job like the back of my hand. I am proud to serve with him in any capacity. He's one of the few people in CAP I allow to edit my writing and any excuse to hang out with him - I take. Again because he's the best.

Another person is a wilderness/survival fanatic - He can make fire with his teeth (truly he can). Find something to eat that a bear would miss. AND, spends lots of time teaching lots of backwoods SAR teams how to survive with grit and a knife. I suppose he would be called dysfunctional in any other place. In the woods he's a god.
I don't know what his problem is... but he is awkward around people, says odd things when he gets nervous (particularly around women) But that is the way he is and I can't make excuses for him but I can admire his level of dedication to this one thing.

So unlike the Air Force that has standard tests for standard jobs and wouldn't want any of these people in the cadre... I"ll take'em. I'm not sure they'd take me of course. But that's another matter entirely. This isn't about political correctness. It's just the truth.

[RADIOMAN015]

Why is this "vital" - either the person can perform their duties as expected or they can't, end of story.
We should neither favor nor disfavor any syndrome, disease, or disability that does not hinder our mission or risk the
safety of our members or those we are trying to help, however...

CAP operates in a very unique and inflexible space - we are generally at the Space-A / benevolent mercy of the military and others who provide us vital resources, and our staff are 100% volunteer with no funding from anyone for specialized training in dealing with people who have special needs.

Well the CAP regulation kind of addresses the issue.  I don't think the senior members with this disability are trying to force themselves on CAP.  Depending upon their level of disability they may be able to contribute, however, perhaps not at the same level as the typical senior member and may need more guidance and supervision.  They can be very motivated.  There's probably no harm in keeping them on the books, unless there's some sort of disruptive behavior that they can't control.   HOWEVER, there's probably a limit on how many members with this disability that a squadron could effectively utilize.

There's also the challenge with members with physical disabilities, blind, wheel chair bounded, no arms, one arm, or deaf, which also may impact the unit.  Then of course there's other mental health issues.   

From my standpoint though I don't try to intentionally recruit disabled senior members into CAP, because we are on the 2nd floor of a base hangar with no elevator and basically a relatively small walkway with a railing.  So I would be right up front with ANY potential member about our facility limitations as I've stated in previous posts.   

In the end do the senior members we have on staff able to perform the functions we are required to get done in order to meet the objectives of CAP as defined by current regulatory guidance  
RM