Advice on coming up with proper nouns in stories.

[spark]

The story that I'm working on right now is set at a medium/small-sized private college.  The premise is that a student gets put on academic probation, and has to move to dorms that utilize regression to correct their behavior.   It is a tiny group of students (16) who are placed in a dorm with greater supervision.  It's 1 RA to 4 students.  If you're not familiar with US College speak, an RA is a Resident Adviser, who is responsible for supervising the dorms at most Universities.  They are other students but do have the authority to write students up for rules infractions (usually related to the consumption of alcohol). 

The students are supervised at five different levels: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Children, Preteen, and Teenagers, depending on the level of supervision they require.  For reference: Toddlers and Preschoolers are diapered 24/7, supervised all day, and have strict bedtimes.  They are escorted to and from class, with Toddlers being either pushed in a stroller or attached to a harness, while the Teenagers are seamlessly assimilated on the campus with the added supervision of an RA.  I'm sure it's a trope that has been done before, but I like it.

My dilemma is that I can't figure out what to call the dorm complex, the RAs, and the students in my story.  I started by calling the dorms: The RBT Dorms (Regression Behavior Therapy) and the students: RBTs, which I hated.  It was just the first thing I thought of when I started to write the story.   I switched to Regression Dorms and Regressed Students, which is better, but I'm still not happy with that.  I'm also not very happy with RA, because the caregivers in my story tend to act more like nannies than RAs.

I'm looking for terms that could be discreet enough that it could be used on a regular college campus, but are descriptive enough that those who would know about the 16 students would understand.

[Personalias]

On 10/14/2023 at 12:14 PM, spark said:

The story that I'm working on right now is set at a medium/small-sized private college.  The premise is that a student gets put on academic probation, and has to move to dorms that utilize regression to correct their behavior.   It is a tiny group of students (16) who are placed in a dorm with greater supervision.  It's 1 RA to 4 students.  If you're not familiar with US College speak, an RA is a Resident Adviser, who is responsible for supervising the dorms at most Universities.  They are other students but do have the authority to write students up for rules infractions (usually related to the consumption of alcohol). 

The students are supervised at five different levels: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Children, Preteen, and Teenagers, depending on the level of supervision they require.  For reference: Toddlers and Preschoolers are diapered 24/7, supervised all day, and have strict bedtimes.  They are escorted to and from class, with Toddlers being either pushed in a stroller or attached to a harness, while the Teenagers are seamlessly assimilated on the campus with the added supervision of an RA.  I'm sure it's a trope that has been done before, but I like it.

My dilemma is that I can't figure out what to call the dorm complex, the RAs, and the students in my story.  I started by calling the dorms: The RBT Dorms (Regression Behavior Therapy) and the students: RBTs, which I hated.  It was just the first thing I thought of when I started to write the story.   I switched to Regression Dorms and Regressed Students, which is better, but I'm still not happy with that.  I'm also not very happy with RA, because the caregivers in my story tend to act more like nannies than RAs.

I'm looking for terms that could be discreet enough that it could be used on a regular college campus, but are descriptive enough that those who would know about the 16 students would understand.

Okay. Here's my thought process, but it might not mesh with yours.  If I recall, you're also a teacher, yeah?  In special education (and for all intents and purposes, that's what you're writing about even if it's not dealing with neurodiversity or any other type of condition officially requiring accommodations or modifications), we tend to dress up the language to sound as technical and academic as possible.   

Like in my county it's not Special Ed, it's ESE: exceptional student education.

That might be the part that's bothering you.  You've got an academic setting that's saying the common sense words out loud.  They're not Toddlers, Preschoolers, Children, Preteen, and Teenagers in the Regression Behavior Therapy Dorms.  They're all in the Development Reiteration Intervention Program, or DRIP. (Or something like that) And they require Tier 1-Tier 5 interventions with Tier 1 being Teen and Tier 5 being Toddler.

RA's aren't nanny's, they're "Behavioral Supervisors" or something.  

And of course, everyone KNOWS that they're being treated like children, but the institution is kind of gaslighting by never officially referring to the treatment as such.

Just my pitch.  Hope it helps or gets the gears going.

[ValentinesStuff]

How about if the program is: The Direct Intervention for Academic Probation.

 

Those on it are obviously DIAPers, and they live in the DIAPer Dorms.

 

[spark]

5 hours ago, Personalias said:

Okay. Here's my thought process, but it might not mesh with yours.  If I recall, you're also a teacher, yeah?  In special education (and for all intents and purposes, that's what you're writing about even if it's not dealing with neurodiversity or any other type of condition officially requiring accommodations or modifications), we tend to dress up the language to sound as technical and academic as possible.   

Like in my county it's not Special Ed, it's ESE: exceptional student education.

That might be the part that's bothering you.  You've got an academic setting that's saying the common sense words out loud.  They're not Toddlers, Preschoolers, Children, Preteen, and Teenagers in the Regression Behavior Therapy Dorms.  They're all in the Development Reiteration Intervention Program, or DRIP. (Or something like that) And they require Tier 1-Tier 5 interventions with Tier 1 being Teen and Tier 5 being Toddler.

RA's aren't nanny's, they're "Behavioral Supervisors" or something.  

And of course, everyone KNOWS that they're being treated like children, but the institution is kind of gaslighting by never officially referring to the treatment as such.

Just my pitch.  Hope it helps or gets the gears going.

I like that.  That's very special ed-like with those names.  As you can tell, I don't come up with those names.

Thank You

27 minutes ago, ValentinesStuff said:

How about if the program is: The Direct Intervention for Academic Probation.

 

Those on it are obviously DIAPers, and they live in the DIAPer Dorms.

 

That's a good one.  What I was using wasn't working for me.