Asperger's Syndrome and the Military

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locutusofborg
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01 Feb 2009, 6:50 pm

Hello, it's been a while since I've been on here. Anyway, I have a few questions about joining the military with Asperger's syndrome. I contacted an Air Force recruiter and he says I can join if I present a paper by my doctor saying that I have Asperger's and I haven't attended therapy or treatment sessions for over a year, and I'm looking into the Air Force, but would any of you Aspies know about the other policies of the other branches of the military? Are there any people with Asperger's on this forum who are in the military?



Tahitiii
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01 Feb 2009, 8:59 pm

Someone asked a similar question a while ago.

LadyKathleen wrote:
I know that I would make a very bad soldier.



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01 Feb 2009, 9:35 pm

if you can get through Basic. From what I've heard, it's high-stress, a lot of doing muddy things in bad weather, yelling, and most importantly, 'unit punishment' (you're punished twice; first time your entire unit is punished for something you've done, then a second time once the Drill Instructor is out of site, by your own platoon)

That being said, it's a very structured environment, there are exact rules for social situations, etc.



aspiemom1
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01 Feb 2009, 10:39 pm

I was in the air force. (Note, I still have not been officially dx'd, but there is a strong indication that I am AS). Basic is not too horrible (pretty structured/scheduled), tech school can be a total pain in the rear. There are few if any services/help and if you would need some type of help, well basically they will med board you out (meaning medical discharge). Also, if you tell them before going in, you can bet you may not make it through MEPS, though you might be able, its not 100% guarenteed.



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02 Feb 2009, 9:16 pm

locutusofborg wrote:
Hello, it's been a while since I've been on here. Anyway, I have a few questions about joining the military with Asperger's syndrome. I contacted an Air Force recruiter and he says I can join if I present a paper by my doctor saying that I have Asperger's and I haven't attended therapy or treatment sessions for over a year, and I'm looking into the Air Force, but would any of you Aspies know about the other policies of the other branches of the military? Are there any people with Asperger's on this forum who are in the military?


I was in the military and have since completed my time; that however, was before I was diagnosed with AS. I managed not only to join and successfully complete my time, but also did a total of four different jobs with the army.



locutusofborg
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02 Feb 2009, 9:19 pm

Yeah, but is there anyone who has been diagnosed with Asperger's and is in the military at the same time?



Katie_WPG
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02 Feb 2009, 9:27 pm

The fact that they want you to get someone to confirm that you haven't been in therapy insinuates that they would be fine with it, just as long as you aren't a "head case". My guess would be that the military would be hesitant to take someone with an ASD because of the risk that meltdowns would lead to recklessness with a rifle.



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03 Feb 2009, 6:21 pm

It may be also a question of dealing with authority. I think a lot of Aspies, including myself, have difficulties just to follow orders, because it is an order (I want to know to reasoning behind it). I think an Aspie, how has no difficulties with this, could fit quite well in a structured environment, but certainly wouldn't.



IndridCold
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03 Feb 2009, 11:11 pm

Dussel wrote:
It may be also a question of dealing with authority. I think a lot of Aspies, including myself, have difficulties just to follow orders, because it is an order (I want to know to reasoning behind it). I think an Aspie, how has no difficulties with this, could fit quite well in a structured environment, but certainly wouldn't.


Same here. If someone tells me to do something, there usually has to be logic behind it. My parents hated that, but nowadays they accept that I am usually right.



Daedalus
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04 Feb 2009, 3:13 pm

Quote:
Are there any people with Asperger's on this forum who are in the military?


I was in the Air Force for almost 10 years. Basic training was the hardest, a lot of in-your-face yelling and humiliation (hard for me as an aspie, though i didn't know I had it until recently). After that it was ok, with a very structured environment and all that. I never really made any true friends in the military because socializing is hard for me, but I was good at my job. If you must join, then I would highly suggest that you consider the Air Force. I think it's about the "least" regimented of the military branches, and I don't think I could have handled going through any other branch. Plus the Air Force tends to attract most of the "intellectual" types even though it is definitely a combat force. I did have some personal adjustment issues in trying to adapt back to civilian life after I got out, but I don't regret serving.


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MrMisanthrope
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23 Feb 2009, 2:45 pm

I was in the Army for 6 years. Would still be there if not for a medical discharge (unrelated to my AS).

In my branch of Combat Arms, I think my variant of AS was likely an asset. Socialization was NOT required for success or promotion. Absolute Precision and Skill was. Give me a clearly defined mission with open operational paramers and no interruptions and I succeed.


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roadracer
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23 Feb 2009, 3:06 pm

In the war era where in, they are more likely to take you. I know before we started the wars, I know a guy they wouldn't take just because of a learning disability. They can not take you or give you a medical discharge for what ever they feel like. If they think aspergers is going to be a problem, then they wont take you. Anyway, if you really want to git in, you are better off to not tell them, or play it down as much as possible. If you tell them you have aspergers, that is on the autism spectrum, I am pretty sure they arnt going to take you. I had a good freind with some big disabilities, very autistic like, that was able to get in, by not telling them what he didnt think was important, and he served many years, unfortantly he was later killed in Iraq. It sort of Reminds me of the movie Forest Gump.
BTW, I have never served, they would never take me if I tried, even that I never would, you can read my signature to understand why



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25 Feb 2009, 2:13 am

Wow, I'm glad I saw this thread, since I'm new here and that I'm currently in the military.

I'm in the Coast Guard in Alaska, and I was just diagnosed with aspergers from a psychologist, after I was refered to see him. I don't know yet whether the Coast Guard may possibly process me for separation, but I have managed to save alot of my money for college once my service would be complete, and I have one year left on my contract. I'll admit that I have had not so many good social interactions with my supervisor, and other members from my previous jobs. I always had people get onto me, thinking that I purposefully gave a puzzled stare at them. Bootcamp was really tough for me to adjust, as I had to use teamwork and other social interactions to get through.



MrMisanthrope
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25 Feb 2009, 10:16 am

^^ They should NOT, and you should fight it if they try (if you like being a Coastie...)

There is no fundamental reason why AS should disqualify you for ANY position in any branch of the Military so long as you can pass your SQTs. for your MOS.

It may be an issue to certain promotion levels, but with care & consideration you can stay in a Tech/Combat field where sucking up to Brass isn't quite as important.


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Andromeda
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27 Feb 2009, 1:21 am

While you were in the army, how well were you with NT coworkers?



MrMisanthrope
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27 Feb 2009, 9:38 am

Andromeda wrote:
While you were in the army, how well were you with NT coworkers?

The "work" enviornment in the Army is not particularly suited to socialization. Ouside of the REMF (Office) work (where most office politics/glad-handling rules still apply somewhat), in the Army there is a job to be done (be it fixing stuff or blowing stuff up) and you must cooperate at a technical level to do it. Whether or not you "socialize" when drinking a beer together afterward is really a non issue. You can generall tell the Aspies in a Platoon from the NTs. The Aspies hang with the group - as part of the dynamic - but hang to the outside, the "quiet one" if you will. IMEX Aspies in a Squad/Platoon act as a neutralizing, "leveling" or "calming" influence on their more boisterous (obnoxious) teammates.

If anything, NT emotional entanglements can cause real problems for Combat Arms folks. IMO it's probably the largest "cause" of PTSD... watching someone you have an emotional attachment to get hurt/killed.

I think it would be a fascinating research study to see how many Aspies in Compbat Arms get PTSD vs their NT counterparts.

If I'm any indication, it would be siginificantly less.

Not that we don't care about the person hurt/killed, it's just that the emotional registry is not crippling.

Call it the "Meh" factor.


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