anyone thinking about enlisting in the military?

FabinWash · Emu Egg Joined: Aug 05, 2007 Posts: 3

This is topic not only for parents of AS teens, but for any teens/young adults that wish to respond and/or have resources.

My son is 17 and is seriously talking about joining the military after he graduates from high school. The thought of this is frightening to me as he finds it hard to articulate his motivations for doing so. Like many people with AS, he tends to see only one side to the story and in this case, I'm afraid he is glorifying the military as something it is not. He loves the video game, Halo and I'm afraid his obsession with that is what is motivating him. I think he wants to feel a sense of belonging and a sense of physical and personal power through this, but he has yet to explore very many other options. We have both talked with a recruiter and basically the recruiter said once he's accepted, it would be a minimum of three year active and 5 "inactive."

He has had an IEP since 5th grade and is currently on Wellbutrin, which he knows he would have to be off of for six months before the military would even consider him.

Have any other parents been in this situation and does anyone have any information on whether he would even be accepted?

Any information/replies would be helpful.

Thank you.