Aspergers in the military. Anyone?

Post Reply New Topic

they did waivers on me to get me in, maybe the recruiter could apply for a waiver in your case?

cellogirl42

If you are interested in working with the military, you may want to check out Civil Service. The Army version website is armycivilianservice.com and has tabs for recent grads and intern programs.

My last duty station, I was with a command AMC, they jokingly called A Million Civilians. I think it is difficult to get a federal job, but worth looking into, if you live close to a military base and/ or are willing to re-locate.

Ooh, thanks for the link, Chapstan!

Soldiers with autism take on key roles in IDF Participants in Roim Rachok program, many of whom possess exceptional focus skills, analyze visual data, decipher satellite photos

I just saw that. Apparently there is an Autism Spectrum epidemic in Israel similar to that of the US and they decided to take advantage of some of the special capabilities that some people on the spectrum possess. Some people on the spectrum are thought to be able to detect visual patterns that NTs can't see. It is thought that people on the spectrum can focus more intensely on looking for those patterns than NTs can. They didn't provide a lot of information in the article, but a lot of people on the spectrum seem to have special talents that most societies don't care about because they are too focused on the disability, and not on the ability.

It's good that the IDF provides support for people on the spectrum and doesn't just let them struggle in situations that might be hard for them.

^^^god bless the pragmatists of this world

I was medically retired from the army from the diagnoses of Aspergers. Now keep in mind I did not join to be patriotic since I always thought the iraq war was a complete waste of resources. When I was younger like 9 I developed a weird obsession with military history. I do not know why. I think it started with a book about the gulf war I found in 4th grade and had some photos in there that made a mark in my brain of the kurds being gassed. I did read the whole thing I checked it out of the library all year. Took me a while. By junior year I wanted to join the army and serve my time. My family said I was not capable ,which is awesome t hear from your family. So after dropping out of college working dead end jobs I thought screw em I can do it. But let me tell you. It was my personal hell. People hated me from the get go at my duty station. I was hazed like a mofo which almost ended with me stabbing a guy with a pen to make it stop. I was stopped by 8 guys but yeah that is not normal. I also let my NCO 3 weeks before hand that it was really getting to me. Each week I told him that the problem was never addressed. The army is a lot like high school. If you are different or off a bit your wrong. If you do not fit in your screwed. Dont forget about the fact your buddys will screw you over to get out of trouble. I was scared to be deployed with those guys oh my god! But I wasn't only one. Higher ups will screw the man down to climb the ladder. I mean the army today is so back stabbing. I always wondered why there was so many murders and shootings in the military. Now I know. Surprising the only person I feel that had some respect for me was my Drill Sargent. I mean I wasn't even deployed and it left me kinda twisted theirs a lot more to this story and I can go on and on but that is not appropriate lol.

^^^hiya Scout welcome to our club i'd love to hear more of your story.

You know, it's funny. Well, maybe not so funny. A few years ago I wrote an 86,000 word novel called 'Commoner the Vagabond.' It's pretty much a bio of an aspie who had a real hard time in the military which changed his life.

I've been meaning to publish it but it's just sitting around on my computer gathering dust. This is actually the first time in months I've thought about 'Commoner.' I'm as homeless as ASS-P right now so the logistics of finding a publisher has to be on my bucket list for a while.

can you tell me who [in general] gave you the source material for this novel? someone you know personally or reading about the experiences of aspies in the military?

I know a veteran who has a bipolar disorder disability. He was stationed at Camp LeJeune where they had polluted water. One of the problems that this polluted water was supposed to create was "neurobehavioral issues." The veteran has not yet received his records from the military archives. I talked to someone from the VA (who was quite obnoxious) who said that if he had not been treated for bipolar about 40 years ago, when he was on active duty, it was dubious that his bipolar would be considered to be a service-related disability.

A lawyer I talked to also said "The VA has not conceded service connection for any camp legeune illnesses. He would need a doctor to draw the link."

Without the records, I cannot see how this would occurs.

Also, in those days, people with invisible disabilities were considered to have poor attitudes or poor behaviors. If anything, a person in the military would not want that kind of thing listed in his records and would avoid treatment.

I hate to say it, but I think that this veteran is screwed.

our vets collectively give so much for so miserly little in return, it is sad.

I saw a documentary called A Soldier's Heart. We now call it Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It has also been called "Shell Shock" and "Combat Fatigue." What was really sad was the way it was dealt with. According to this documentary, in Okinawa during WWII, when a soldier or marine developed this and was deemed not suitable for service, they would take him to an out of the way place and shoot him. I also saw another film clip where someone with PTSD was told by his commanding officer to "stop being such a p****."

This rigid, unsympathetic attitude may have something to do with the number of suicides and spousal murders committed by returning military personnel.

am wondering if it is unique to our nation to treat our soldiers so shabbily? knowing what I now know, I tell everybody [young people] I meet to avoid going anywhere near the military.

I doubt it. I'm sure that there are many countries that treat their military members worse. I remember reading that they found children serving in the Iran/Iraq war, which is against the Geneva Convention. I know that children serve in certain African countries. And ISIS actually kills their own fighters if they aren't "Islamic" enough. And many Muslim terrorists are young teenagers, incited by their mullahs and encouraged by their parents to become "shaheeds." (Martyrs.)

I should have specified other modern western nations. I know german soldiers are paid and treated far better than their American counterparts. at least it was like that when I was in. the Canadian GIs I had to work with also were paid better than me and didn't have to put up with anywhere near the picayune chicken$#!+ the American GIs had to deal with every day.