Aspies at Military and Maritime colleges

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Are there any other Aspies out there that are at, or have been through, military or maritime colleges? I'm currently at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy studying Marine Transportation, where my Aspergers has left me with... mixed results, both academically and within the Regiment of Cadets. How has your Aspergers fared you during your tenures at regimented colleges?

I'm not/haven't been but ships are my longest-running/most intense "special interest" (never liked that phrase that much, it makes me sound like a lobbyist), so it's nice to see another Aspie with (presumably) maritime interests.

I'm not at any university's obviously (although I'm looking into NROTC at Texas A&M University), but I've been in the Civil Air Patrol for the last 2 and a half years, and I can relate to your being in a military program.

My Aspergers has it's on and off day's it seems. Sometimes my heads in the game and sometimes it's not, especially when I'm acting as Flight Sergeant (which is the equivalent of Platoon Sergeant by Marine/Army standards, and I'm not sure what it is to you Midshipman). I attended (and passed/graduated) the Texas Wing Advanced Training School, which is known around the country (or the CAP) for being incredibly tough and prestigious. While I was at this school, I practically shut down for the first 2 days, as it was way tougher than I thought it would be. Although I eventually got my s**t together and started moving along (and had to give motivational speech later in the week after an incident that made the whole team distraught and I was the only one with the ability to speak), my anxiety kept me on the edge, since I was always worried we were going to screw something up really bad and that I wouldn't graduate. But aside from my irregular anxiety problems, I'm told I'm doing fine. Weather or not that's true, I've yet to decide.

Good for you!

And sometimes, a speech like this doesn't need to be fancy at all. Can be very straightforward.

I am a big proponent of the skills of low-key leadership. In fact, I think those of us on the spectrum can learn many of these skills while we are learning or even before we are learning such skills as "small talk." (More than small talk, I like the idea of merely being open to appreciating somebody else and being open to appreciating that their interests may not be the same as my interests.)

PS Many years ago, I was in JROTC my freshman and sophomore years of high school and got a lot out of it.

My Aspergers causes me to be a reserved, cautious individual. This actually worked very well during my freshman (4/C) year, as it helped me stay out of the spotlight and, therefore, out of trouble. Unfortunately, this worked against me during my sophomore (3/C) year. In the spring semester of sophomore year, 3/C cadets are given the option of applying for Squad Leader positions. I applied, went through the whole program, and then ultimately wound up being DENIED the position that I'd applied for months earlier. When I asked my Company's XO why I'd been turned down, she mentioned how I was unpopular with the female cadets in the company for my tendency to stare, stand too close, and say too little (all of which fit the popular description of a "creep"), and that incoming cadets (the new freshman) might end up feeling the same way. Then I dropped the bomb on her that I had Asperger syndrome, and that all the reasons for which the girls hated me stemmed from it.

To this day, I remain without a formal leadership position within the Regiment of Cadets.

Out of curiosity, how did she react to that?

Her reaction was one of surprise. Neither she nor the Company Commander had ever even suspected that I had Aspergers. Neither had too many people in the Company, I might. Many had jumped to the "creep" conclusion (typical of Neuro-Typicals). As I expected, her knowledge of Asperger's Syndrome was limited, so I had to explain.

Hopefully she and I both got something out of it.

I honestly doubt that I can forgive them for not giving me a squad leader position.

Well, I hope they at least don't think you're a creep any more...

I have no idea how many people do or don't think I have AS but I also exist in an environment where there is probably not so much to lose from being "different" (though being perceived as a creep is probably bad in pretty much any environment ).


Essentially you've been discriminated against, but if the decision was made before they knew you had a disability I guess you don't have very much recourse. That said, "People think you're a creep" is a pretty harsh reason for not giving someone a leadership position, whether or not you're disabled.

Maybe play the famous person card (Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin)?

And then follow up that most people on the spectrum are likely to have medium skill and medium talent.