Any U.S. Military Veterans on here!? I need help!!

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Ok here is the situation,


There is a way for me to receive proper vocational training by a woman who specializes in helping those with Asperger Syndrome and other forms of Autism to find and maintain meaningful employment. Problem is the cost is $115.00 an hour.


Since I am a military veteran I decided to give the VA a look and see what they could do in order to provide the financial resources to fund the training.....I don't want to go through the BVR because I have been through them twice since my diagnosis and they have proven themselves to be limited. I live in Cincinnati which is in the Midwest. Overall not the worst place in the world for somebody with Asperger's, not like somewhere out in the middle of nowhere but then again it is in no way shape or form like living on the East Coast where to my mind better educated people live. But I'm getting off the subject


So I reached out to the VA by telephone and they sent me two forms to fill out. VA form 21-527 and VA form 21-526. After that what I did was I visited the VA hospital where I now get all my medical care from in order to get the ball rolling so I could the $ I needed to pay for this vocational training.

I sat down and met with the Veterans Benefits Counselor. I explained to him my situation. I explained that I have Asperger Syndrome, that I need money to pay for this service. He then proceeded to tell me that the VA form 21-527 is reserved for Veterans who are completely disabled and house bound. He then proceeded to tell me that I would have a better shot at receiving money after I filled out the VA form 21-526. According to him the theory that I need to press was that my condition was aggravated by military service.

He gave me the following steps to take in order to receive financial benefits:

(1) Gather all private medical records
(2) Find service medical records. Problem with this one is that I have been out since 2006. Thing is I don't think there would be anything in there that would indicate that I have Asperger Syndrome. Since I was undiagnosed when I went in most of the guys that I served with KNEW that there was something wrong with me but at the time nobody knew what to do about it.
(3) I need to get my treating physicians to write a statement of their medical opinion on my situation. I need a strong opinion from them with reasons & bases as to what backs up their opinion.
(4) Need a representative either from the DAV or the Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati.


Did anybody else go into the U.S. Armed Forces undiagnosed? Was performing your tasks and duties difficult for you? Have any of you ever tried this before? What were the results?




Thing is I never served in a theater of operations that involved heavy combat or any kind of combat for that matter..........There are two types that do not see combat: the wealthy and the lame and the lucky of course.

I served in the 1990's. like you, I was undiagnosed and had a hard time with some things. Unfortunately, I don't think you can expect much from the VA unless you already draw some form of disability. You will likely end up getting the runaround talking to people who don't know what they are doing or don't care. In addition, don't expect fast turnaround. Whoever this is charging $115 an hour is not exactly taking into account that you are trying to get a job in order to have money, $115/hr sounds exorbitant, especially considering her clientele are struggling to make an income. I would invest time in verifying her background before committing. Do the math:$115 for one hour per week is already roughly $450 per month, and I would guess you will be attending more hours monthly than that. My advice would be to try to find a more cost effective alternative.

I'm aware. I found an alternative. If the world only offers you Choice A or Choice B, know that there is a Choice C somewhere.

As far as Uncle Sam is concerned I will press forward anyway.

If you want anything from the VA, it'll be a full-time job. And that's after you figure out who to talk to. The lottery might be more effective.

Well if I don't do anything I know the answer will be a definite no.

obama made college free for the rest of the year. college is the way to go in my opinion. for 115 a hour is too high and employers might not even care about that lady, at least with college you get a certificate.