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 service costs $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?

Yes. I was undiagnosed before, during and for many years after my service.

No. The routine and regimentation seemed to provide the structure i needed; plus, the merit-based promotion system meant that I advanced twice as fast as everyone else wherever I was stationed.

No. I have not tried what you're trying before, so the fourth question is moot.

I guess you must have been one of the lucky ones.

If by "lucky", you mean "prepared for opportunity", then yes.

People make their own luck. You are either prepared for an opportunity when it presents itself or you are not. I studied hard and stayed out of trouble. I was where I was supposed to be, when I was supposed be there, doing what I was supposed to be doing, and in the uniform of the day. I memorized and followed the general orders of a sentry. My berthing and workplace were always in order. If I saw something that needed to be done, I did it.

This was all intentional, not accidental.

Anyone who idly waits for good things to happen to them will fall far behind those who actively work for the same things. In six years, I was promoted to E6 while people who had been in twice as long were still at E4 and E5. They called it "luck", just like you. They also called it "cheating", "sucking up", and "gaming the system".

I called it "hard work", "staying out of trouble", and "doing it right".

People make their own luck.

John Connor,

I am retired military and still not Dx'd. I am currently working with the VA in hopes of gaining some tools to help make the second half of my life so much better than the first. For the first 13 years of my career in three different branches I was an E-6 and below and doing very well in all my assignments up to that point. It was when I made Chief, that everything began to unravel. So I was pushed into retirement from a job I loved, but could not shake the feeling that I had not done my best. The last few years were VERY difficult and near intolerable. In retrospect I am terrified of all the problems I caused due to simply being on the spectrum AND NOT KNOWING IT. In my jobs I generally worked directly for the CO and XO of the ship and had an entire department to run. It worked really well for me until the interpersonal professional demands exceeded my executive functioning abilities.

I have not had a stellar experience with the VA as of late and it too seems to be filled with a bunch of sheeple who are just fine maintaining the status quo. My new Psychologist is great, but the Psychiatrist does not even believe in ASD's if you ask me. So I avoid her like the plague that she is. I have carved out a simple niche in my home lab where I can be productive and quite without interruption, but the money is very sporadic for now and that is posing its own challenges.

I do not have any specific advice for you other than this:

You should endeavor to be your own best advocate. Do not make the same assumptions about NT's that they generally do about us. In other words, do NOT assume that everyone understands you clearly and try to help them to want to help you. I am not advocating in any way that you should try and fit into their world, but rather help them to understand yours so that you can stretch your experience to the limit of your capabilities.

I wish you all the best.

Cheers,

David