auntblabby wrote:
apex116 wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
apex116 wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
yes, i contributed to the forum telling them when i found out [1984, army social worker told me].
What a coincidence, it certainly seems a very interesting story; perhaps could you expand?
i will do my best to avoid a TL:DR for you. my shrink in private life was called by the army recruiter to verify if i was qualified in his professional opinion [he was a retired army officer] that i could serve, and he wrote them a note to that effect. i didn't find out about the note until i looked over my old army records and found it. this was decades ago so i don't remember the exact language but that i had autistic traits but was smart enough to manage it. in AIT [advanced training after basic] there was a reservist army social worker who chatted me up and told me that out of the blue.
Well congratulations to you, I think the blanket ban on autistic people serving is unjustified as each autistic individual is different to the next.
the army didn't want me to reup. when i was inducted the vietnam-era GIs were retiring en masse and there was a crying need for certain military occupational specialties [MOS], and mine was one. then towards the late 80s the army got full again. army has something called QMP [qualitative management program] and it is either "
up or OUT" [meaning if you don't get promoted to a leadership position they don't want you in]. saw lots of this happening all around me. army seems to think it needs more bosses than bossees.
Well you served your country well and I hope the rest of the forum will show you the highest level of respect in the future.
Of course I'm also happy to know of anyone else who has served in the military as an autistic person regardless of their nationality.
Could some more autistic veterans tell me of their story?