Can we join the military with Asperger's?

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Well nobody knows for sure where Oorah came from, but it is a general conception through the Marine Corps to use the word as "kill" as opposed to any other definition. Much like our salute has some rumors that it's because we didn't lose a war on our own land, but some people think it's because English sailors saluted hands down (as opposed to hands out) because their hands were generally dirty or something. Some people say it's from knights. One thing is for sure, Marines do say more than just their Oorah, such as Semper Fi, Devil Dogs, Once a Marine Always a Marine, etc. They probably have more battlecries and quotations than any other branch that they use regularly with pride, and all of them have something to do with the Marine Corps traditions and history. You will never hear them using the battlecries of other branches as their own.

Sorry about the Navy burn. I couldn't resist

My Uncle had an ad agency. I know the gov't screws people everyday, but the number done to my Uncle is a little more on the unusual side.

I will say that I give people who say they were or are Navy the benefit of the doubt. I don't think the problem is the people who join the Navy. I just don't like how the Navy trains. Whether it's the what or the how, their training isn't as effective as I expect from a military. Again, I think it goes back to how seriously they take their duties. Maybe it's because they don't often see combat is the problem because those who have a chance of seeing combat are pretty brainwashed into believing that everything they do affects the lives of others, and why, because it's true. It's obvious to me that the people my Uncle dealt with had no idea how much their every day job would affect other people, and i don't think they really cared if it did. Don't get me wrong, I have my complaints with the Air Force as well. That's the one I was in, and i"m sure my complaints there would make a far longer post.

I'm not judging you. If I come across that way, my apologies. The pot calling the kettle black remark was based on how we are both guilty of making generalizations. I make a lot of generalizations. Most of the time they aren't as discriminatory sounding as mine of the Navy, but like I said, I had a very bad experience with them. I guess I know I'm wrong for being that way with the Navy, and I don't really care if I'm wrong on that one. I'm that way also with Baptists, but that one I'm trying to make peace with so that I can stop being that way. Maybe I'll work on the Navy one after that.

Oh, and I was a cheerleader, and it is a tough sport. In my experience, it bothered me that my squad (which happens more often than not) refused to watch the game and cheered for the other team by mistake (screaming Go Offense cheers when we were defense). I got kicked out of cheerleading because I wanted to watch the game (maybe I quit, I forget, but it was for that reason because I was also Sports Editor of the paper and since I wrote all the football stories, I had to watch the games). Football players would have a hard time keeping up with our work outs, but I know those cheerleaders couldn't hack football's training program.

And what you say about the military making men is true, but in order to turn you into that tool to pursue that mission, they often do act like a mommy or daddy. They have rules for everything. I think they even have rules for their rules, or policies on policy, whatever. But what I'm saying is because of all those rules, they end up forcing people into being more responsible (from finances to drinking alcohol). Basic training is to motivate you into being responsible while teaching some basics. To me, a real man is responsible, so when I say they turn boys into men, after basic training, you grow up. Women are not allowed to be abused, but yes it is more frequent in the military and I wish they'd do more to enforce their rules about that. But anyway, I personally grew up a lot because of the military, and that's not my opinion but that of many who are close to me, like my mom and best friend. My husband got the same thing. In fact, I would be willing to bet a pretty high percentage of soldiers will tell you a similar story (soldiers by definition for this purpose being someone whose completed basic training and their tech schools as opposed to being weeded out). I guess that statement right there proves your point better because the military is a bit choosy of the people they turn into men, in other words, those who refuse to grow up tend to get kicked out early on, but the ones that do stay do mature more as a result, which I guess in the end proves my point more that the 14 year old maturity level is probably going to be found outside the military as opposed to inside it. You can also look at any military branch website and their intended goal is to train those tools into being effective leaders which does require a maturity level beyond 14.

Anyway I wasn't trying to be a jerk in this. Sorry if I seem that way. Also sorry if i misunderstood your original remark about marines. Oh, but be careful about the Hooah thing in the future. Marines can't stand being confused for another branch, so to say Hooah to one Marine would be the same as assuming he is in the Army, at least he might take it that way. Some don't make it into as big of a deal as others, but coming from experience, I'd rather get an Army guy mispegged as a Marine than the other way around. I know what you are trying to say about it and that's just it. You aren't being part of that team if you aren't using their battlecries. If you use your own, then you refuse to be part of the team. Sounds crazy, but it's the same with tatoos, hair cuts, etc. The herding quality is a necessity in the military, but fortunately they make it obvious enough for Aspies to know when it's important and when it's not. But this is mainly for the Army and Marines where survival is dependent on your ability to function as a team. For instance, in the Air Force, you are required to be a snitch or you aren't a good airman. In the Marine Corps, snitches get punished because nobody trusts a snitch. So herding is treated differently, but since we are talking Army and Marines here, it is very important to be part of the team, and that includes using their battlecries. An Army guy running around screaming Oorah when everyone else is saying Hooah isn't going to make friends easy.

You are a much stronger person than you realize.

Thanks Tantybi!! !

Tantybi, I like you. I often find myself reading your posts thinking "I like how this person said that, they seem to think like I think." And then I look over and see that it was that same Tantybi that said it just like those last few times. There are a few posters on this board that evoke this in me. I'm more likely to respond to their posts, and I'm more likely to do it in a manner in which I feel comfortable that I hope that through the connection I see, they will understand the manner in which I express myself.

I see things in you that I see in my self, those things I see in you that I feel I have begun to better understand and grow beyond in myself I want to help you grow beyond, and by the same token I hope through dialog with you to have you understand that which I am still hung up on that you have grown beyond. It was a wicked burn because you recognized something true, I am guilty of hypocrisy in this thread. You called me on it where so many others do not. It is only by being understood that I understand myself, in discussing what we think about things, we no longer think those things for we have grown to a more full understanding in the exchange with an equal.

Not all of the 7 billion equals on this planet are ready to have the exchanges I am ready to have, and I'm not ready to have all of the exchanges those billions of others are ready to have. We all walk the same path, but some of us are at different points in the journey and the path is a celtic knot not a straight line, we keep our heads up and eyes open so we can openly meet each other as we cross at the infinite points of intersection instead of colliding and disrupting each others path. I think our third eyes have met. We have gifts to offer each other and it is through an exchange of ideas and explanations without hangups that we best offer these gifts.

Worry not about appearing as a jerk to me, to quote the sage ralph "That's Unpossible!" You are not a jerk. I believe that you express things with a sincere desire to seek asa and so I can feel nothing but respect and admiration for any words you offer me. If I express things in a manner that makes you feel like you might have been a jerk, I apologize. I would ask you the favor of helping me identify those places I should have attempted to be more articulate. I would ask you the favor of being patient with me in my compulsive need for a fully realized rational explanation that often results in the retreading of old information anew so as to better integrate it into my growing understanding and ability to put that understanding to use in a positive manner.

You think corpmen are hot, I think military chicks who quote Noah Webster are sexy as hell. Huzza for love and puppies. It is all one Life, we just live our own personal lives. This is how I know God. This is how I have learned to purify my heart and dwell in the presence of the eternal. We all do the best we can, but we get so caught up in thinking we are supposed to do it on our own, we forget that it is okay to turn to our fellows of humanity and say "I need help."

Once we remember to simply state that which is true, that there are things we don't understand, we find our fellow humans standing ready to say "I freely offer of myself to help you. Let your need be fulfilled as best I am able to fill it. I too need help, but here is the help I have to offer, done so freely, without contention or expectation. Take it as you need, leave it as you will. The offering is the service I provide." Whether your service be to defend the physical borders of our lands or the metaphysical borders of our minds, the food of our stomach, or the food of the inner gut, freely offer that which you can freely give of, freely take that which is freely offered.

I know within myself three powers. The power to unlock doors. The power to open doors. The power to walk through open doorways. I freely offer of myself the use of these powers in service to all existence. I need all other powers to be available to be freely taken in order to be blessed with their use. They call me Leader because they showed me where the door was and I found out how to walk through, I call them My Loving Mentors for blessing me with the sight of a door, I am blind to them on my own. I call them My Loving Compatriots for taking my hand and walking with me towards the door, I am paralyzed on my own. It is only through our weakness alone that we recognize our power together.

This is what Tao has taught me in my decade and a half of studying the 81 stanzas/verses(if we call a stanza a verse like we commonly do, what the heck is the new word for a verse?) of the Tao Te Ching. This is what Jesus and the Talmud and the Torah taught and what Muhammad and the Quran and Zoroastrianism and Siddartha Guatama Buddha have all taught me, along with Plato, Socrates, Archimedes, Descartes, Locke, Einstien, Dawkins and so many others. Be not contentious lest ye be contended. If I'm never challenged, I'm never growing. If I'm not growing, I'm dying. I must seek the Little Good Death so as to avoid the abyss of a dying soul.

Take my hand friends, I freely offer it in love, will you not take it in the same manner? We have nothing to fear but a more fulfilled life with even greater challenges to overcome.

Rest ye weary traveler
for the journey is long and hard
Drink ye weary traveler
for the watering holes are far and few
Eat ye weary traveler
for the energy required is immense
Be fulfilled ye weary traveler
for your pains are your salvations
Take as you need proud sons and daughters
for there is always more to be given

disclosure seems to be a common answer in these posts. I am not nor was i ever in the military, but disclosing your dx can negative, depending on the audience. i am in a professional environment and i have never disclosed in the work place. some people are plain ignorant, so i never volunteered the fact. i am not sure how it works in the various branches of the military. Technically AS is not listed as a disability by the Social Security Administration (unless it is significant enough to impair your abilityto work), but the military tends to have their own rules.

Well-----
I joined the Army years before my AS diagnosis, heck it was the VA that diagnosed me in the first place!

is that why the socal worker at Va is always eye balling me? She talked to me twice already, I'm always saying I'm fine, I think she sees my akwardness in public.

Good point.

I've never dealt with a social worker at the VA before, although I've dated a couple!!

It was a Dr. at the New Behavioral Medicine MHCL dept. that caught my AS. I am a stereotypical non social Aspie. It's written all over my face!!

I just wonder if it will effect my disablity? It dosen't change the fact my body is broken. I'm 99.9% sure I'm a aspie, my mom even confirmed that the term "aspergers" is very familar to her from my childhood; she didn't want to hold me back. To DX or not to DX, that is the question!

Crassus...

Thank you for the nice post.

I sometimes tend to go into overkill when it comes to debates. I'm not sure why I do that, but I have theories. Anyway, I do try to admit wrong when relevant, so I guess I should point out that it's possible I'm prone to being a little defensive when there is no offense.

As for the Tao, I've read some of the Tao Te Ching, but I really did like the Tao of Pooh. I remember too, my friend's oldest kid was really big about wanting stuff, and the Tao came in handy for that. And, have you seen Jet Li's Twin Warriors?

Well, as someone who has no desire to join the military whatsoever, it's re-assuring to know that I have at least two get-out clauses if the government ever re-introduces conscription!

And there was me thinking I'd have to pretend to be gay...

Awe.....
come on

Do you mean that fully auto weapons and anti-depressants don't mix?

I think I'd rather have the person getting the anti-depressants they need have the fully auto weapon than the individual who needs them but is not receiving them.


Tantybi, passionate debate leads to strong rhetoric, and an open centered mind leads to understanding. The question is not whether or not one is being defensive or someone is giving offense, the question is why you are having the reaction you are having and it is through the playing out of the conflict with the willing participant that both parties grow. I'm a big fan of Hong Kong Martial Arts movies. Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Sammy Chiba, Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee etc (Michelle Yeoh!!). So yes, I've seen Twin Warriors. It is through the playing out of the conflict with his childhood friend that Li's character comes to understand that his Masters at the monastery were trying to teach them not to be contentious. To be strong warriors who defeat things far more dangerous than other combatants. To instead channel their energy through themselves in pursuit of the Highest Good.

The Warriors of old understood that the culmination in the necessity of defeating an enemy combatant in a fight, was a symbol of their failure. They are able to defend themselves from any possible physical attack on their person because they have moved beyond the purely physical and so enter into an uneven fight with the aggressor. They are expected to operate on another plane, to be able to use rationality and reason to lead the aggressor to a less aggressive path. They are capable of defending themselves from any physical attack so that they can better live outside of fear, it is through living outside of fear that they are capable of defending themselves from any physical attack. Fear should motivate and no more. The rational good thinking mind only performs good actions.

I undertake the precept to abstain from doing harm to living things. I undertake the precept to abstain from taking that which is not freely given. When our eyes meet across the battlefield of debate, and we bow our heads in respect to each other, all perceived harms that come of the debate are only our perceptions. We asked this other party to offer those things we see as unjust attacks, we see our own reflection.

before i lost my ability to talk a few months ago i passed all except the physical and i was not able to lose enough weight with no surgery

I would think the physical problems you mentioned would get you 100% in of itself, and Aspergers would have no effect on that; however, some symptoms that are Asperger in nature can be confused for PTSD. So basically, if a percentage of your disability is based on a psychological disorder/syndrome, then you probably wouldn't want to deal with your Aspergers through the VA Center.

All you military people reading this, you pretty much get an instant 10% if you hear a ringing (or an unusual sound) in your ears (which also could be a heightened sense related to Aspergers), but that instant 10 is for tinnitus, so don't mention Aspergers either to whoever is testing your hearing (just in case they do know anything about it).

It's one of those things where nobody could really determine what is Aspergers and what is something else, so I figure tinnitus could be a symptom of Aspergers but it doesn't change the fact that you hear something in your ears on occassion. Same with the other symptoms of Aspergers that could be confused for other disorders (in combination) that are considered military related conditions by the VA Center. But, if you help the VA determine that your problem isn't military related but that it was genetic, then you are fighting against yourself when it comes to your claim, and considering you might very well be wrong, maybe you are better off to omit your professional opinions and let the VA make their own determinations. Remember, you can see a civilian psychologist and decide if you want those records transferred to the VA or not (that's your decision).

I only mentioned the movie because you seem to mention a lot of the Tao and it was a big theme throughout the movie. I really liked how they took some intangible concepts and made it more tangible. I've heard there is a martial arts that is associated to the Tao, and I cannot remember the name of it.