people with autism allowed to join british army.

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I can say with 100% accuracy that there are autistic people in the forces. I've met them myself.

You know that frontline soldier is only a fraction of the jobs available in the forces right? What about working on a ship as an engineer and knowing the engine room inside out? In the right job autistic people can actually thrive and unlike the civvy world our kind of abilities are worth more than being funny or any of the other social nonsense. In a life or death situation competency makes you damn popular among the people around you.

As far as freezing up, you can condition yourself to handle it. You have to put a little more work in than others but it's 100% doable. People freeze when they have to think about a situation but with enough practice you can go beyond that and turn the things that you have to think about into something that's part of your reactions.

Back when I enlisted Asperger's was somewhat unknown I believe here in the states. I enlisted in the Navy after the ASFAB and Nuke Power Assessment tests (both of which I aced), they couldn't wait to enlist me. Basic Electricity and Electronics (self-paced but average completion time of 6 months) I completed in 3 weeks. EM "A" school I also aced and didn't have problems until NPS (Nuclear Power School). Many things had to be memorized and word for word and I couldn't do it. I bombed more then one test in the second half and went thru a review board twice (panel of 3 officers orally asking questions). I excelled both times yet still struggled. Turns out I understood the concepts they taught and much more but wrote memorization was impossible for me. They required that procedures be memorized and followed to the letter. They stated had I been an officer I most likely would have made it thru. I actually did complete the school but failed to graduate. Went into regular Navy and had nothing but troubles fitting and conforming. I ended up getting a discharge for not being suitable. Upon my discharge physical, the doctor stated I should NEVER had been allowed to enlist for a variety of reasons. Then he paused and asked, "were you in the nuclear power program?". I answered why yes and he shook his head. Said he had seen many they pushed thru that were unsuitable for service just because of intelligence (not bragging here as I have severe deficits in many things especially social). Personally if you were to make it I would guess it would be far HARDER to do then the average NT. Trying to keep of the facade of fitting in along with the stresses of military structure and boot camp are no easy feat as well I know. And the challenges only get worse as you go....

If you decide to I wish you the best of luck. After all, we are all different and it may work well for you. For me the military was a TOTAL disaster.

Uhhh...what about living expenses (when on leave)? If/when you join up (and if this really matters to you), then I would:
a) take what you need for living expenses,
b) put some away in savings for a rainy day
c) and give the rest away to what you believe are worthy charities.

i would feel bad for taking any more money.

i hate being in a special needs school.

if you have poor tolerance of stress, do you really think you should be in the military?

Stress is their business. "long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror."

Destroying things and killing people is the primary purpose of all that hardware and discipline, is that something that you would be comfortable being involved with? Would explosions, bullets, dust, screaming, shouting, smoke, bright flares of light, etc. not have an impact on your sensory issues?

I don't mean to sound negative, but I know that would not have been right for me, though I was tempted because I really, really wanted to fly jets.

That and the fact that I pretty much always question authority... it "didn't seem like a good fit," as they so often say.

I would also love to be in the army, but like others have said, I just wouldn't deal with the situation at all. If I didn't have these physical and mental problems with me, I would apply.

I went to one of these army career days back when I was in school, and I really wanted to join up. They did a presentation saying health problems is usually a large problem and is not really accepted, and one of the major ones that popped up was asthma, and I of course have very bad asthma, so that ruined it all for me right there and then, before I knew of any other health problems that were to be diagnosed over the years,

I served seven years active duty in the U.S. Army, and one year Army Reserve. I didn't know I had autism back then, but knew I was different. I just thought I was strange and very unique. The Army wanted me because of my ASVAB score, fitness and college credits. I worked as a mechanic for helicopters, and it was the best job I ever had by far, despite the difficulties I had.

My worst problems were my sensory issues and my social difficulties, mainly I couldn't act a "neurotypical" very well, so I seemed like a big nerdy dork which people thought was very strange, and a few decided to hate me because of it (but having haters usually happens anywhere in my life). I also learn very different from most people, and military crash courses were not easy for me. My bad sensory problems made gas chamber training a killer and I barely passed it. Basic Training drill sergeants could be annoying, but my dad is more intimidating than them.

do sensory issues matter in the army?

Are you seriously asking that?

Yes I am.

anyone?

I flunked out of basic (EDIT: like 10 years ago) and intend to never try to rejoin. I began getting strange thoughts near the end like going AWOL and joining the Communist Party and overthrowing the government and living like a queen. I'm glad I could get out when I did.

Last edited by beneficii on 21 Mar 2014, 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I had a really good ASVAB score as well (>99th percentile if I recall correctly), but as they say, the ASVAB ain't everything. LOL.

Yes, of course they do! If you can't cope with loud noises or bright lights, you're not going to be too much good!

It's great that you want to serve your country, but the military is one of the worst ways to do it. The military mostly helps people in other countries, and just costs this country money and puts it at increased risk of terrorist attacks.

If you really want to do some good, maybe try training as a fire fighter or paramedic or policeman? Or just become really good at whatever it is you enjoy and create employment?

A significant portion of what militaries explicitly and implicitly do is not connected to fighting, it has been a social program in "Western" countries at least since the 1700s (levee en masse for example), and in "Eastern" countries longer than that.

fire fighter or paramedic or policeman sirens are too noisy.