Any Aspies here in the U.S. Military?

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It appears you dudes in the US wanting to join are out of luck now.

If you're self-diagnosed and want to join, don't mention it, nor get a diagnosis.

If you're diagnosed..., don't lie, as lying to the government is a big no-no. They'll find out, no matter how "private" you think the diagnosis was.

Hey guys, do any of you have updates?

My husband is at a crossroads with his condition spurring a bar or reenlistment or voluntary separation. Things are bad here and he is a SGT in the Army. He is self diagnoses recently after much discovery and wants help. Any ideas that would help him at this point to go to the right places to get help and how to deal with the VA after ACAP?

My generation just didn't have the Aspie diagnosis or even understanding in the 1970's.

Military service worked for me 90% of the time. Excelled at it! That 10%, though, was rough in the beginning until I learned to stfu.

I recently met an Autie who served in the Air Force. I've also had email correspondence with a rep (I'm a writer) for a woman who was a military combat medical assistant who's autistic. At the time they served, they had not been diagnosed.

Something I have to wonder about, though. Steady eye contact is enforced in the military. If a superior is speaking to you, you're required to glue your eyes to theirs. Though some autistic people can hold direct eye contact, many can't. How did you-all manage the eye contact?

Or perhaps an autistic with poor eye contact would never join the military, and any who WOULD probably already had pretty good eye contact?

As my name implies, I grew up expecting I would join the Navy like my ancestors. Its unfortunate because while certain traits common to ND people would be beneficial to the military, they've decided the cons outweigh the pros and that they'd rather not deal with it. If you are in or are trying to go in, do not disclose your condition. They can and will give you the boot just for having the dx. If you really have to, you can say a doctor thought you fit the criteria years ago but you want a second opinion. Exceptions can be given if they do give you the label, but I wouldn't gamble on getting one. Most people I've known who have had some physical or mental issue that falls foul of the military's written requirements have a very hard time getting in.

I was on active duty in the U.S. Air Force 1976–1980, during the Carter administration, long before 1994 when the DSM added a diagnosis that would've applied to me: Asperger's Syndrome. But, I did not suspect I was Autistic until 2019—the year I got an Adult Autism Assessment which gave me the diagnosis: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild), with a note that I also satisfied the criteria previously associated with Asperger's Syndrome.

I was in IT in the Air Force and was very good at my job (they were annoyed when I decided to leave active duty!). With hindsight, I think being an Aspie may have actually helped me in the Air Force.

I was barely athletic enough to be in the Air Force, though. In 1982 I got the first hazy, possible medical explanation for this...I seemed to have some vague, ill-defined cardiac issues. It was not until 2012 that it was determined that I had a congenital heart valve problem that could have impaired extreme exertion.

I knew a guy who was in the Marine Corps for 20+ years then taught JROTC. He was almost certainly undiagnosed Asperger's.