Autistic soldiers outperforming NT Israeli army

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I am not endorsing any army politics or warfare here but just thought this article was very positive.
The Israeli army are specially recruiting autistic people for their special skills.

We know that we autists can often find niche jobs but this is really positive PR, as these recruits are actually helping save lives.

Artilcle:

http://a.msn.com/r/2/AAgs6o6?ocid=News

here are a couple of quotes from the article

TEL AVIV—For eight hours a day, E., 21, sits in front of multiple computer screens, scanning high-resolution satellite images for suspicious objects or movements. As a decoder of Israel’s complex and often heavily civilian battlegrounds, he’s been critical in preventing the loss of life of soldiers on the ground in several different situations, his officers say

The relationship is a mutually beneficial one. For these young people, the unit is an opportunity to participate in a part of Israeli life that might otherwise be closed to them. And for the military, it’s an opportunity to harness the unique skill sets that often come with autism: extraordinary capacities for visual thinking and attention to detail, both of which lend themselves well to the highly specialized task of aerial analysis.

“A growing body of research is showing that autistics outperform neurologically typical children and adults in a wide range of perception tasks, such as spotting a pattern in a distracting environment,” Laurent Mottron, a psychiatry professor at the University of Montreal, wrote in a 2011 column in Nature magazine. He added that most people with autism “outperform in auditory tasks (such as discriminating sound pitches), detecting visual structures, and mentally manipulating complex three-dimensional shapes.”

I know we already know about these skills but isn`t it nice to be talked about as SPECIAL BELONGING AND USEFUL rather than SPECIAL WEIRD AND SEPERATE. This kind of smart approach by the Israeli military and other open minded employers helps to reinforce our positive role in a rich society.

.......call me naive... but I`m in a positive life affirming mood today!

Being a retired major with Asperger's I'd like to add my own experience, if I may. I was in air search and rescue. Started enlisted. Been to a lot of places - some I'd rather forget about. My Asperger's enabled me to pick up on strategic and tactical situations much more quickly. I could find lost people faster. It propelled me into higher rank more quickly. But the higher rank you are, the more politics you have to deal with. Because of my lack of social grace, I doubt that I could have made it past lieutenant colonel. I was medically retired for physical medical reasons. But Vladimir Putin has Asperger's and you can see what it does for him. Our leaders continue to underestimate him. Just a couple of thoughts.

Encouraging article,I would like to hear about similar programs here in the U.S.,with the right supports a great deal of untapped potential can be mined.