Jamie Barkshire: "Why won't they let me join the army?&

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"Since the age of six all Jamie Barkshire has wanted to do is join the army.
However, the 22-year-old has seen his dreams shattered after being turned down by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for what he believes is an unfair reason. ":
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/ ... 3A22%3A943

Sometimes we don't get what we want. That's life.


But where God closes a door, He opens a window ...

I don't know the specifics of this case, but I can see why having an ASD could make joining the military a really bad idea. AS can cause very real problems with teamwork and multitasking, not to mention the possibility of having a meltdown or shutdown in the middle of a danger zone (dunno about anyone else, but God forbid I ever get my hands on a gun during a meltdown. I wonder if that's what the comment about his not being "stable" relates to). In the army, people's lives depend on these things. It's a shame that this guy got disappointed, but I think it's fair. As for the woman who said that having AS didn't stop him from being able to work at KFC - it isn't the same job. People get turned down for the army all the time - for poor eyesight; for being an inch too short - because recruitment the right people is so vital. It's not a human right to be allowed to join the army.

I can also understand that with AS-style rigid and obsessive thinking, being turned down for your lifelong ambition could be unbearably painful. It wouldn't be easy to think of another path to go down. It doesn't mean that the recruiters did the wrong thing.

I hope this guy has the wisdom to move on and make some new, more realistic goals. Pestering the recruitment office like that, it's perseverating.

The same sort of thing happened to my boyfriend, he wanted to join the air force because he wanted to be an astronaut and that was the only way to become one for him. They turned him down because of his learning disabilities and boy were his dreams shattered.


As for the 22 year old, another reason to not get diagnosed.

He's in a bit of a no win situation.

If he accepts the decision and doesn't seek any kind of review or to challenge the decision, then he loses, because he's been judged to be "unstable".

If he doesn't accept the decision, if he seeks a review or to challenge it, I'll bet that his challenge is viewed as further evidence that he's "unstable", he won't comply with authority.

He's stuffed either way.

My daughter was rejected because she's diagnosed with ADHD (although I believe she's also Aspie, I haven't told her). She's got in through the back door as a member of the Territorial Army. She's hoping to get good reports and eventually get some officer to put in a good word for her and get accepted that way.

omg thats the worst anti-aspie story if'e readed
wth has aspie to do with not going to the army wtf
like aspie never went to the army in the past!!

Well, to be honest I've come to terms that there are many jobs I simply will never be able to do. I would never be able to be a secretary, because I lack social skills and hate talking on the phone. I could never be a salesperson, because I can't pursuade others. I can't be a film director because I lack the ability to order people around.

I don't know much about military life, but maybe they're right, maybe it's just not a career that's suitable for him. Really, when people's lives are at stake, you really should have the best of the best and not cater to individual's desires to pursue whatever careers they want.

the army teaches you the will to survive...the only thing us aspies have because we sub conciously know the only person you can trust is yourself

It's ok the uk army will not take him. It will save him having to kill or learn how to kill and humans need less killing there is very little worth killing or being killed over. I guess the guy does not know this he is being spared the warping the army does to you.

I accidently put my name on a call list for the Marines once, and I was getting calls from recruiters twice a week. Finally I got fed up and told them I have Aspergers. They haven't called since.

Of course, in this case I didn't want to join the military. But since this dude obiviously has the blind devotion to one's country that makes one WANT to get blown into a jazillion pieces in some godforsaken foreign setting, I can't see why they're not letting him join. I personally think that as Aspies we should be exempt from draft, but not from volunteership (assuming you're insane enough to join... but that's getting into the catch-22 paradox, which I don't feel like discussing at this hour.)

The army for the most part would not consider a person with ADHD or aspergers because they believe them to be socially unstable. They take this as the case because certain things which in a normal workplace would be able to be sorted would not/could not be sorted on a battlefield.

I know this because my friend tried to join and was rejected. I have no desire to join the army anyway, what would we be fighting for, we're not fighting for country because hardly anyone in the UK wanted to go with america to the Iraq war. Not that we had a choice, they already had the tanks painted from forest to desert camo the week before they "offically" decided.

It is sad, but I can understand their choice. I have heard similar stories about people who couldn't be in the police or army because they are colour blind or epileptic.

It seems like to me to join the army, you have to be perfect. Have no medical conditions, not be on medication, not have any disorders or have a disability. So lot of people would be ejected if they tried to join.

has he tried joining the territorial army instead,theyre not supposed to be as hard to get in,one of the staff here is in the TA,and am know two firemen who are also TAs.