The military and aspergers

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Has anyone or anyone you know with aspergers been excepted into the military. My son is wanting to go into the Marines. I believe he would thrive in a military life.

Yes, there are people here who have served in the armed forces of their country.

I hope they see your post.

Just make sure that the recruiter doesn't know that your son has AS, or that's grounds for disqualification. No arm forces services in the world will accept any one who is on the spectrum.

Best step is to make a phone call to one of the advisers at the Marines and ask them straight up.

Be aware though that they'll probably ask for your details when you initially phone, if you're inclined to lie, you may have to brush it off with 'sorry it's just a quick call to check if....' - at which point they'll probably ask for a number to call you back.

I'd think worst-case scenario: assume your son lies RE his autism, enlists, then is KIA - could you live with yourself knowing you supported such a lie?

Not entirely true.

There was a case in the States back in '06 where an Army recruiter got an autistic kid who wasn't terribly high functioning to sign up, and the mother protested that they had no right to sign up a "disabled" kid.

The military insisted that the boy came across as "all right" and they refused to drop the matter and insisted his enlistment was legit. They even claimed they didn't need to see his medical records, even tho' their own rules said they have to have all pertinent medical info on file about a recruit.

The kid was supposed to report for duty in four months, and the parents had no idea what more they could do. (The kid hadn't even known there was a war going on, and the recruiter had set him up to be in the most dangerous job the army had.)

In '09 the U.S. Marines likewise allowed another young autistic man to enlist. In this case the recruiter actually picked the guy up at the group home he lived at...a group home "for the mentally disabled"...and brought him to the recruitment center to sign up.

Obviously, we're again not talking about someone who was very high functioning.

After being pushed thru bootcamp, the kid ended up locked up, charged by the military with being a disciplinary problem, and facing court marial. Can't imagine how that happened.

In the earlier case, the Army finally backed off and let the kid out of his "contract" (which I'd have to guess was illegal to begin with), and in the case involving the Marines, the Marines actually began investigating the guys who'd enlisted the kid, and they ended up facing possible criminal charges at the time of the article I found.

In both cases, the issue seemed to be recruiters who had "quotas" to meet, and they didn't care how they did it.

Yes, it is possible for an autistic person, even someone who's not high functioning, to end up in the military, with the expected disasters resulting.

I was in the military during the Vietnam era. While there were things I liked about the military, there were probably more that I did not. Don't really want to get into it but I, personally, would not recommend that anyone on the spectrum join the military. Perhaps it works out for some but I believe the majority would, on average, have a much more difficult time than those not on the spectrum. Just my opinion.

I have an autistic friend who was in the army for 10 years and did great. But he's not a soldier, he was a technician, eventually went up to engineer. I think the "support staff" in the army would be better career tracks for aspies, especially scientists, engineers and technicians. My dad (an engineer) worked with the air force for years and he's an aspie. Of course if your son is very high functioning with little sensory issues, can manage communications well and is good at obeying orders, there's a chance he can be a soldier, too.

Oh really? I am serving in the Swedish military right now as a Civilian specialist.

Usually, people use "civilian" to mean "non-armed forces"

But I see what you mean.

I spent four years in the USAF from 1973-1977 - but I didn't know I had Asperger's and nobody knew about high function autism then. I think there is a type of Aspie - particularly the one who is drawn to absolute detail who might excel in the military. I wouldn't say I excelled. But I did okay.

Has he been formally diagnosed?
That is the big question before moving on and it's more a legal matter than anything.

Yes! but do they know that you are on the spectrum? Most aspie's get in because they don't disclose that information.

Click

I was not questioning whether or not you can do the job. I was questioning whether or not your recruiter knew that you have autism.

I think that some autistics can do extremely well in the military because for some of them, the mental discipline it provides is crucial for them. It seems many military jobs would give them an environment where they can focus on a task with the singleminded-ness that is an innate part of how they function. I think for more than a few autistics this could be an opportunity for them to truly shine. Of course, the baggage regarding this being abuse of the mentally disabled is not exactly trivial to overcome.

Hint: Try reading the post.