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Could the military help people with Autism?

NAS67425

Something i have always wondered as an autistic person myself is what the effects of military training and discipline has on people with Autism. seeing that the military is all about order,structure and learning you the importance of working in a team it surely can help autistic people develop skills they can use to significantly be better at structuring and giving order to their own personal lives. and thus improve life quality.

I am not advocating for anyone to join the military. i am just curious how people here think if the military could be of any use in helping some people with autism get their life in order.

Parents

  • I would think this would be a really hard test of your abilities and to see 'how autistic' the person is and their ability to get on with a team.       It would be a make or break decision and the person could be throwing themselves to the lions.     I'd also think carefully about which service to join - each has a culture specific to its needs - the Air Force is more techy, the Army is more action and the Navy is all about travelling the world.      There's also some thought about where to pitch - a grunt, NCO or officer training - the need to do the right thing and a service-management mentality would make an excellent officer.        I read somewhere that the SAS has a high proportion of aspies - clear thinking, lots of strange skills, ability to rationalise situations etc.

    I think it would be a brave choice for someone who isn't going into it with their eyes open.    I don't think it would be a good idea thinking that the system would somehow 'fix' their foibles and make them less autistic.    Many ex-services members end up homeless because of their inability to revert back to civilian life - they're ended up institutionalised with the prescribed, controlled life and lose the ability to make their own decisions to look after themselves.

  • in reply to Plastic

    I was just thinking the same thing about Aspies being quite prevalent in the SAS. That notion comes from living in close proximity to a few of them. Not that you were really supposed to know who they were, of course; but it was usually rather obvious. Quite a bunch of regimental misfits really. But an interesting bunch nonetheless. They probably had their fair share of adjustment problems over the years, but I'm no longer there to know. I also met quite a few people who were really SAS wannabes. If they ever told you that is what they were, you knew pretty much straight away that it wasn't true. Now those folks really did have some major adjustment problems. I also had the misfortune to work for the ex-academy brother of one commandant. My boss definitely had a few issues, which his brother apparently did not.

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  • in reply to Plastic

    I was just thinking the same thing about Aspies being quite prevalent in the SAS. That notion comes from living in close proximity to a few of them. Not that you were really supposed to know who they were, of course; but it was usually rather obvious. Quite a bunch of regimental misfits really. But an interesting bunch nonetheless. They probably had their fair share of adjustment problems over the years, but I'm no longer there to know. I also met quite a few people who were really SAS wannabes. If they ever told you that is what they were, you knew pretty much straight away that it wasn't true. Now those folks really did have some major adjustment problems. I also had the misfortune to work for the ex-academy brother of one commandant. My boss definitely had a few issues, which his brother apparently did not.

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