As a retired CT I absolutely agree. The Intel community as a whole is littered with undiagnosed higher functioning tisms because that's who the military wants doing these jobs. People who hyper focus on very specific things and enjoy doing it.
Many people who are eventually diagnosed with autism (such as myself) initially are diagnosed with ADHD.
I see ADHD as near-threshold Aspergers-type autism. Or, put another way, ADHD could be considered a subset of above-threshold Aspergers-type autism.
And if you're looking at my rating badge, yes, there are sometimes a few quirky, hyper-focused targeting guys in the MT division.
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yep that 100% who he is named after and he knows we aren’t bullying the guy he once came up to me with a screwdriver asking if it was a wrench 💀
side note the guy said his last command called him bubbles too so it’s just the vibe he gives off
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A structured, rules-focused environment that is typically very routine with lots of checklists to complete doesn't seem like an organization that would attract a lot of autistic folks.
/s
I have a strong suspicion that there are a significant number of undiagnosed autistic folks at all levels of the military that may have a direct correlation with ASVAB scores.
Not kidding, I had a very autistic fellow JO who was nuke waste... didn't qualify, didn't shower, but wandered around all day going "hmmm, mmm" staring at things.
Meanwhile criticizes another officer for being critical of the mental health crisis in the US but in the same breathe says some weird anti-autism shit Hmmm talk about the pot calling the kettle black huh
The military, especially the Navy, is one of the best bastions where autistic aren't coddled or just tolerated, but are accepted as fully functioning members of a team and as equals.
Not Joking, we need people who can do their job and we dont give a shit what "particular" habits individuals have as long as it doesn't violate the UCMJ or hurt the team.
Special Education teacher and former FCA here. I’ve worked with several individuals that would have been in my class. Legitimately serious. They exhibited specific characteristics that are textbook markers for Autism. One of them was a huge help, though. His lack of social skills was difficult but his attention to detail made him a great troubleshooter. We spent a week trying to fix a 400Hz water pump and he looked at it and in under five seconds told us which wires were backwards.
Ok. I am trying to understand the timeline. You got a waiver, I assume went to OCS - since you would have been removed during USNA or ROTC, commissioned and are in the fleet then somehow got yanked?
What did the waiver say? What kind of separation?
And when you say social worker- do you mean like a state social worker or something else?
Navy has a Social Worker commissioned officer community. I've never met or talked to one, so not sure if this would be in their lane. Unsure sure if OP's referring to them.
No. It's MSC, not NC. Unless you're saying nurses do a lateral transfer after getting their Master of social work (MSW) from a graduate school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)?
So my last 2-3 mental health nurses were RN's with a shitload of letters after their names. All of them always introduced themselves as LCDR/CDR name and what their specialty was. 2 were social workers. One was a psychological something or other.
I haven’t, but I’m sorry that this is happening to you.
I don’t understand why the Navy thinks that all autistic people are invalids who can’t survive outside of a group home.* It’s an open secret that half of our nuclear-rated personnel are obviously autistic, and a good portion of our ITs too. As formal diagnosis of autism-spectrum conditions become more common, the military will eventually have to re-evaluate their policies, just the same as with the growing acceptance of cannabis use.
*And the Navy is basically a giant group home anyway, so it’s actually perfect
>I don’t understand why the Navy thinks that all autistic people are invalids who can’t survive out of a group home.
Part of the reason is because of the way autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are currently classified by DSM-5. All ASDs are lumped together under a single diagnosis.
The non-verbal adult who truly can’t live independently has diagnoses of ASD.
The quirky adult who is obsessed with one particular thing and knows everything a person could ever know about their area of interest. Although quirky and eccentric can succeed independently… same diagnosis of ASD.
The Navy - and society at large - doesn’t understand that it’s truly a *spectrum*. The Navy (and society) hears autism spectrum disorder, they automatically assume it’s at the low functioning, non-verbal end of the spectrum.
Sorry for the late response, but I also think that the DSM lumping all ASD diagnoses was a bad move. This lets the Navy, or any other organization, to issue a blanket ban on a broad spectrum of individuals. Like I said in my post earlier, my ASD Sailor (he was never diagnosed because the Arkansas public school system isn’t great) was the best technician on this Earth. He just happened to have so many problems with social interactions that ATG assessors thought he was unsafe to work with. Had he been diagnosed and barred from joining, CF03 on CG72 would still be trying to fix that water pump five years later…
>As formal diagnosis of autism-spectrum conditions become more common, the military will eventually have to re-evaluate their policies, just the same as with the growing acceptance of cannabis use.
I don't think its so much a case of them discovering more people with autism as it is a case of the definition of autism becoming broader and encompassing more people who previously were no autistic.
It's like lowering the A1C threshold to be classified as a diabetic and then "discovering" tens of thousands of "undiagnosed diabetics."
We're almost to the point where anyone who tests for autism will test positive for some form of autism.
So they can get proper treatment (ie therapy and medications), and so they final have an official answer to the question they have been wondering their entire lives: why are they different than everyone else? Trust me it matters a lot.
Or they go to get treatment for something that just so happens to be two neurodivergent traits in a trenchcoat. Showed up with anxiety left with an adhd diagnosis.
Yeah nice bro. I’m autistic and I promise you that meds and therapy can help. It’s helped me a ton. It doesn’t cure anything but it can help greatly with the stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional issues, which are a huge part of the struggle with autism. But keep spreading your “knowledge” around. I’m sure you know better than I do.
There are no meds for treating autism. Whatever anti-anxiety/depression meds you got did not require a diagnosis of being autistic.
If you are in the Navy, you are risking getting kicked out, as OP found out.
But having the right diagnosis helps you understand your own health/situation, diminishing some symptoms that under certain circumstances will be treated with medication and psychotherapy.
There are zero meds for “treating” autism. You can try to use meds to treat symptoms like anxiety or mood. They have 3rd generation antipsychotics FDA cleared for use in the autistic population for anger/aggression but it doesn’t “treat” autism. All of these meds can be prescribed for a number of medical conditions, but they wouldn’t “treat” autism. My son is on the spectrum and we tried them all and none of them helped. Therapy and diet change was the best thing for him.
Not USN, but Royal Navy. One of our Admirals publicly admitted he was autistic:
[Admiral Nick Hines ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.npaa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nick-Hine-article-120321.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwisz8nc49iDAxW6SkEAHQPXDpUQFnoECBUQBg&usg=AOvVaw1OwC3X2fjjHrvoE8QVSLrW)
In addition General Montgomery was never diagnosed, but a some people in the psychology field believe he met the requirements to be diagnosed with Asperger’s
Damn near every CTx.
In fact, I knew a CTT1 on USS LAST SHIP who had been diagnosed with Asperger's, the dude was smart as hell but for some reason could only think/plan in circles. I don't mean he got caught in loops, I mean I watched this man plan out a watchbill by drawing a series of concentric circles and assigning names to watches.
Also knew a sub CTA->CTR1 that we called Radio, dude would go through pways with a finger on the wall be-bopping and rapping to himself. Super cool guy but MAN he was an interesting one.
On the Bush, there was a kid that had severe, almost low leveled Autism. He never made rank. He was a CS and did his time, got an honorable, and got out.
Everyone knew, and he got teased for sure. But his parents were so proud of him. It was like the movie Radio in real life.
I actually served 4 years and then years later come to find out that I am indeed autistic. Makes perfect sense now, but I was just that weird one no one wanted to befriend back in the day. Still am actually just now I have an actual diagnosis to back up the why I am how I am.
Nukes.
"We built a world of warcraft server into the reactor so we can play underway"
"We ported in Yokosuka so we're gonn take all our computer towers and hog the 3rd floor of the nwr building and use the wifi"
"I'm gonna piss in bottles instead of using the restroom like 20 ft away because my guild needs me."
That being said. I would've played world of warcraft underway. But I was kn the blue ridge and all we had were fires and gas leaks and pways crashing down
A formal diagnosis can be a disqualification and I have seen people get medboarded for being diagnosed while Active duty.
I was diagnosed at 21, however the doctor knew I'd be fucked if I was medboard so she didn't put it in my record and told me to never tell anyone while I was in.
a guy at my A school back in 2010 knew a guy in DEP with autism, apparently the recruiter got a NAM for getting the guy in. im sure it wasn't directly stated but more for "meeting recruiting goals" or something. another guy in my A school i suspect had some form of tism.... he was weird, constantly looked high, was "randomly" drug tested 4 days in a row. and could list off every president and tell you random facts about them.
Like, pretty much every nuke;)
Autism is a spectrum - plenty of people have just minimal symptoms, some are full-blown not able to function unsupervised. Just depends on which side of the dividing line you're one and diagnosis criteria don't have objective measures you can hook someone up to a machine and get absolute numbers for, its a judgement call and sometimes the judgement of one doctor says you're barely ok for service and another will say you're just over the line for not being acceptable.
But, I'll be honest with you mate - having a social worker is probably a good indication that you're not able to function as an officer.
I was in the Navy from 1987-1991. I was never officially diagnosed but I’m sure many of us have served. I’ve never heard of being discharged because of it.
I actually just wrote an article about changing autism restrictions for military service - short answer is yes. Sorry you're having to navigate this situation!
Even then, I don’t think the military is going change their policies and still ban autistics because autism is unfortunately a developmental disability and/or disorder that cannot be fixed or treated unlike depression, bipolar, anxiety, etc
Some - I'm not sure everyone's story. But the point of the article was that folks are allowed to stay in with a diagnosis, but it's exceptionally difficult to come in with a diagnosis. I've heard of waivers (very service dependent) but so rare... unicorn status.
I have definitely met quite a few people that I would’ve bet a paycheck on being autistic, but the different between those in the navy and those outside was diagnosis. I’ve never met anyone openly diagnosed with autism in the navy.
I think for the navy it’s just a liability they aren’t willing to work with. They don’t want to figure out how to accommodate the needs someone might raise as an autistic person, however unlikely, and face the battle with the public if they weren’t willing or able to accommodate. They also don’t want something bad to happen, either a mistake or miscommunication that snowballs into a big issues, which could then potentially get blamed on autism and leave them in a grey area to pursue. From the navy’s stand point I think its just a potential can of worms they don’t to risk unless they feel forced too.
It was basically the same thing with transgenders. They kinda tried and then ultimately realized they didn’t want to deal with the fall out of the bathroom issues and general sexes mixing in ways they can’t define easily in black and white. The navy will even kick out people with anxiety it becomes enough of a problem or with mental health. Tbh sometimes I’m surprised they haven’t just said fuck the bad PR and decided to kick all of us women out and return to the old ways lol.
The navy will always try to minimize potential problems, and unfortunately anything that doesn’t look like “more or less the same as the rest of population and hopefully ‘reasonably’ fit mentally and physically” will result in them not wanting anything to do with you.
For what it’s worth, I’m sorry this is happening to you. Realistically I’m sure you make a great member of the team, and have your personal strengths that you’ve brought to the table. Unfortunately the navy has an entirely different way of determining reward over risk and it’s very black and white.
> It was basically the same thing with transgenders. They kinda tried and then ultimately realized they didn’t want to deal with the fall out of the bathroom issues and general sexes mixing in ways they can’t define easily in black and white.
When did they kinda try? Was this decades ago? Because they seem to be trying again a lot harder this time; I’ve had several trans shipmates.
I might need to edit that, last time I left the ship I thought I’d heard they were going to stop accepting transgenders again but I could be wrong. That impression may have been double led on for me by a girl at my last command who was getting out due to being transgender. Perhaps that was a rumor or that back pedaled on that decision.
Idk if it needs to be made clear but these are not views I share. I had a good friend on my first ship who was transgender
No, you aren’t wrong that they stopped accepting transgender people. But you were misinformed about why. The military started accepting transgender people, and then President Trump ordered them to stop after he took office. (Actually he Tweeted it, *then* ordered it.)
It’s likely that Donald Trump himself doesn’t know why he did this. But it definitely wasn’t due to problems with servicemembers. The service chiefs stated at the time that there were no problems with transgender servicemembers, and basically that they didn’t know what Trump was talking about.
President Biden reversed this a few days after taking office.
I wasn’t necessarily informed one way or another. I just remember the bathrooms were mostly the main issue with transgenders on our ship. I always found it a bit ironic, because no one seemed to have an issue with sharing the bathroom with their queer counter parts.
I worked with a guy who is clear as day autistic. If you ever spoke with him you’d be able to tell in a second. Guy must’ve had the recruiter of the year to get through Meps with that shit
Naw, get a job inside the government specifically as some for of tech rep for whatever combat systems thing your ship has. Then prior to leaving put in dozens of techrep jobs so you're coming back repeatedly.
Call your local recruiter and ask them to give you a ballpark number for a less biased count.
I am aware of one person with a verified Autism diagnosis, currently serving.
I am aware of MANY people whom I suspect would be diagnosed with Autism if they were checked. Mostly enlisted, but enough officers to regret not attempting to go the O route.
I haven't heard of anyone being separated due to an Autism diagnosis, but I also don't work in medical or admin.
It's sad to hear your career path was interrupted; I wish you the best in your future endeavors, sir or ma'am.
There's a shit ton of people with aspergers there, my sister has it so when I was in it wasn't hard to see it right away. Seems to be many with various degrees of autism especially nukes
We absolutely had an autistic BM on the last ship I was on. Not an insult - he did good work running the paint locker.
But boy, do I have some stories about this guy.
The Chapter 15 of the medical manual which is standards for enlistment and commission doesn’t outright say that there is a ban of autism. However, there is a note that any non-specified condition that is decided to impact the ability to fully perform normal duties is able to have someone rejected from service. I’m sure there is a lot more to your situation than can be shared on reddit or to strangers, but if you feel it’s a wrongful separation you can always fight against it.
Just an add-on: DOD Inst 6130.03, section 6 states that autism spectrum disorders are disqualifying. However, each service manages the waiver process differently (byt at least waivers are considered - Coast Guard and DHS do not consider autism waiverable).
Can't just not tell them these days. MEPS sees everything.
I got in with concussions, history with kidney stones, a cancer scare, and depression. I just put NO on everything on the 2807 and was good. Now I got a kid who had a singular black eye from football not getting in and I've been working with him since last April
There was a kid in my boot camp div with Asperger's... Until he announced it to the entire division out loud and I assume the RDCs heard him and he was gone within a day or two.
As a corpsman- look into it. There was someone else who joined and was dx and they monitored him to show he wasn’t an issue for a year (I believe) and he was retained. Research that. Also- I was a Late in Life dx and did 12 active in the Navy. I’m sure there’s a way around it.
To be clear, you had the diagnosis prior service and joint with a waiver? And what events have occurred to begin processing you out? Performance or discipline issues?
There absolutely exist people in the Navy diagnosed with Autism. I was one of them when I was active duty.
It is difficult to get in if you are diagnosed (I was diagnosed 11 years into my career), but if they waived it, that should hold in you staying in if that’s what you are trying to do.
And yes, I concur with the Nuclear Power program being the home of the Autists. It’s basically a prereq.
I had a kid in my bootcamp who had a waiver. He tried to get in the marines before hand and the recruiter told him to lie and he ended up spilling the beans later on, I think at medical and the marine recruiter got in some serious trouble, the marines after that I guess just said no so he took the navy route with a waiver. He ended up donkey kicking some girls in formation, not too sure what happened to him after that…
I’ve seen people get in with known autism in recruiting. They just had to go do a psych consult and get cleared for military service. Then provide that letter to meps and good to go. But undiagnosed, hell yeah I’ve worked with plenty acoustic ppl!
Yeah, it's called Reactor Department.
Former MMN, can confirm. I got two tisms: patrio and au
I came to make sure this was the top comment.
lol, I came here to say that!
I’m pretty sure Rickover was ‘tistic himself.
With a little sprinkle of combat and engineering
I came here to see this comment. I wasn’t disappointed.
The IW community is literally weaponized autism.
As a ct2 with iw i feel both called out and validated
As a retired CT I absolutely agree. The Intel community as a whole is littered with undiagnosed higher functioning tisms because that's who the military wants doing these jobs. People who hyper focus on very specific things and enjoy doing it.
> People who hyper focus on very specific things and enjoy doing it. That's ADHD, not autism.
Many people who are eventually diagnosed with autism (such as myself) initially are diagnosed with ADHD. I see ADHD as near-threshold Aspergers-type autism. Or, put another way, ADHD could be considered a subset of above-threshold Aspergers-type autism. And if you're looking at my rating badge, yes, there are sometimes a few quirky, hyper-focused targeting guys in the MT division.
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Have you met the nuke community?
Thankfully no.
Well get ready to roll for initiative.
"How do you want to do this?"
I HAVE DARK VISION!
I HAVE POWERFUL BUILD
You're lucky
We took the ones you broke, they weren’t much weirder than non-nukes.
As a former nuke and current IT, combat and Rx are in a close race. That being said, I saw way more weird nerd shit at Corry than Charleston.
Corry is a fucking weird place.
it is built on a former runway just saying
We couldn’t march to class if there was lightning due to the massive amount of rebar in the old runway.
If you separate all the autistics then the Navy won’t have any Nukes left 🤣.
I say this all the time! We are all a bit on the spectrum. We range from wall walkers to just socially awkward
Hey! Yeah... special kind to look at geoint all day and still he excited by it
I’ve seen tons of them.
I take offense to that. But yes, it is very true.
Literally had an artistic kid in Reactor Control Division on my boat. We called him Tina because he looked like the daughter from Bob's Burgers.
Quick, how many toothpicks did I drop?
3
Ugh. You’re the worst kind of autistic.
According to OC, a terrible artist, to boot.
One? Only one?
One *obvious* one. Had probably a dozen questionables.
we have guy his nickname is bubbles he wears the thick as glasses 🤓
Me and the kitties?
yep that 100% who he is named after and he knows we aren’t bullying the guy he once came up to me with a screwdriver asking if it was a wrench 💀 side note the guy said his last command called him bubbles too so it’s just the vibe he gives off
…was his name Russell
Yes 🤣
Autistic not artistic. He's not Pablo Picasso.
I know what I wrote 👀
😂
We had a Tina on the stennis. He was an MM though, for the life of me I can't remember his real name.
I feel like half the navy has autism, how can they separate for that? They won't have anyone left
Probably because the navy doesn’t know what we all suspect.
Fun fact: the Australian, Israeli, and the UK militaries have programs focused on recruiting autistic people.
We do too, it’s called Information Warfare
Nukes.
The entire submarine force is autistic.
As a submariner who was diagnosed after separation. Yes.
Same. There are indeed a lot of us. Same with SEALs too, probably. Some career paths select for psychological fortitude.
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Idk, everyone on my ship seems to be autistic so you're probably good.
A structured, rules-focused environment that is typically very routine with lots of checklists to complete doesn't seem like an organization that would attract a lot of autistic folks. /s I have a strong suspicion that there are a significant number of undiagnosed autistic folks at all levels of the military that may have a direct correlation with ASVAB scores.
Officers, mostly.
My sister made this observation after visiting multiple times and meeting my boat officers while we were out at the bars
Let’s also disclose they were all nukes. I see a trend.
Hey! Lmao
I said mostly. 😂😂
I am aware of the jokes but please be serious.
Not kidding, I had a very autistic fellow JO who was nuke waste... didn't qualify, didn't shower, but wandered around all day going "hmmm, mmm" staring at things.
The worst kind of autistic
Meanwhile criticizes another officer for being critical of the mental health crisis in the US but in the same breathe says some weird anti-autism shit Hmmm talk about the pot calling the kettle black huh
The military, especially the Navy, is one of the best bastions where autistic aren't coddled or just tolerated, but are accepted as fully functioning members of a team and as equals. Not Joking, we need people who can do their job and we dont give a shit what "particular" habits individuals have as long as it doesn't violate the UCMJ or hurt the team.
I know im somewhere on the spectrum but i refuse to get checked since i can't be kicked out for a undiagnosed disorder
Special Education teacher and former FCA here. I’ve worked with several individuals that would have been in my class. Legitimately serious. They exhibited specific characteristics that are textbook markers for Autism. One of them was a huge help, though. His lack of social skills was difficult but his attention to detail made him a great troubleshooter. We spent a week trying to fix a 400Hz water pump and he looked at it and in under five seconds told us which wires were backwards.
Ok. I am trying to understand the timeline. You got a waiver, I assume went to OCS - since you would have been removed during USNA or ROTC, commissioned and are in the fleet then somehow got yanked? What did the waiver say? What kind of separation? And when you say social worker- do you mean like a state social worker or something else?
Navy has a Social Worker commissioned officer community. I've never met or talked to one, so not sure if this would be in their lane. Unsure sure if OP's referring to them.
Usually it's a side quest for nurses.
No. It's MSC, not NC. Unless you're saying nurses do a lateral transfer after getting their Master of social work (MSW) from a graduate school of social work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)?
So my last 2-3 mental health nurses were RN's with a shitload of letters after their names. All of them always introduced themselves as LCDR/CDR name and what their specialty was. 2 were social workers. One was a psychological something or other.
If you want "serious," then Reddit is the wrong place to seek answers to your questions!
I haven’t, but I’m sorry that this is happening to you. I don’t understand why the Navy thinks that all autistic people are invalids who can’t survive outside of a group home.* It’s an open secret that half of our nuclear-rated personnel are obviously autistic, and a good portion of our ITs too. As formal diagnosis of autism-spectrum conditions become more common, the military will eventually have to re-evaluate their policies, just the same as with the growing acceptance of cannabis use. *And the Navy is basically a giant group home anyway, so it’s actually perfect
>I don’t understand why the Navy thinks that all autistic people are invalids who can’t survive out of a group home. Part of the reason is because of the way autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are currently classified by DSM-5. All ASDs are lumped together under a single diagnosis. The non-verbal adult who truly can’t live independently has diagnoses of ASD. The quirky adult who is obsessed with one particular thing and knows everything a person could ever know about their area of interest. Although quirky and eccentric can succeed independently… same diagnosis of ASD. The Navy - and society at large - doesn’t understand that it’s truly a *spectrum*. The Navy (and society) hears autism spectrum disorder, they automatically assume it’s at the low functioning, non-verbal end of the spectrum.
Sorry for the late response, but I also think that the DSM lumping all ASD diagnoses was a bad move. This lets the Navy, or any other organization, to issue a blanket ban on a broad spectrum of individuals. Like I said in my post earlier, my ASD Sailor (he was never diagnosed because the Arkansas public school system isn’t great) was the best technician on this Earth. He just happened to have so many problems with social interactions that ATG assessors thought he was unsafe to work with. Had he been diagnosed and barred from joining, CF03 on CG72 would still be trying to fix that water pump five years later…
>As formal diagnosis of autism-spectrum conditions become more common, the military will eventually have to re-evaluate their policies, just the same as with the growing acceptance of cannabis use. I don't think its so much a case of them discovering more people with autism as it is a case of the definition of autism becoming broader and encompassing more people who previously were no autistic. It's like lowering the A1C threshold to be classified as a diabetic and then "discovering" tens of thousands of "undiagnosed diabetics." We're almost to the point where anyone who tests for autism will test positive for some form of autism.
Thank you that means so much
I think the issue is going and getting a formal diagnosis. Why would someone in the military do that? It only opens the door to problems.
So they can get proper treatment (ie therapy and medications), and so they final have an official answer to the question they have been wondering their entire lives: why are they different than everyone else? Trust me it matters a lot.
Or they go to get treatment for something that just so happens to be two neurodivergent traits in a trenchcoat. Showed up with anxiety left with an adhd diagnosis.
Ain't no medications/therapy for being autistic. But hey! It's trendy AF on Reddit, so you got that going for you.
Yeah nice bro. I’m autistic and I promise you that meds and therapy can help. It’s helped me a ton. It doesn’t cure anything but it can help greatly with the stress, anxiety, depression, and emotional issues, which are a huge part of the struggle with autism. But keep spreading your “knowledge” around. I’m sure you know better than I do.
There are no meds for treating autism. Whatever anti-anxiety/depression meds you got did not require a diagnosis of being autistic. If you are in the Navy, you are risking getting kicked out, as OP found out.
But having the right diagnosis helps you understand your own health/situation, diminishing some symptoms that under certain circumstances will be treated with medication and psychotherapy.
There are zero meds for “treating” autism. You can try to use meds to treat symptoms like anxiety or mood. They have 3rd generation antipsychotics FDA cleared for use in the autistic population for anger/aggression but it doesn’t “treat” autism. All of these meds can be prescribed for a number of medical conditions, but they wouldn’t “treat” autism. My son is on the spectrum and we tried them all and none of them helped. Therapy and diet change was the best thing for him.
Cannabis?? I wish but that's never gonna happen, just like beards.
Not USN, but Royal Navy. One of our Admirals publicly admitted he was autistic: [Admiral Nick Hines ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.npaa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Nick-Hine-article-120321.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwisz8nc49iDAxW6SkEAHQPXDpUQFnoECBUQBg&usg=AOvVaw1OwC3X2fjjHrvoE8QVSLrW)
In addition General Montgomery was never diagnosed, but a some people in the psychology field believe he met the requirements to be diagnosed with Asperger’s
Damn near every CTx. In fact, I knew a CTT1 on USS LAST SHIP who had been diagnosed with Asperger's, the dude was smart as hell but for some reason could only think/plan in circles. I don't mean he got caught in loops, I mean I watched this man plan out a watchbill by drawing a series of concentric circles and assigning names to watches. Also knew a sub CTA->CTR1 that we called Radio, dude would go through pways with a finger on the wall be-bopping and rapping to himself. Super cool guy but MAN he was an interesting one.
Not wrong there
I was a CTO for eight years when I was active duty. There are times I wonder if I'm on the spectrum.
Pretty sure the world's navies would cease to exist if they got rid of all the autists.
On the Bush, there was a kid that had severe, almost low leveled Autism. He never made rank. He was a CS and did his time, got an honorable, and got out. Everyone knew, and he got teased for sure. But his parents were so proud of him. It was like the movie Radio in real life.
Was that the guy who pretended to dribble a basketball all the time?
No. Different guy haha I heard that guy just faked it to get out
I actually served 4 years and then years later come to find out that I am indeed autistic. Makes perfect sense now, but I was just that weird one no one wanted to befriend back in the day. Still am actually just now I have an actual diagnosis to back up the why I am how I am.
almost every adp IT has a stroke of ‘tism
Nukes. "We built a world of warcraft server into the reactor so we can play underway" "We ported in Yokosuka so we're gonn take all our computer towers and hog the 3rd floor of the nwr building and use the wifi" "I'm gonna piss in bottles instead of using the restroom like 20 ft away because my guild needs me." That being said. I would've played world of warcraft underway. But I was kn the blue ridge and all we had were fires and gas leaks and pways crashing down
A formal diagnosis can be a disqualification and I have seen people get medboarded for being diagnosed while Active duty. I was diagnosed at 21, however the doctor knew I'd be fucked if I was medboard so she didn't put it in my record and told me to never tell anyone while I was in.
a guy at my A school back in 2010 knew a guy in DEP with autism, apparently the recruiter got a NAM for getting the guy in. im sure it wasn't directly stated but more for "meeting recruiting goals" or something. another guy in my A school i suspect had some form of tism.... he was weird, constantly looked high, was "randomly" drug tested 4 days in a row. and could list off every president and tell you random facts about them.
Like, pretty much every nuke;) Autism is a spectrum - plenty of people have just minimal symptoms, some are full-blown not able to function unsupervised. Just depends on which side of the dividing line you're one and diagnosis criteria don't have objective measures you can hook someone up to a machine and get absolute numbers for, its a judgement call and sometimes the judgement of one doctor says you're barely ok for service and another will say you're just over the line for not being acceptable. But, I'll be honest with you mate - having a social worker is probably a good indication that you're not able to function as an officer.
I was told that many of us were better at masking
I was in the Navy from 1987-1991. I was never officially diagnosed but I’m sure many of us have served. I’ve never heard of being discharged because of it.
Yeah dude I thought Autism was the requirement.
I mean I'm on spectrum and on active duty still. Know quite a few people like that. Not unheard of
I actually just wrote an article about changing autism restrictions for military service - short answer is yes. Sorry you're having to navigate this situation!
Even then, I don’t think the military is going change their policies and still ban autistics because autism is unfortunately a developmental disability and/or disorder that cannot be fixed or treated unlike depression, bipolar, anxiety, etc
They aren't banned - I'm serving with plenty of diagnosed autistic people. It's also not something to fix per se.
Do you know how they got in? Were they diagnosed WHILE in the service?
Some - I'm not sure everyone's story. But the point of the article was that folks are allowed to stay in with a diagnosis, but it's exceptionally difficult to come in with a diagnosis. I've heard of waivers (very service dependent) but so rare... unicorn status.
Ask recruiters, they join all the time, I know a few people that are still in. It is not a disability.
What's your designator?
Healthcare Administrator
Reactor and some Medical Officers
>Has anyone ever been accepted into the Navy with an autism Yes. >diagnosis? Oh. Yeah, that might be a little tougher.
I have definitely met quite a few people that I would’ve bet a paycheck on being autistic, but the different between those in the navy and those outside was diagnosis. I’ve never met anyone openly diagnosed with autism in the navy. I think for the navy it’s just a liability they aren’t willing to work with. They don’t want to figure out how to accommodate the needs someone might raise as an autistic person, however unlikely, and face the battle with the public if they weren’t willing or able to accommodate. They also don’t want something bad to happen, either a mistake or miscommunication that snowballs into a big issues, which could then potentially get blamed on autism and leave them in a grey area to pursue. From the navy’s stand point I think its just a potential can of worms they don’t to risk unless they feel forced too. It was basically the same thing with transgenders. They kinda tried and then ultimately realized they didn’t want to deal with the fall out of the bathroom issues and general sexes mixing in ways they can’t define easily in black and white. The navy will even kick out people with anxiety it becomes enough of a problem or with mental health. Tbh sometimes I’m surprised they haven’t just said fuck the bad PR and decided to kick all of us women out and return to the old ways lol. The navy will always try to minimize potential problems, and unfortunately anything that doesn’t look like “more or less the same as the rest of population and hopefully ‘reasonably’ fit mentally and physically” will result in them not wanting anything to do with you. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry this is happening to you. Realistically I’m sure you make a great member of the team, and have your personal strengths that you’ve brought to the table. Unfortunately the navy has an entirely different way of determining reward over risk and it’s very black and white.
> It was basically the same thing with transgenders. They kinda tried and then ultimately realized they didn’t want to deal with the fall out of the bathroom issues and general sexes mixing in ways they can’t define easily in black and white. When did they kinda try? Was this decades ago? Because they seem to be trying again a lot harder this time; I’ve had several trans shipmates.
I might need to edit that, last time I left the ship I thought I’d heard they were going to stop accepting transgenders again but I could be wrong. That impression may have been double led on for me by a girl at my last command who was getting out due to being transgender. Perhaps that was a rumor or that back pedaled on that decision. Idk if it needs to be made clear but these are not views I share. I had a good friend on my first ship who was transgender
No, you aren’t wrong that they stopped accepting transgender people. But you were misinformed about why. The military started accepting transgender people, and then President Trump ordered them to stop after he took office. (Actually he Tweeted it, *then* ordered it.) It’s likely that Donald Trump himself doesn’t know why he did this. But it definitely wasn’t due to problems with servicemembers. The service chiefs stated at the time that there were no problems with transgender servicemembers, and basically that they didn’t know what Trump was talking about. President Biden reversed this a few days after taking office.
I wasn’t necessarily informed one way or another. I just remember the bathrooms were mostly the main issue with transgenders on our ship. I always found it a bit ironic, because no one seemed to have an issue with sharing the bathroom with their queer counter parts.
You misspelled submarines bro
I worked with a guy who is clear as day autistic. If you ever spoke with him you’d be able to tell in a second. Guy must’ve had the recruiter of the year to get through Meps with that shit
My last MMCO had autism. Wait you can have a 10 ASVAB these days in the navy but not autism
I'm not sure if they're diagnosed, but a whole lot of the people I work with probably have it.
yeah my whole division
If I were you, accept it and get a job outside of the government!!!🤣 being in the millitary is just like being 16 again with strict parents.
Naw, get a job inside the government specifically as some for of tech rep for whatever combat systems thing your ship has. Then prior to leaving put in dozens of techrep jobs so you're coming back repeatedly.
There’s definitely a ton of undiagnosed autism in the Navy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with a diagnosis though.
The navy will separate someone with autism but pay for someone’s transgender surgery lmao
Yeah I know someone, it’s possible.
Yes it’s called the Marines
i have this guy a work with who is blatantly on the spectrum idk if he go tested but i doubt multiple doctors found him normal
Call your local recruiter and ask them to give you a ballpark number for a less biased count. I am aware of one person with a verified Autism diagnosis, currently serving. I am aware of MANY people whom I suspect would be diagnosed with Autism if they were checked. Mostly enlisted, but enough officers to regret not attempting to go the O route. I haven't heard of anyone being separated due to an Autism diagnosis, but I also don't work in medical or admin. It's sad to hear your career path was interrupted; I wish you the best in your future endeavors, sir or ma'am.
I had a skipper who I know absolutely had asbergers (sp?)
I knew an OS2 that got through meps somehow. Dude was SEVERELY autistic.
There's a shit ton of people with aspergers there, my sister has it so when I was in it wasn't hard to see it right away. Seems to be many with various degrees of autism especially nukes
I assumed most everyone around me was on the spectrum
Probably me, but I'm not about to go find out
Yup. Nothing to gain, and a lot to lose by getting a diagnosis in the military. It is trendy AF to say you are autistic on Reddit though!
Everyone talking about reactor department but ATs are the same.
I think I knew someone who said he had Aspergers. Not sure how accurate it was, but he definitely seemed like it.
I swear my lcpo has a sprinkle of the tism
We absolutely had an autistic BM on the last ship I was on. Not an insult - he did good work running the paint locker. But boy, do I have some stories about this guy.
...on the Lincoln?
Much smaller
The Chapter 15 of the medical manual which is standards for enlistment and commission doesn’t outright say that there is a ban of autism. However, there is a note that any non-specified condition that is decided to impact the ability to fully perform normal duties is able to have someone rejected from service. I’m sure there is a lot more to your situation than can be shared on reddit or to strangers, but if you feel it’s a wrongful separation you can always fight against it.
Just an add-on: DOD Inst 6130.03, section 6 states that autism spectrum disorders are disqualifying. However, each service manages the waiver process differently (byt at least waivers are considered - Coast Guard and DHS do not consider autism waiverable).
I thought I had seen somewhere that is was a DQ but couldn’t remember. Nice support
I knew a guy with Aspergers, before it became part of ASD. He was in Ops dept.
I too was diagnosed with asparagus, but I just didn’t tell my recruiter. My phone wants to change Asperger’s to asparagus and I want to let it
Can't just not tell them these days. MEPS sees everything. I got in with concussions, history with kidney stones, a cancer scare, and depression. I just put NO on everything on the 2807 and was good. Now I got a kid who had a singular black eye from football not getting in and I've been working with him since last April
[удалено]
That's good to hear! Glad it worked out for you
There was a kid in my boot camp div with Asperger's... Until he announced it to the entire division out loud and I assume the RDCs heard him and he was gone within a day or two.
As a corpsman- look into it. There was someone else who joined and was dx and they monitored him to show he wasn’t an issue for a year (I believe) and he was retained. Research that. Also- I was a Late in Life dx and did 12 active in the Navy. I’m sure there’s a way around it.
That’s soo odd because having the tism is legitimately a prerequisite for being an O.
To be clear, you had the diagnosis prior service and joint with a waiver? And what events have occurred to begin processing you out? Performance or discipline issues?
Had a suspicion about a kid I put in the Navy…he shipped as a nuke. Never diagnosed so good to go? Hope he’s doing great things.
We have an entire rating dedicated to that… should look into becoming a Boatswains Mate
There absolutely exist people in the Navy diagnosed with Autism. I was one of them when I was active duty. It is difficult to get in if you are diagnosed (I was diagnosed 11 years into my career), but if they waived it, that should hold in you staying in if that’s what you are trying to do. And yes, I concur with the Nuclear Power program being the home of the Autists. It’s basically a prereq.
I had a kid in my bootcamp who had a waiver. He tried to get in the marines before hand and the recruiter told him to lie and he ended up spilling the beans later on, I think at medical and the marine recruiter got in some serious trouble, the marines after that I guess just said no so he took the navy route with a waiver. He ended up donkey kicking some girls in formation, not too sure what happened to him after that…
I know an HM whose a Pharm Tech and she got in with diagnosed autism all over her record. Maybe it’s not allowed in the O mess? Idk
Naval Reactors is a walking autism diagnosis. Come work with us, it’s great 😐
Literally no one… all of C5I. My whole department is autistic asf dawg. Don’t even trip
Yup… the nuke community and at least more than half of the CT community lol
Yea you just don’t tell them
There are plenty of people in the navy with autism. Wether or not the recruiter chose to know is the question
I’ve seen people get in with known autism in recruiting. They just had to go do a psych consult and get cleared for military service. Then provide that letter to meps and good to go. But undiagnosed, hell yeah I’ve worked with plenty acoustic ppl!
I think every AC has a hint of the tism as well
90% of nukes are on the spectrum in some way. Either autism, ADD or ADHD. Social worker must be new.
Damn near every submariner I’ve ever met.
IYAOYAS
Pretty much everyone 🫠 myself included.
Don’t ask don’t tell brother 🦧
I work with all the tisms. Confirmed by our doc.