• For the United States, more than likely No.
• I have to agree with the No. I have researched this as I had an applicant with this high form autism. The person will not even make it to the physical.
• I disagree... It all depends on the individual; the military looks at each person on a case-by-case scenario. It mostly depends if the person applying had special accommodations and also treatment. If they have, then Yes, they would be disqualified and if still have Asperger's and are not receiving accommodations or treatment, then they can join the military.
• Yes. I know someone with Asperger's syndrome who was recently admitted into the Air Force and will leave to join it in a couple of months. As long as a person can pass all the tests and has the necessary skills for the branch of the military they're trying to get into, they will get accepted.
• Hey, I'm from Canada, and I've been diagnosed with a slight case of aspergers. I've aspired to enlisting since I could remember, and have recently continued on to do so. I've passed the Physical, Aptitude and the Medical. My last step was to complete the final interview, but I had a debt mixup, and outstanding criminal charges (no, I'm not a psychopath, I just got a bit rowdy while drinking). Now that I think of it, after a bit of research, it may have been a bad idea to exclude my "disability" from the medical questionnaire. The problem here, is that doctors have always told me I had ADD, which I told the military physician. However, during the last "just incase" test my mother had forced me into, I was told that I had a few symptoms of aspergers, not really enough for diagnosis, but they would diagnose me anyways, so it would be easier to get a job... A lot of help that did, huh? Anyways, I hope this has helped in one way or another, and I wish anyone thinking of military service, luck in their indeavour's.
• Unfortunately not. Not in the United States, at least. The Armed Forces of the United States adhere to almost inflexible regulations known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and that code does not recognize the ability of ANY prospective aspirant who is NOT of perfectly sound mind, nor does it recognize the confidentiality of doctor-patient relationships; Asperger's disorder is still officially considered a mental deferment.
• The United States Military will accept people with Aspergers on a case by case basis. It all depends on what doctor that you see while at MEPS. I am a Legalman in the United States Navy with Navy Legal Service Office North Central, Detatchment Great Lakes, and I have had this question posed to me before. I discussed it with a few of the JAGs in , and after reviewing the UCMJ, they found that there is no Artical forbidding it.
• Ok, lets beat the dead horse one more time. The UCMJ has nothing to do with medical clearances into the military. This is a MEPSCOM function that falls under the department of the Army. The person will not get cleared by a MEPS Dr. because their MEPSCOM regulation forbids it. The best they could hope for, if the sun is shining particularly nicely that day, is to get a mental evaluation and then get disqualified. The branch of service that is attempting to bring them in can try for a waiver but once again, it's ultimately up to a Doctor, now that branches surgeon general, to put their name on this.
• Wow, a bunch of people who are GUESSING. That's what's wrong with these types of sites (any Wiki site, Yahoo answers, etc.), they are loaded with a bunch of unqualified opinions. Yes, someone with Asperger's can get into the military. The person above who spoke of the UCMJ and MESPCOM is partially right, but mostly wrong. Asperger's does NOT fail you during the mental evaluation. However, if you're taking any medication for it or any other disorder then you have to be off of them for at least a year.
• YES. My husband has AS and he is doing very well in the military. Some do and some don't. The decision is on a case by case basis. If you would like more info about Asperger's Syndrome in the military check out this web site I just found http://www.aspires-relationships.com/articles_as_in_the_military.htm
• After 50+ horrible years, I was diagnosed as Aspergers/High Functioning Autism incidental to an Aspergers diagnosis for my daughter. Can one do the military? The answer is a "qualified" yes. I did two years in SouthEast Asia and came away with the Distinguished Flying Cross even though essentially I was 12 in many ways, not counting I was behind that far biologically. Later, I made it through the commissioning program. At a later junior officers leadership course, they tested and retested my physical coordination skills for placement on competitive teams (everyone had to compete) thinking I was playing uncoordinated as a "ringer. I was almost passed over for 1st Lt, was passed over for Captain, but pulled data together that clinched it, then despite my technical efforts leading to officer of the year two years in a row, was passed over for Major. Years later I was able to secure a reserve position, and it was my Aspergers skills that led to a recall to active duty and my eventual retirement as a Lt Colonel. I had a habit of placing myself in situations that were beyond my comfort level, but to be truthful, leadership and socialization is not the strong point of Aspergers. Technical skills however, is where we excel. As a junior officer in charge of 150 people I was a flop. Later as a technician, I was great. At least for the Air Force, however, there is an up or out policy, which means you have to compete for and be promoted. As a SSgt and later a Captain, I was right where I should have been and that would have been fine. But to answer your question, with enough drive and by creating the right sense of circumstances, Aspergers/HFA may have a successful career if they can avoid the leadership situations. By the way, there is a quote: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," out of the scriptures, I believe. Knowing I'm Aspergers has allowed me to more successfully (and more happily) deal with life than ever before.
• According to at least one person in recruiting, United States military rules prohibit enlisting a person who has a mental disorder (including autism spectrum disorders) that interferes with school or employment, unless that person has not required special accommodations for school or employment for 12 months.

I actually checked on this a few years ago, when my son was old enough to start thinking about enlistment. He has an autism spectrum disorder and, as it turns out, that did not render him ineligible. The medications for his condition, however, made him ineligible.

As a person with Asperger's syndrome, you may distinctly prefer not to multi-task in most - if not all - situations. It is likely you may also have dyspraxia (gross motor discoordination), a comorbid (85%?) of asperger's syndrome. You may also have hand-to-eye coordination and other visio-spatial issues to contend with that are not fully encompassed by the term dyspraxia.

Yet in my experience, given you are first willing to learn to drive (never a thing to be presumed - so many are not willing), given extra patience from an instructor who knows to keep verbal and other directions to an absolute brief minimum, given you are not subject to anxieties too much above typical learner levels, it should be no harder for you to learn to drive than anyone else.

If, as a learner, you accept that there will be an extra permanent care that you may need to bring to such matters as reversing and negotiating tight spaces, then you or your vehicle will be as safe as any other. It should become apparent during instruction whether or not this need for extra care is applicable to you or not. If you can read mirror-reversed writing with ease you can certainly learn reversing with ease. If you can mentally manipulate objects in space with ease, likewise you can learn to make allowances for your cars size in positioning it as though it were more an extension of your own physical self when driving, and in coming up with steering solutions that fit the circumstances confronting you.

Many friends with Asperger's drive very safely, are very observant of the road code, but sometimes expect too much of others in expecting them to also invariably know and adhere to the law in like manner. I have also noticed nearly all their cars have a host of minor dings in them and when I enquire about the cause of these I hear tales of unseen letterboxes, tight-spot parking challenges, handbrake forgetfulness, and the clipping of other's wing mirrors. As I say, nothing major, but "wide berth' may need to be our motto all our lives if dyspraxia is present.

You may prefer to learn in an automatic to avoid initially having to master yet another simultaneous task (gear changing) - but this is only suggested to ease the learning curve at the start. It is an extra 4-6 hours of patient practice to master smooth gear changing for most.

The almost hypnotic state we all secretly drive our cars in, most of the time, is fully available also to people with Asperger's after a reasonable period of learning, and it also allows sufficient psuedo multi-tasking to take care of gear changing.

It will change your life radically to learn to drive, give you confidence and abilitiy for all else you wish to achieve in life, take you to new places, allow you to be more helpful than you already are, and improve the first impressions you make with the opposite gender. Go fo it!

If the definition of nerd being used is "a person who is skilled in a science or technical field, but is boring or socially inept", then some people with Asperger's Syndrome are nerds. But, referring to a person as a nerd can be offensive.

Yes, a lot of us are nerds. An awful lot of Aspies are proud nerds and self-identify as such, but the vast majority object to AS being referred to as a disease (because it isn't; it's a disorder) or being "something wrong". AS is a disorder, and it's different to neurotypicals, but it's not wrong.

Being a nerd isn't a bad thing. Some people consider it a derogatory term, but in my experience most Aspies do not.

Many Aspies develop particular interests that they immerse themselves wholly in, learning everything there is to know about their pet subjects. A lot of us love learning for the sake of learning, which I suppose is similar. We like being nerdy.

A lot of us are nerds. Many, if not most, are geeks. Quite a few are even dorks. But almost all of us know that it's how a person is treated that matters, not what label is applied. Someone who uses "nerd" as an insult will get a very different reaction to someone who uses it as praise.

The first thing is to understand him. Us with aspergers have a different way of communicating. Most of the problems between us and neurotypicals have to do with us not sensing the other's emotions. This works both ways. We might struggle to understand neurotypicals, but they also often misunderstand us. As a result, sometimes an emotional connection is not made. But if you care enough, it is possible.

This is an answer I wrote about characteristics of Aspergers for another question on this site.

First characteristic: An obsession. Every Aspie has an obsession. That means that when we care about something, it will grip and fill our whole minds.

An aspie might have a life-long obsession. An aspie can also have short term obsessions. If I have to learn something, it becomes my obsession until I know it thoroughly. I also have two ongoing permanent obsessions. This obsession can be with anything, it depends on the individual. We might talk about it for hours and bore you terribly.

We often learn social cues in adulthood, while other people knew them in their teenage years.

Sometimes we appear weird. Others of us study social skills and learn to blend in very effectively. However, most of us still feel like we never really fit in.

We are extremely sensitive. We may care deeply about our loved ones. Yet we may have difficulty expressing our emotions in ways that people without Aspergers understand.

We also tend to hate loud noises and sometimes bright lights. They hurt. We may have other sensory issues and sensitivities, such as to taste or touch.

Some fictional characters with aspergers are Mr Monk, from Monk, Lars, from Lars and the Real Girl (who is also emotionally damaged), Abed in Community, Lucius in the Village and possibly Fluttershy in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Women with Aspergers are more likely to be undiagnosed and are not often portrayed in movies or TV.

We each have our own personality and Aspergers manifests itself in different ways in different people. Different people may have different combinations of symptoms.

It was hard for me, until I developed a close friendship with one person who accepts me and understands me. I used to be isolated and sad. With my friendship to him to keep me going, I am very happy. Turns out, he probably has Aspergers too.

Nikola Tesla was an inventor and engineer who was viewed as eccentric. Some of his characteristics that could be associated with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) are a possible photographic memory, picture thinking his inventions in every detail without drawing them, fastidiousness about hygeine, not finishing college, and being reclusive. Of course, these characteristics do not mean that he had AS. Less similar to people with AS, he also had friends and made a good impression on most people when he chose to interact with them.

Tesla also had characteristics of synesthesia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.