Military girl introduction

[NinjaMeg]

Hello everyone! I have not been officially diagnosed with anything, nor can I be. I have been a military service member for a long time and I cannot get diagnosed as doing so will threaten my retirement, which is only a few years away. I’ve only come to the realization that I have some form of autism within the last year. To be completely honest, I used to believe that autism wasn’t a real thing, and that perhaps it was a lack of self-discipline or bad parenting. Then my son was diagnosed with high functioning autism. I didn’t see it when he was little, but I see it now, especially after having another child who does not have autism. His diagnosis changed my opinion on the topic, and I took a few child development classes. Suddenly it all started to make sense. I have suffered from some level of anxiety and depression my entire life, but the anxiety and depression has stemmed specifically from my inability to develop friendships, my social awkwardness, my lack of understanding of things within context, and so on. Realizing that my personality traits point towards autism has been so enlightening. Finally, I understand why I can never tell if someone is making fun of me or whether or not I’ve offended someone or said something inappropriate. I have always felt that I’ve had to work harder than other people to understand things, while at the same time I had a knack for easily understanding things that didn’t come easily to others. For so many years I have felt incompetent, but now I am realizing that I’m just different. My husband says he has always suspected that I had autism, but I have no family or friends to confide in, and I certainly can’t be open about this at work. I feel like I have to work so incredibly hard to appear “normal” to the rest of the world. It’s exhausting, and that’s part of the reason it’s difficult to make and maintain friendships. I am hoping that I can find a good support network here and find ways to help with the residual anxiety. Thank you for reading and I am glad to be here!

 

[Tom]

Hi & welcome,
Retired Air Force here. Was treated in service for anxiety/depression for several years and it did not effect my career (enlisted). Only figured out near the end they were co-morbids of HFA. My son is also HFA and in military. Your right, there are many unique challenges for a HFA. At the same time it can be a strength in how you perform. You are obviously competent to have come this far. Try to relax. You probably have heard the saying: Don't sweat the little stuff. And it's all little stuff. If you can do this interactions with others may flow more smoothly.

 

[Warmheart]

Welcome! It's good to have you here!

 

[Mia]

Hiya NinjaMeg, welcome to the forum. It's a good place to learn about HFA and encounter people with a similar outlook. Both my husband and I are Aspies and waited until retirement to finally discover and understand it fully.

 

[Tom]

Welcome!!! Great to see another military person here. I served from '78 to '81 as a Military Police Customs Investigator (95B10V5P) in Germany.

Small world. I arrived in Ramstein Germany June 82. What base/post?

 

[Tom]

Detachment E, 42nd MP Group Customs. I was based on Hindenburg Kaserne, Ansbach. Our detachment HQ was in Furth and the main 42nd MP HQ was in the former SS HQ in Manheim. This is the only image I've found of the place. I think it was probably made not long before it was closed:

Yeah, I remember the old Kasernes. The old buildings and courtyards were very evocative of history. The last I visited was near Heidelberg in 2004. We had to check in there when arriving in country to deploy a radar system in Pirmasens.

 

[Elemental]

Welcome to Central NinjaMeg