Autistic Young Man Recruited by the U.S. Army
May 8, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Military, Parenting, Work
18-year-old Jared Guinther was signed up for a four-year tour in the U.S. Army by recruiters:
He was offered a $4,000 signing bonus, a college fund, “and more buddies than he could count.” But Jared didn’t understand he wouldn’t get the bonus until after basic training, that he was signing up for a four-year period, or just how dangerous this Army thing was going to be. His parents had to explain to him there was a war going on. (Injecting Sense, Does Uncle Sam Really Want Jared?)
Jared was diagnosed with “moderate to severe autism” as a child.
“‘Jared’s an 18 year-old man. He doesn’t need his mommy to make his decisions for him,’” was the response from the Army recruiter when Mrs. Guinther tried to explain.
- Read the original article about Jared Guinther, The Oregonian’s An Army of one wrong recruit.
- Read Injecting Sense’s post on Does Uncle Sam Really Want Jared?.
Jeff Stimpson
Jill Cornfield
Having spent 6 years in the military, I’m not surprised to hear about recruiters lying and deceiving recruits, nor about them trying to shoe-horn people into jobs that they’re unsuited for. Even the folks a the Medical Entry Processing Stations are guilty of pushing people into careers that they can’t handle. But covering up someone’s disabilities to make a quota is completely out of line.
At the same time, if there are jobs that are appropriate for an autistic recruit, I don’t see any problem with enlisting him or her. They aren’t set up to handle that sort of thing now, but I can think of lots of jobs that could be done by autistics.
Thanks, Jemaladdin—I think Moi commented on Wade’s Injecting Sense post about this about possible jobs.
If we can get a bit historical, armies in the ancient world (as classical Greece) had to be made up of soldiers whose disabilities would surely have disqualified them today.
Sure, sure - I seem to remember during the first Gulf War that people seemed shocked that the Iraqis, having come out of 8 years of war with Iran, were sending 50-year-old men and 14-year-old boys into combat. But if we were engaged in a real war (not a war of choice), we’d certainly be sending in Jared Guinther in some capacity. Cavalry scout seems a bit unlikely, from his description in the article, but I’m certain that there are countless ways that he could serve his country.
Yes, and I’m hoping Charlie finds his way to serve, too.
The recruitment of an Autistic into the Army is bad enough, but Cavalry Scout, that is the worst place for an Autistic. Would you want someone who has great difficulty expressing himself to give you information when your life depends on it? No CO would want him. He would be a hugh burden.
And unrightfully placed in such a position, I think—
Certain jobs, certain roles, could be ideal for high-functioning autistic, high-functioning Asperger’s Syndrome or high-functioning ADHD personell. Such people thrive in highly-structured environments.
One view of ADHD notes as “corporal punishment” has been criminalized in western society, the mantra has become, “Spare the rod, Spoil the child, then Drug them.”
Simply because someone has been labeled with a ‘diagnosis’ is not a certain indicator of poor military performance. If testing & training can match the occupation to the person, then you can still have a high-performing soldier.
Duriing WW2, soldiers were given medications to improve alertness. Allied troops received what is know today as Adderall, whereas Axis personnel were given what is know today as Ritalin. Today, those are the chief medications used to help ADHD individuals remain alert & focused.
People with these diagnosis’ often will seek to self-medicate, through adrenalin-producing, thrill-seeking activities. Notably, during the rush, their mind is calm, focused, rational & creative. They can hyperfocus, effortlessly.
Likely, the soldier will have opportunities to prove his ‘fit’ in the Scout role. The worst times may be times when his brain is under-stimulated.
Verbal communication skills can be learned. However, it is very possible he may not be Autistic, at all.
Very interesting basaltah—-my own husband has ADHD and some things can be incredibly frustrating for him. But the ADHD also can give him a hyper-focused attention to all around him, and to what is behind his back.
I think autistics with a mild case of it. Should join the military if they choose to? Because, some of us are not as high functioning and capable of being regular people! If he was smart enough to pass the test than he should try out for a less threatening job, like a doctor. Instead of a Calavery Scout. And maybe have people to try and help him understand what is going on.
I think one point is that in this situation, as in any informed consent, does this person understand what s/he is signing up for?
Regardless of diagnosis, if someone doesn’t understand the term of enlistment, or the conditions therein, they are not informed.
In Private Benjamin that was funny. In real life it might not be.
That said, if one did understand and give consent on an informed basis, it makes sense in a pragmatic and functional way to assign on the consideration of that which would work well for both the military and the enlistee.
i have autism and i dont care what any opne in the army thinks i could be hundreds of times a better solder than any of you. im sick of society telling me not to use my disability as a cruch then what do all of u go and do use it agianst us. its crap non of u know whats its like to live the life i live if i want to give my life on the front lines who are u to tell me i cant do that.
I have Asperger’s: the Diet Coke of Autism. Uh, lets see… I was enrolled in a white-separatist community high school soewhere in the Great Plains region, where I was bullied and ostracised; sat by myself at lunch period; graduated valedictorian. The tyipical Aspie experience. I went to basic training immediately after graduation, and scored higher on the final tests than my drill instructors, whose JOB it was to train me on the test material. Basic was actually a lot less scarry for me than high school. I kicked ass in the PT evals, even though I had/have excercise induced athsma (unrealized at the time). I worked as an avionics technician, which I realize now as one of the bottle-neck jobs for Aspies (linguist and intelligence being anothers). I won the quarter award for my unit right after Sept. 11. Now I am an ANTH student (another Aspie bottleneck) working my way into grad school. I enjoy reading existentialist literature, HST, and Hindu religious texts… funny, so did Openheimer. I am also a pathethic social outcast with no girlfriend, but that ain’t nuthin’ but a thing. As far as agency for enlistment is concerned I would, in most cases, agree with the infamous preacher, Bill Hicks, “Anyone… DUMB enough to WANT to join the military should be allowed.”
I know how you feel stuntman601088, im autistic 2. but some of those people up there do have a point. But unfortunetely as of 2005[ as ive heard] military doctors decided that recruiting autistics means that they have to learn to teach people that learn differantly than the clasroom. They are of course accepting geds, but because of their preferance of how they wish militants to learn, they still to my knowledge prefer the highschool diploma of their recruits, unless you leav a REALLY GOOD impression, which i believe is possible but would be hard to obtain since they seemingly have tightened their recruiting restrictions. I know that is total bull[ even i have hard time excepting that] thats just the way it is bro. You can still get a civilian job 4 the military, youd still be usefull there. It would definately help to know if you had high ‘functioning autism-aspergers’, as they have been proven to be very smart. You know, bill gates has aspergers. POWER TO THE ‘AUTISTICS’ AND WEAKNESS FOR THE FASCISTS.
I know of people with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) who have done very well in the military. My husband is one of them. He thrives on the routine that the military provides. His high intelligence level has proven to be an invaluable asset to the military.
I have read case studies about people with AS in the military. Some do very well and some do not. It depends on the severity of their symptoms and the coping skills that they have learned. People with AS tend to do good in technical or mechanical jobs but SHOULD NOT be allowed in a combat zone. They have also been an invaluable asset in military intelligence. There have been officers with AS. They ones I have read about claim that they did very well as enlisted men but did not do well as officers.
Check out this site: http://www.aspires-relationships.com/articles_as_in_the_military.htm