tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post4498476497162993705..comments2023-06-20T06:46:10.521-05:00Comments on Be the Best You Can Be: An astronaut with Asperger'sJGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-16289610319592461052008-09-14T16:45:00.000-05:002008-09-14T16:45:00.000-05:00Its rather bizarre being AS and being unaware of i...Its rather bizarre being AS and being unaware of it till my teens. I used to get ostracized in elementary and middle school and my parents made it worse by embarassing me in front of my few friends by saying things like, "Why don't you say you'll invite her over again?" and being extra pushy. Now I can say that those kinds of things certainly added to my unpopular image but when I hit 8th grade and moved to an entirely different school district, I reinvented myself. First, I decided to fit in. It was an all-too concious choice bent on years of being bullied and avoided. I decided to replace former solitary hobbies with listening to popular music, buying my clothes from the mall, and acting less serious and more frivolous. The last part was the hardest, but now I'm in 12th grade and I have a close group of friends who encompass various cliques and who are on the road to college and yet are entertaining to be around. I even have one friend who likes to party alot. Personally, I stay away from that sort of atmosphere, and instead hang out with several friends every weekend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-57194049908783613772008-08-21T22:06:00.000-05:002008-08-21T22:06:00.000-05:00I graduated from the Naval Academy (with an engine...I graduated from the Naval Academy (with an engineering degree) and was eventually declared unfit for service following a brief psychotic episode. I'm also certain that I am an Aspie although I have learned to cope and have not sought diagnosis because I don't see any real potential benefit. Undoubtedly, USNA, plebe year, and the naval officer profession (some types more than others) are challenging in proportion to one's Aspie tendencies and one's inability to moderate them. Still, it's not at all shocking that an Aspie could achieve in the military the degree of success that Nowak did, particularly if you consider that there is no such thing as a pure meritocracy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-10232603962472451642008-07-03T15:33:00.000-05:002008-07-03T15:33:00.000-05:00I much appreciate the comment from our RAF captain...I much appreciate the comment from our RAF captain.<BR/><BR/>Smart people are capable of a great deal of adjustment and compensation.<BR/><BR/>We are accustomed to seeing amputees skiing, but cognitive adaptations are less obvious.JGFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580785981874040314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-3733132956622004492008-07-03T13:07:00.000-05:002008-07-03T13:07:00.000-05:00I was a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. I a...I was a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. I am an Engineer by occupation and most certainly do suffer from AS. Many AS sufferers don't realise they have it and learn to live below the radar by natural ajustment. Later in life I realized that I'd had AS all of my life. It should be no bar to types of employment, but could be judged on a case by case scenario. I think yo uwill find that many Engineers and Scientists are Aspies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-33752156032955833722008-02-20T00:12:00.000-06:002008-02-20T00:12:00.000-06:00It would depend on how high functioning she was. T...It would depend on how high functioning she was. There are even varying degrees of functionality with Aspergers itselfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8545834.post-11474240692765780812007-08-30T20:00:00.000-05:002007-08-30T20:00:00.000-05:00There is no way Lisa Nowak could have gotten throu...There is no way Lisa Nowak could have gotten through the Naval Academy - let alone the space program if she indeed had AS.<BR/><BR/>I have a son with AS, and have experience with the service academies. She would not have been able to take the social pressure you need to get through Plebe Summer alone. You are harrassed to death by your peer military superiors, and need to know how to "get under the radar" so you don't stick out. Kids/people with AS stick out at one point or another.<BR/><BR/>Academically I'm sure she would have been just fine - NO WAY on the social end. No way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com