Much of this is news to me, and really interesting, thank you. I feel pretty well qualified to talk about the military thing, because I served in the Air Force as an intelligence officer and an undiagnosed autistic person.

I thrived in the military, and in many ways because of my autism rather than despite it.

I'm sure there are career fields in the military that autistic people would like to avoid, like obviously artillery and infantry for people with sensory problems.

But I worked behind a desk crunching numbers, promoted ahead of schedule, regularly producing work that got me more and more responsibility. I loved it! I had almost the entire Soviet air and air defense order of battle committed to memory, and nothing gave me greater pleasure than putting in long hours playing with data and looking for patterns that other people didn't see.

But besides that, I suspect several people I know who thrived in the military are autistic. I think they thrived because they responded well to their highly structured environment. I think they responded well to not having to guess about social cues all the time. The military is easier to figure out than civilian life, if you ask me.

All you have to do is look at the insignia on somebody's collar or sleeve to know if you have to salute them or they have to salute you.

You know what to call them and how to interact automatically. Easy peasy!

I mean, social life isn't any easier, but professional life sure is.

I only left the military because I worried about losing my security clearance over being gay. I'm super glad I got out, because my life expanded and I did so much more than I ever thought I would.

But I have to say that as an autistic person I found the military to be very very comfortable and fulfilling.