First of all, I would like to say I am an avid advocate for equality and fairness across all situations and within all institutions. I myself is mildly autistic and understand Advice1919’s sadness in hearing the possibility of his son joining the Army, which he desires, is slim.
However, will all due respect
@Unexpectedly, the Army (or the Navy or the Airforce or other sectors such as the roles of field agent at the MI6 or the MI5) arguably has a valid and justified reasoning as to why they would not allow only those who have autism who specifically shown some form of aggression previously to the application being made.
There may be a various reasons to this. I, myself could come up with three reasons.
1) Under an intense pressure, an aggression may be shown which could jeopardise the mission
2) An individual who has a record of aggression could potentially harm other soldiers, which may happen under several circumstances such as when one is under pressure or it could just happen spontaneously
3) it is in the best interest of the nation, it’s people, the soldiers, abd Advice1919’s son himself, to deny a place in the Army - for both safety concerns, and security reasons (including the possibility of exposing classified information and national secrets)
Furthermore, would you let an old sick citizen who is too weak to walk by him/herself unassisted? Would you let a serial killer join the army? Would you let a foreign national join the MI6? The answers are no, no, and no. The common sense and a careful analysis and forethought would say it is both a safety and a security risk in letting a weak elderly, a serial killer, an a wannabe-spy who is a foreign national join these civil service sectors. Is it a discrimination as suggested by
@Unexpectedly? Yes. But it is a justified discrimination.
Autistic people can contribute to the society tremendously. They are people with rights too, you know. They are us. They have the ability to do things that ‘normal’ people cannot.
Einstein was autistic, Darwin was autistic and others like them were autistic too. Thus, they can still be part of our great society in other ways. They have the skills and the ability to contribute a great amount to the society for the better or for worse, just as ‘normal’ people can.