I was just diagnosed with autism and ADHD. I was previously diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and have been in therapy for a few years as well as trying various SSRIs (with no changes in symptoms). Does anyone have any advice on what I should do next? How does my future in the Navy look from this point? For reference, I’ve been in for 13 years and I am torn on whether I want to fight to stay in or not. I want to get better, but idk if I will be able to show up for myself the ways I need right now, and also continue to serve the way the Navy needs me to right now. It’s very difficult to find info on autism in the navy and any instructions that cover it. I know it’s considered a CnD condition, but I know that people can now come in with a diagnosis if they get a waiver. So idk what’s going to happen to me next. And my PCM seems a little lost too, as this is his first time dealing with this as well. Any help is appreciated. Thank you
Diagnosed with Autism/ADHD at 13 years in the Navy
- Thread starter amf0229
- Start date
sorry man, this might be a blessing in disguise. If you get medically retired through a medboard you receive healthcare for life. You also get your VA rating expedited and receive your rating as you leave the service where people who left by themselves fight the ratings for years and at times decades. You get to avoid all that. Keep moving forward and being medically retired is not a bad deal. Plus you get to lose all of the stress the Navy gives you, which might help you in the long run.
After 8 years of AD preexisting conditions are considered service connected. Recommend you get an independent second opinion. The diagnostic criteria for autism and ADHD v. anxiety and depression are significantly different. So this warrants an independent review.
I just don’t even know how I would get medically retired for this? @chaplaincharlie would I just tell my PCM I want a second opinion? What is an independent review?
At this point ask your provider for a second opinion. If you go to a MEB and the referred contentions are autism/ADHD then you ask for an Independent Medical Review.
Be advised about the "8-year rule", as it stands there is no medical retirement for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ADHD, Autism, Down's, FAS, Learning Disabilities, etc.) or Personality Disorders by themselves, even if the servicemember surpassed 8 years TIS. Those conditions, by themselves, if retention is not recommended, are dealt with by the admin sep process as "Unsuiting" (even if implicated at 14+ years TIS), not the DES (DES requires potentially "Unfitting" conditions), though generally upon reaching 6 years TIS the servicemember becomes eligible for an admin sep board to contest an "Unsuiting" mental health admin sep recommendation.
(Disclaimer: Has anyone slipped past all the rules and medically retired due to a "service-connected" Personality Disorder diagnosis when it was supposed to be dealt with as "Unsuiting"? Yes. But these people got extremely lucky. In all U.S. military history the total amount of people that have slipped past all the rules this way is probably in the low double digits. The branches keep access to the DES and medical retirement locked down tight nowadays. Do not count on any lucky accidents like that happening anymore.)
Although 10 USC §1207a (the "8-year rule" law) reads like it's supposed to convert an "Unsuiting" pre-existing mental health condition not amounting to a disability, like Autism, into an "Unfitting" disability eligible for the DES and medical retirement and all that good stuff given 8 years TIS... be advised that in reality 10 USC §1207a does not work for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Personality Disorders, though it is wishful thinking.
The only "Unsuiting" mental health condition that can convert into a potentially "Unfitting" condition is Adjustment Disorder, if the disturbance lasts at least 6 months in service it is considered no longer "Acute"(Unsuiting) but a "Chronic"(potentially Unfitting) Adjustment Disorder eligible for referral to the DES. This is independent from 10 USC §1207a. (Anyone who was admin sep'd for Adjustment Disorder but met "Chronic" criteria in service should file a BCMR/BCNR request for retroactive medical retirement, as they should have been referred to the DES.)
By all means, DoD Instruction 1332.18, Disability Evaluation System, Section 1, Policy Paragraph "l."(lima) is written (and has been explicitly rewritten under "Incorporating Change 1, Effective May 17, 2018" when this paragraph was Policy Paragraph "i."[india]) to the effect that a servicemember with both Unsuiting and potentially Unfitting conditions is absolutely eligible for referral to the DES due to the potentially Unfitting conditions.
However, people in the services (commanders, medical, Pre-DES, and DES) often like to pull a fast one by trying to make the Unsuiting condition derail the potentially Unfitting condition, even when over 8 years TIS. Watch out for this. Though MEB request paperwork can make mere mention of Unsuiting conditions, it is not supposed to be referred for the Unsuiting conditions or else it'll be shot down and the servicemember can find themselves on the streets on admin sep! Potentially Unfitting conditions (i.e. PTSD, Other Specified Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorder, MDD, GAD, Chronic Adjustment Disorder, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, etc., and of course the myriad of physical conditions) must always be the the driving factor of an MEB request even when over 8 years TIS.
For OP, this means they better not have messed with your depression/anxiety diagnosis. If they request MEB it's supposed to be for your depression/anxiety or something else potentially "Unfitting", not any Neurodevelopmental Disorder.
(Disclaimer: Has anyone slipped past all the rules and medically retired due to a "service-connected" Personality Disorder diagnosis when it was supposed to be dealt with as "Unsuiting"? Yes. But these people got extremely lucky. In all U.S. military history the total amount of people that have slipped past all the rules this way is probably in the low double digits. The branches keep access to the DES and medical retirement locked down tight nowadays. Do not count on any lucky accidents like that happening anymore.)
Although 10 USC §1207a (the "8-year rule" law) reads like it's supposed to convert an "Unsuiting" pre-existing mental health condition not amounting to a disability, like Autism, into an "Unfitting" disability eligible for the DES and medical retirement and all that good stuff given 8 years TIS... be advised that in reality 10 USC §1207a does not work for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Personality Disorders, though it is wishful thinking.
The only "Unsuiting" mental health condition that can convert into a potentially "Unfitting" condition is Adjustment Disorder, if the disturbance lasts at least 6 months in service it is considered no longer "Acute"(Unsuiting) but a "Chronic"(potentially Unfitting) Adjustment Disorder eligible for referral to the DES. This is independent from 10 USC §1207a. (Anyone who was admin sep'd for Adjustment Disorder but met "Chronic" criteria in service should file a BCMR/BCNR request for retroactive medical retirement, as they should have been referred to the DES.)
By all means, DoD Instruction 1332.18, Disability Evaluation System, Section 1, Policy Paragraph "l."(lima) is written (and has been explicitly rewritten under "Incorporating Change 1, Effective May 17, 2018" when this paragraph was Policy Paragraph "i."[india]) to the effect that a servicemember with both Unsuiting and potentially Unfitting conditions is absolutely eligible for referral to the DES due to the potentially Unfitting conditions.
However, people in the services (commanders, medical, Pre-DES, and DES) often like to pull a fast one by trying to make the Unsuiting condition derail the potentially Unfitting condition, even when over 8 years TIS. Watch out for this. Though MEB request paperwork can make mere mention of Unsuiting conditions, it is not supposed to be referred for the Unsuiting conditions or else it'll be shot down and the servicemember can find themselves on the streets on admin sep! Potentially Unfitting conditions (i.e. PTSD, Other Specified Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorder, MDD, GAD, Chronic Adjustment Disorder, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, etc., and of course the myriad of physical conditions) must always be the the driving factor of an MEB request even when over 8 years TIS.
For OP, this means they better not have messed with your depression/anxiety diagnosis. If they request MEB it's supposed to be for your depression/anxiety or something else potentially "Unfitting", not any Neurodevelopmental Disorder.