Posted on Jul 17, 2023
In national security, autism is in the closet. Here’s why.
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"...team set out to examine whether neurodiversity — the diversity of all cognitive functions — would offer benefits to U.S. national security, as it has for Israel, the UK, and Australia. But we found that archaic U.S. military and federal policies, combined with decades-old understandings about autism spectrum disorder, create an environment where people hide their autism and other cognitive diagnoses."
In national security, autism is in the closet. Here’s why.
Posted from armytimes.com
National Security
Diversity
Policy
Neuroscience
Posted >1 y ago
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Our understanding of neurodivergence, despite coming a long way, is still not robust enough to reliably screen candidates. Neurodivergence of any degree significant enough to warrant diagnosis also causes divergent behavior. And with our incomplete understanding of neurodivergence, the nature of behavioral divergence is unpredictable.
Unpredictable behavioral divergence poses a MASSIVE security risk.
If someone is too neurodivergent to pass as merely "quirky" then trrusting them with national security is too big of a risk. If they can pass as normal, if "quirky," then this risk is mild enough, and these folks should be welcomed for their unique ways of seeing and analyzing data.
I say this as someone who is a bit "quirky" himself. And one who had a decent career in the Intelligence field.
Unpredictable behavioral divergence poses a MASSIVE security risk.
If someone is too neurodivergent to pass as merely "quirky" then trrusting them with national security is too big of a risk. If they can pass as normal, if "quirky," then this risk is mild enough, and these folks should be welcomed for their unique ways of seeing and analyzing data.
I say this as someone who is a bit "quirky" himself. And one who had a decent career in the Intelligence field.
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