U.S. Department of State

Thank you Real McCoy for sharing your experience. I think that many of us who have been through most of the site looking up and down for an answer to our questions find answers like yours the most helpful. My son was recently been diagnosed with a mild form of Asperger’s syndrome which is within the autism spectrum. I am in the register, but due to this recent diagnosis our whole family is reconsidering this job as an option, since we have no idea how could we deal with this new situation abroad.
Asperger’s is also called high functioning autisms; there are no medications or “treatment”, just therapy to learn to cope with some of the characteristics. In my son’s case, the area we have to work on is social skills. So I am wondering how is that the DOS work with this kind of cases, he has no learning disability, nor a physical impediment/condition; however, he does lack some social skills and may need some occupational therapy and or social skills support. Will this automatically make him not “worldwide available”? We are waiting for the official report to contact med clearance in this regards, but until then I was wondering if anyone out there was able to be posted abroad with a family member with a similar diagnosis (although we know that every case is different) and if they could share their experience. Thank you.

Hi visitor,

If you don't mind me asking, Where did you read Real McCoy's experience? I would like to read it too.

Thank you.

C.

Found it.

Thank you.

C.

I have been thinking about your question. Given that you have 'new' medical information about your son, you might ask your Registrar about getting a new medical review for your son to determine in advance if he could get a world-wide clearance. That would provide some clarity.

Another factor is that your son does not need a world-wide clearance; only the employee is required to have a class 1. That would mean that he could not go to some posts with you if you were assigned to one. The likelihood of that type of assignment over a career would be high given the requirement for service in a hardship post. The options then are residential schooling, which some Foreign Service employees choose, or your family taking separate maintenance and remaining in the States while you were posted elsewhere for that specific assignment.

I hope others who have children on the autism spectrum will weigh in with their experiences for you.

real

Thank you, Real. I hope so too...

I am the parent of a PDD-NOS/Asperger kid and I would highly encourage you to pursue this career - the Special Needs Education Allowance, which my son receives, is very generous and not only allowed him to attend pre-school (DOS normally does not pay for a child to attend preschool, unless the child has special needs) but also completely covered all of the therapeutic materials his OT recommended for him. While the frequent moves are not easy on him, we have the benefit of attending some excellent schools with amazing teachers. There are enough schools out there who can accept kids like mine, so I am not severely limited on where we can serve. Good luck!

I don't have a child with this condition so will only add an observation I've made during my career.

I think the Foreign Service works well for most kids. In most cases they end up worldy (in a good sense!), confident and socially skilled.

Their biggest challenge is making and leaving a new set of friends every 2-3 years. This is painful/difficult for even the most socially-skilled kids. Those that have a hard time making new friends or fitting into new situations, have the hardest time.

As Joe noted, there are some very good schools out there, and embassy communities can be very supportive. You're in the best position to decide how this all balances out.

Thanks to both on your encouragement. My PDD-NOS kid has a twin, so she has at least one friend who will travel with her. We are currently contacting schools, and we remain hopeful that this experience will be positive for all the family.

I havent been on this page for a while, but I'm glad to see all that new information. Thanks Joe, for sharing your experience, and good luck to you RB. We have decided to go on with the process. We just heard from the medical clearance department and my son was cleared,not a class 1, but still, we are very hopefull that it will be a good experience for everyone. If anyone else with kids within the AS could share their experience and suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.