Being Neurodivergent in the Military Community

Well, Here It Is… My First Blog!

This blog began in that exact way. But unlike many of my previous hyper-fixations, this one feels different. This one has the potential to bring real, positive awareness. 

If you have read my About Me page, you’ll know how passionate I am about empowering individual voices to bring authentic awareness to topics like autism, ADHD and military family life. Because the truth is, it’s only those who live it who truly understand what it’s like. 

I’ve just completed the first module of my final year as a psychology student. The end-of-module assignment was to create a research proposal on a topic of interest. Of course, mine was about autistic children in military families. Even though the topic was of interest to me, the number of different sections I needed to cover was overwhelming, to say the least. But with Yorkshire tea on repeat, I got there in the end! During the process, one thing that hit me harder than I expected was the little research on autistic children in UK military families.

Why? Why Is This Topic So Underrepresented? 

Maybe it’s due to the group’s vulnerability and ethically getting it approved. Maybe it’s because these children often don’t have the platform or opportunity to share their stories comfortably, from their perspective, instead of adults sharing their interpretations of the children’s experiences. Regardless of the reason, their voices deserve to be heard in a way that feels most natural to them. Hopefully, my research proposal will achieve this!!

Finishing that proposal sparked something in me… a new hyperfocus (yay for dopamine!). So, naturally, I dove straight into social media and online research (as you do) to see what kind of awareness already existed around neurodivergent military families, beyond academic articles. 

And The Answer? There Isn’t Much. 

Most of what I found echoed the same thing: there’s a lack of information and understanding about neurodiversity within both the military community and the school systems that support military children.

So, here I am, sharing my own experiences in the hope that others will feel empowered to do the same. Wired Beyond Labels is about spreading awareness and understanding through real, lived experiences. Not just what a diagnostic manual says about us. Over time, I’ll be sharing reflections, stories, and thoughts from my personal, professional and student life – all centred around neurodivergence, identity, and military family life.

Let’s start making space for the voices that matter most – ours. 

Just remember, whatever you are going through right now, you’ve got this! 

Chloe x 

If you relate to what I’m sharing and trying to build here, feel free to pop your email address in the subscribe box to receive notifications when new posts go live. You’re also very welcome to use the comment box to share your own experiences – I’d love to hear from you. Thank you! 🙂