Appeal against Medical Decision

Chezlynne

My Son has been going through the process of joining the army which is all he has ever wanted to do, unfortunately he has been declined on medical grounds based on the GP records. It is based on the fact of Autism/Asperger's and Milk intolerance as a baby!!!!!. Firstly I am so angry as he has never had a full diagnosis of Autism or Asperger's and this comes from his frustrations in primary school with learning difficulties which we found out in the end was due to Dyslexia, once this was diagnosed his frustrations eased. Also the milk intolerance which I feel is ridiculous was when he was a baby causing eczema, cows milk was stopped and then reintroduced with no consequences since, he wants to appeal, should we? I am so angry for him as we were told there was nothing wrong all through school e.g. Autism/Asperger's, so why bite us in the bum now ......Thank you for your help.....angry mum.

molerat

A good place for advice
http://www.arrse.co.uk/community/threads/all-medical-chat-queries-in-here-please.89667/

DoctorDooLittle

Chezlynne wrote: »

we were told there was nothing wrong all through school e.g. Autism/Asperger's, so why bite us in the bum now ....

Because it's on his GP record. And it once something goes on your medical record, it can never legally be removed. Even if the diagnosis is later found to be wrong, you are talking about a contemporaneous legal document.

There aren't many wars going on at the moment, so the army doesn't feel a need to take the risk of enlisting people who may present with problems later on. If your son had been applying in 2006, it may have been different.

If you appeal it will probably be considered by a psychiatrist. I don't think anyone on here can predict which way that decision would go.

Remember, the army has not invested any money in your son yet (apart from the cost of the medical). This is a totally different scenario to that of an enlisted man developing a medical condition.

Lastly, I can appreciate your son may feel disappointed and that may make you feel upset. But do YOU really want him to join the army? Most parents, deep down, don't. But often they don't let their offspring know of their true feelings. Having one of your children deploy on active service is one of the most stressful things any parent can go through. It's not cadet summer camp.