. >> reporter: tory ridgway is in his third way at emory riddle, a top civilian aeronautical university and flight school. he is studying aerospace engineering, and he is neurodivergent, meaning the way he experiences and interacts with the world is different than a lot of other people. >> it's kind of a strange thing to describe how i see the world, because to me, the world makes perfect sense. >> reporter: tory, along with these men have three things in common, a call to duty, fierce patriotism, and a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, which they say has made finding their place in the american armed forces an arduous process. >> it really is frustrating when we hear of excellent candidates who get turned away or who give up because it was too hard. >> reporter: the dod keeps a list of what it calls disqualifying conditions that are obstacles to joining, things like eight or more teeth with visually apparent decay, a history of bariatric surgery, lung conditions, and well down the list, there it is without any elaboration, autism spectrum disorders. nowadays it's estimated that ab