Royal Navy sounds a lot like the US military, trainers are very tough, but in the end you see they're on the same side, all in the same boat. When I was in the US Army they put me into training that required learning Morse Code. Scared the crap out of me...spelling...words. Luckily I took to it like a duck to water. Turned out no spelling, no words. That lead to cryptography, words and numbers are the same thing, and then I was really in my element. I've always been the luckiest person on the planet.
I think these things just means finding ways to turn what others see as weaknesses into strengths. Like I have little concept of time, considered "not normal". In software it's a plus because I can work on a single problem for months and not really think about or worry about the time. I can solve things others give up on.
In college I could only spell at the 3rd grade level and that was a great motivator to find a way to teach myself a way around it and to overcome. Once I found a way I became proficient at writing papers, reports, design documents and has been a big asset in my career. I doubt I would have been as proficient without the challenge.
I always looked at it as an asset. But I'm lucky, my weak areas are limited, so I could find ways around, and there were some people who helped me a long the way to think out of the box. I know many other people aren't so fortunate.
