Back to the time line...Pre-Diagnosis

I think I left off with my story at around Kindergarden. Shortly before Mason was due to start Kindergarden, I anticipated that he would have trouble adjusting. Boy was I in for a shocker. Mason always seemed to act like he was off in his own little world. He preferred to play alone and often wouldn't make eye contact. Sometimes for lack of a better phrase it seemed as if what you would say to him would go in one ear and out the other. Having gotten a divorce from his father when he was a year and half he was having to spend weekends at his fathers or his grandmothers. The transition was hard to say the least. He got agitated anytime he had to come home or any time he had to leave. The same when he was over at their house. It didn't matter what place he was at only that he had to leave it. When Mason was three, I had his sister Jenna. That was also a traumatic change. So before Kindergarden started I took him to see a counselor in our area. When Mason started school, it was like being thrown into an ice bath. I had no idea how traumatic it would be for both of us. Mason started having accidents and temper tantrums worse than normal. I would get a call almost everyday saying he had waded up his papers, screaming at teachers, not listening, flipping light switches. You name it he did it. Now mind you we was not diagnosed until November of his Kindergarden year. I asked the school to test him. Their response-he didn't need it. A few weeks into school I took him to the pediatrician who diagnoses Mason with ADHD. He started medication which helped in the attention department but didn't help with the classroom disruption. Most of the time when I would pick him up for school. Where would I find him? In a desk by himself in the principals office sleeping!! Finally I decided to make matters into my own hands. If the school refused to test him I would get him tested myself. You see, I had done research on the Internet and told his counselor that I believed my son had some form of Autism. Not being a medical profession I was unclear to what extent or the logistics of it. I just knew that my son fit 90% of the behaviors in some sort of way of Autism and ASD. Finally after talking to the local MHMR. They sent him to Austin for testing. The tests came back Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.