My son is to Legos what Rain Man is to card counting!

So as you may have assumed from the title of my blog my son Billy has Asbergers. Maybe when I heard that word I should have been more bothered or a little freaked out. But to me it was just another word used to label him. The word doesn't change who he is as a person or how I view him as a mother. He has always been my funny boy who has a heart as big as the ocean.
I suppose I saw signs of this back to his diaper days. He was always a happy baby and toddler. He was just a little different. He hated loud noises and would sit in front of the TV with his hands over his ears, he would do this in the car with the radio or if a fire truck passed by. He pretty much refused movie theaters because they were too noisy. Whenever I picked him up from daycare he would be in a corner by himself happily playing with his latest obsession like his Thomas the Train pieces. The rest of the kids would be playing with each other pretty much unaware that he was even there. I used to stand in the door way and watch him before he noticed me. I would feel pains of sadness that he was alone but while I stood there I could see that he was perfectly content by himself. So it became my normal and I really didn't question it. He would make me laugh throughout the years with his toys. He was never one that wanted to play with all different toys. He would become obsessive about one toy like trains or pokemon cards or legos and thats all he would want for months at a time. The Legos have lasted and each time he gets a new set he will spend hours working on it until it is built. He will not get up to go to the bathroom or to eat or drink...he is focused on the task at hand. Much like a new video game. He wants to play until he wins it. He will even cry and get angry while he works at it. I try to tell him it is just a game and if its not fun he should stop playing it. But he just looks at me and tells me I don't get it.
I get it. I get that he has never been like most children. Billy being wrapped up in his own world was never really an issue until he started school. It became painfully obvious that he was different. I remember fighting with the school as they urged and pretty much forced my hand at having him evaluated. He didn't fit into their box and they wanted him medicated and labeled. I fought it long and hard and eventually took a step into the mental health system. The first Dr. spent less then 5 minutes with my 6 year old boy and labeled him ADHD and wrote 3 prescriptions that changed Billy. He was a zombie and I remember crying and wondering where my little boy had gone. But the school was all to happy to have him this way. So for the next several years we have changed and reduced medication and been through our fair share of Drs. Luckily we now have a great group of Drs, counselors and teachers to work with. Earlier this year he was labeled as Autistic, then we were told that he was high functioning on the spectrum and most recently we have been told he has Asbergers. So what does this mean? It means he is smart but has an incredibly hard time socially. He is not now nor will he ever be like the other kids in his class.
What I want people to know is that he is a loving little boy. Yes he gets angry and yes he has moody days. But if you take the time to get to know him you will see how bright he his and how full of life he his. He just wants to be excepted. He wants to be liked and have friends. So in the end he wants to be just like you and me and everyone else.
I am lucky enough to be his friend and his mother and I have counted that as a blessing every single day since May 10th 2001 when I watched him take his first breath.