This guest post is by Mason Freeman, a young man with autism who plans to attend Texas A&M Kingsville. Mason is applying for the Spring 2023 Making a Difference Autism Scholarship via the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference started by me, Kerry Magro. I was nonverbal till 2.5 and diagnosed with autism at 4, and you can read more about my organization here. Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams, our nonprofit’s new book, was released on March 29, 2022, on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults.
My name is Mason. When I was little I was diagnosed with ADHD and a lazy eye. My mom would put a patch on my right eye every day so that it would make my left eye stronger, so I didn’t have to have surgery. Kids would ask what happened to my eye and I just told them I had a lazy eye. Sometimes my mom would explain to them what it meant, but I didn’t see what the big deal was.
My mom says that I was always on the go and I went to a lot of therapy for speech and handwriting and learning how to cook and wash and fold clothes. I went to kindergarten at the school where my mom was a teacher. I didn’t know I had autism or ADHD yet but my teacher worked with my mom and I used a rocker chair at my table and got to have breaks to move around. I was still suspended two times, but I didn’t do bad things like throw things or hit others, I just drop down and refuse to move or talk to people. Then we moved and I had to go to a new school. I was scared but my teacher was so nice and she was okay when I crawled under my desk to work.
When I was in the third grade the school specialists said I had autism. I wasn’t growing much, we found out I have a growth hormone deficiency. I have done a shot every night since I was about 10 years old and even did a 4-month round of testosterone shots to help me get through puberty. Then during COVID, we found out that I also have a chromosome deletion and I’m pretty rare. I had an ag teacher who made them want to start loving ag. She helped me raise pigs for FFA and would give me a game plan before every competition so I knew what to expect when I walked into the show ring with my pig. I even got a banner for Reserve Breed Champion and that was such an awesome day. Every one was so excited for me and there were even people crying. My ag teacher helped me so I want to be an ag teacher like her so that I can help people like me with disabilities. Without her, I might not want to be an ag teacher now, but I am going to be one.
I was shy at first but I joined the Fiesta Especiala Royal Court this year and did some fundraising events and was crowned Count. I get to wear a crown and a sash and sometimes my cape and go to many events and make appearances with the rest of the Royal Court and share awareness for disabilities in San Antonio. Next year I want to be a part of the Lutheran Coronation since they allow men now, and they had a duchess that was deaf this year. I can help them accept people like me.
Follow my journey on Facebook, my Facebook Fan Page, Tiktok, Youtube & Instagram.
My name is Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum. I started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue post-secondary education. Help support me so I can continue to help students with autism go to college by making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit here.
Autistics on Autism: Stories You Need to Hear About What Helped Them While Growing Up and Pursuing Their Dreams was released on March 29, 2022 on Amazon here for our community to enjoy featuring the stories of 100 autistic adults. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go back to our nonprofit to support initiatives like our autism scholarship program. In addition, this autistic adult’s essay you just read will be featured in a future volume of this book as we plan on making this into a series of books on autistic adults.
