Sending lots of prayers and good vibes for surgery and recovery. And lots of hugs - the waiting while they're in surgery is not easy.

She has looked into a few schools that are in our area. There are 3 universities quite close. Not a bad idea to send to them even if she looks elsewhere. Save me on paying to send them later.

Dd is taking the ACT and SAT in June. Both asked if she'd like to send the grades to colleges. She really hasn't settled on choices yet but has some general ideas. We have until June 16 to list them without charge. Should she just go ahead and enter some that she might consider or wait until she has a firm list and just pay the fee for sending them?

Love the look of To Do Math! Definitely going on the list :) He shares a lot of the same characteristics of children with Angelman Syndrome. He is actually quite rare within his own syndrome which is why I don't post the name. He has very few of the classic characteristics (especially academically - his delays are much greater than most). We live more in the Autism community with a sprinkling of extra - extra specialness :) Will definitely have a look at the Angelman info. We have all of these and they get used all the time :laugh: I should really have stock in velcro!

Great news!! Congratulations :party: :party: :party:

Good vibes are always welocme! :) There are some good ideas there. Thanks Kinsa

Thank you for all the excellent ideas. His 'higher skills' are mostly in the areas of daily living, problem solving, adapting. He's working on making himself snacks, learning to find items on a store shelf with a picture list, helping with chores. That sort of thing. His therapist believe he may have the ability for higher skills but his communication issues are a huge stumbling block. He knows most of his colors and shapes. We are working on rote recognition/matching of numbers and letters. He's just about got 1 - 5 down. We are working on the concept of amounts (this is five and here are five things) Letters are still very emergent. We are working on the letters of his name. He does very well with matching - as to whether he is recognizing them as the building blocks to words is not clear. We are hoping the ALL reading program from Mayer Johnson will be helpful as it is geared toward the non-verbal learner. He is still very much at a preschool level, however, there is some thought that he has some skills that he doesn't know to express. He may have a better handle on some things than we know. He does very well with the learning apps we have on his kindle (puzzles, creating numbers and letters, early learning games). He is highly motivated by electronics. He has a touch screen computer which is really enjoys but at the moment is more for entertainment than learning. We had ABC mouse quite a few years ago (long before he could have done anything with it) - I should get it back up and running and see how he does now.

If you were able to buy any curriculum or materials for special needs what would it be? We have a large amount of money that has to be spent on materials, curriculum, equipment and/or technology to use for homeschooling ds. So what would be on your wishlist? Nothing is too big or too small. :) Here are his current parameters: 14 year old boy - current functional age 2 - 3 with some higher skills. Non vocal communicator - uses a DynaVox, some sign and PECs (he does have a few verbal name approximations) Autism and a rare chromosome syndrome Fine motor skills that limit ability to use writing tools (he does have a desire to use them) He loves hands on activities Loves to be read to He has 20 hours of ABA a week along with speech and OT We presume competence and truly believe there is a lot of untapped intelligence that is limited by his severe communication issues. We believe he can go a lot further than he is at right now if we can find the right tools to help. Things I have on my list - ~ Frog Publications programs for non readers ~ ALL reading program from Mayer Johnson ~ Memoria Press Special Needs curriculum ~ My Fathers World early learner programs

We've run into this each tax season with ds who is on almost full scholarships. We've actually been able to do his online with TurboTax (other software did not deal with this income well). As far as the above question. It was explained to us that in order to count it in the non-taxable money the equipment/books/supplies has to be specifically required within a class (ie - the teacher has stated in their syllabus that the student must have a laptop to complete the class).

My youngest's legs do this. Ped sent us to cardiology pretty quickly. There they did a full work-up as it can point to vascular and/or cardiac issues. His tests came back fine. There are a couple of syndromes he mentioned as well. For ds, the cardiologist deemed it autonomic instability. For him it can be treated if it becomes worse. Beta blockers in our case but not needed (yet). I would touch base with her doctor. Ours was very appreciative of the pictures we took.

I did that while on hold with the university :) My son's worker has no idea what they want but she's sending me a summary. It's only being handed over if they can give me a really good reason why they need it. This is my concern as well. They actually have everything they need. This was an add on at the last minute. They tell me that can't finish verification without it but can't tell me what 'it' is. Thus the need for an appointment :huh: Thankfully we're only about 45 mins away. That may well be their thinking. Their verification form asks if anyone in the parent's household receives certain benefits. SSI is listed among them. Crazy thing is they keep changing the form. The first year it asked for the whole household (and they were happy with a letter of explanation from us), last year they changed it to 'you or your parents' so we could answer that no. This year they changed it back to 'anyone in the household' and seem very confused with what to do with a 'yes' answer and the letter is not doing it for them this year. :glare: I agree - it does seem out of bounds. The really crazy part of this is - ds will be a senior with only two senior seminars to take. He doesn't even need the financial aid they will offer but they will not release his account to receive his Pell Grant until this is cleared up and that he does need.

So an hour and a half later they still could not tell me exactly what they want or why. We now have to make an appointment to go in and speak to the verification folks. We don't get a statement. We can't even set up an account online to keep up with his SSI. We do get a Representative Payee Report to file each year which has the year's amount on it. I'll have to take that with me. My concern is what they intend to do with the information. It has nothing to do with older ds and in reality they are outside their bounds to even ask for it. Neither the IRS or FAFSA includes that info (in fact they directly exclude it).

Ds' FAFSA was tagged for verification. We've had this once before not not this particular issue. Our younger son receives Supplemental Security Income due to significant disabilities. Older ds' University is asking for a Statement of Social Security Benefits this year. We've explained to them that SSI is not counted in the household income and can not be used for anyone other than the individual who is receiving it. We sent a letter explaining this but they want a benefits statement. I'm not even sure such a thing exists. Has anyone here run into this particular situation? I'm on hold with the University (have been for 30 mins) and thought I'd see what the experience here might be. Thanks

No experience to share. Just lots of :grouphug: I hope your husband has a quick recovery.

We have had to register online ourselves, for both SAT and ACT, whether in public school or homeschooling (we've tested in both situations). The only test I've been able to pay the school directly for is the PSAT.

DS applied to only one school. He visited, decided that was the one and looked no further. Thankfully, he got it early admit. I have no idea what his backup plan was or if he even had one. DD is just starting the process. I've a feeling she'll be applying to more than one.

It is absolutely beautiful.

:grouphug: :grouphug: I'm so sorry for your loss.

Updating in case someone comes looking for this same info later. DS had his first therapy in the pool today. The Swim Mates worked wonderfully. Honestly, they did better than the Huggies/Pampers ever did.

You ladies are marvelous!!! I have a pack of Swim Mates on the way and plan to order a reusable one for the future. Last time I looked disposables for adults were untouchable - either not available or cost the king's ransom. You've made my day :)

THANK YOU both so much!! You've given me some direction.

I'm looking for recommendations for a good swim diaper. Ds is starting aquatic therapy again soon and the pampers/huggies disposables are not an option anymore. Any good reusable ones or ones to avoid? Ds is 5'2" and 98# Thanks!

I am so very, very sorry for your loss :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Dh is attending a black tie retirement party on Sat. Kind of a last minute thing. Where can we rent him a tux without breaking the bank? We're near a large city (Jacksonville, FL) so we can access just about anything. Thanks!

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: