We adopted an infant through a private agency here in the US. Just happed to be a transracial, special medical needs adoption. We were also foster parents through our state but did not adopt any children. If you are still looking and think I might have something to add, please pm me. Thanks!

I'm an adoptive mom, too, and this brought tears to me eyes. Thanks for sharing!

I know this thread is older now but I just wondered if you had an update. Have you had any luck in getting a doctor to take these issues seriously? If not, I would absolutely keep pushing.

Haven't read anything beyond the initial post. We live one hour from DH's work. I HATE IT WITH A PASSION!!!!! Over the past 20 years, he has never lived close to work. Ever. It's terrible. 10 extra hours a week he misses out on real life. It sucks. So unless your husband is useless to you beyond just the paycheck, rethink moving away. Seriously. My house is going on the market. I'm done with long commutes. Good luck!

Maxalt - the one that dissolves in your mouth (works better for me than a pill). Helps me every time. Generic is Rizatriptan ODT. Hugs! Migraines suck. Especially in your situation with your husband working away so much.

I am so sorry for this enormous loss in your lives. Prayers for you and your family.

Thank you! I need to get one for my daughter. This is very helpful.

My Aldi (35 miles away) has substantially lower prices on produce (with a HUGE selection) and dairy, especially. Much, much better than my other grocery options (Kroger and Wal-mart). I don't buy everything there but I buy a great deal of delicious items for much less than my local stores. Sorry it was a let-down for you.

Oh Rosie, my heart is aching for your incomprehensible loss. I am terribly sorry.

Another reason to love Aldi!

Following with interest... :)

My very sick baby was my oldest (and ended up being my only) so I can't advise on what to do with the other children. If you are asking these questions for you, I offer my concern and support. Please PM me if I can help in any way.

These are great replies! Anxious to read more. We've definitely been inspired by CM over the years but I've gotten away from some of the things I loved and want to start steering back toward those things. I'm getting excited about the options!

I'm curious what a typical day or week might look like for your 6-8th grader. Anyone care to share?

Never heard of Simply Music but will definitely check it out. Thank you!

Completely makes sense. My DD sounds much like your DS. She has been taking piano lessons since she is very musical. She wants to play but between the pretty serious problems with manual dexterity and bilateral coordination, we also realized that she can't visually follow the written music well enough to be able to have it make sense to her as she's trying to play. Very frustrating for her. Playing by ear is fine but not what we were hoping for. It's amazing how often issues pop up in her daily life. 9 years of OT was helpful in many areas but not these.

She can copy, dictate and narrate pretty well. We did that for a couple of years (second and third grades). Didn't seem very helpful for the amount of work it was for her (the copying and dictating) so we stopped. Copying is especially hard because she has visual tracking issues.

Thank you both!

It's so hard to find the right meds, especially since our kids are constantly growing and changing. My DD is on a large group of meds and trying to find the right combinations that work but don't have nasty side effects is really hard. It's a constant battle for us. I have no real advice, just commiseration. I'm sorry! Good luck!

Thank you! Great suggestions. My DD would prefer to learn from someone else, too. Which writing programs incorporate DVDs? What is Ginger? And Inspiration? I found Dragon Naturally Speaking and I think that will be helpful. I appreciate your suggestions!

Nevermind.

My DD will be in 6th grade this autumn and has never done any kind of formal writing curriculum. She journals and she can write a decent 5 sentence paragraph. For the past few years she's written up brief biographies (one or two paragraphs). In May we are doing a focus term where we will work on writing book reports and learning to outline non-fiction sources, among a few other things. I'm expecting that she'll fight me the whole way. LOL She is a reluctant writer and reader. They are her weakest subjects. Both typing and handwriting are difficult due to her visual and motor weaknesses. She is intelligent but has pretty severe attention issues (even with meds and therapy) and her processing speed subtest on her IQ test is consistently 30 points lower than her verbal and performance subtests (even on ADHD meds). Her neuropyschological profile is all over the map. Her strengths are auditory and verbal. She reads for at least 45 min a day and listens to literature for at least 90 minutes a day (and loves that) but even with lots of practice, reading is still somewhat challenging. I require very little handwriting and typing since it's such a struggle. I am happy to scribe for her if/when needed. She does a lot of her work verbally. She has great ideas and opinions. I'd like to find a way to get more output from her this next year (across the curriculum). I'm not looking to bog her down but I feel she needs to start being able to put some ideas down on paper/computer herself. Any ideas on a somewhat gentle but age appropriate way to go about this? Specifically, I'm expecting her to research and write a state report every week next year for geography (thus my reason for teaching her how to outline and take notes in our focus term) and write up brief reports on books she reads or listens to. Maybe a 5 paragraph essay here or there. I will be having her do an art journal which will require a small amount of writing and she'll continue to write brief biographies. The reports on states and books can be artistic/creative but must include some actual writing of the facts (she's very artistic). Great resources you've found that might help us? I want to be realistic about her abilities but also challenge her (always the struggle to find balance between the two). Thanks for any advice.

Thank you!!

Praying things work out best for you!

Cow eyes are big, beautiful eyes. Of course it is a compliment!