What a handsome fella!

That's sweet and I bet you'll remember it every year when your daffodils arrive.

Congrats!

Work on upperbody strength before handwriting. Wheelbarrow walking, pushing the wall, carrying heavy stuff, tug of war, etc.

These are good ideas. I would also look for ways that might engage her with other people. Maybe a blog that could go out to relatives or a building a website about something she's interested in. For what it is worth, drive is a really a huge part of learning. We have a similarly driven child and I can't think of a time when we accelerated that we regretted it... and a few times when didn't when we did. As far as math I like the Hands On Equations suggestion. We also really liked the books from Challenge Math.

Go for it. Sunshine in winter is gift.

I agree it is time for a vet visit. My guesses were similar to other posters - Cushings, thyroid, diabetes.

FERPA is the name of the law and it provides privacy protection. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html Colleges choose to implement this and waive it in different ways. So, it can work like it did at your school, but at many schools it doesn't. At any rate, some colleges will not talk to ANYONE about financial information over the phone and that includes the student. The only way to get financial aid information at our local university is for the student to show up in person and show ID. They just don't disclose information on phone because they can't confirm identity. It certainly sounds like this is a situation that the student should handle anyway because she wants a different living situation and this is part of making that happen.

Congrats to your son. Hope is a great school and such a pretty location - nice town, nice beach.

Ditto. Waits can be long and you can always cancel later if you are no longer concerned. If he gets over three and you are still worried you may be kicking yourself for not getting evaluation sooner.

There are great tutorials on You Tube! It is very exciting that your son is getting this opportunity.

Bruster's black cherry is my all time favorite ice cream.

Insomnia is the worst. It is just occasional I have no advice. If it is a regular thing my two suggestions are 1. Exercise, preferably outdoors, not too late in the day. 2. "Sleep hygiene" - regular schedule, get up in the morning even if you had a bad night's sleep, no screens two hours before bed.

When I suggested counseling at the school counseling office I didn't realize she has Asperger's. That's certainly going to make the college adjustment more difficult. In that case I would suggest working with someone specially trained in ASD because therapy with someone who doesn't understand ASD can be a really frustrating and unproductive experience. If she already has a therapist at home, maybe they can suggest someone closer to campus.

Yes, this is the most important question and exactly what I would suggest. While it isn't always possible to know where kids can end up, thinking about what you hope for and what you think it most likely is a place to start. Then try to identify the skills needed to get there and work back selective some reasonable goals and working them a bit at a time. Thinking about person at 18 who can do x what do they need to be doing at 12 to get there? The community college story was great. I like how Mom started talking about it a year before it would happen and then bit by bit shifted responsibility. It can take this kind of active planning because just waiting for some kids won't make it happen. He wasn't going to ask to take the class and he couldn't push himself through to get there. He needed it to be identified as a goal and broken down into individual tasks to learn to navigate with support. And, he was able to do it and got all the confidence that comes from that success. One step closer to the ultimate goal.

You can always seek out professional tax advice.... this is just advice from a fellow mom so take it as worth what you paid for it. Independence for the FAFSA has very specific requirements. The student must have at least one of these factors: Be 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year; Be an orphan (both parents deceased), ward of the court, or was a ward of the court until the age of 18; Be a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States; Be a graduate or professional student; Be a married individual; Have legal dependents other than a spouse; Be a student for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of other unusual circumstances. The IRS has some helpful information: http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq/0,,id=199716,00.html http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch06.html Most typically parents are claiming college students as dependents and they can also can get some tax benefits for paying tuition. If the student has scholarships aside from tuition and fees, typically those are taxable and the student will need to file a return (though the parent can still claim them as a dependent). We've found tax software like TurboTax guides us through the process pretty easily.

I'm sure this must be really stressful for both of you. As you've posted about a variety of problems (academic fit, housing difficulties, health issues, friendship dissatisfaction) I would encourage her to seek out help from the counseling center on campus. Private counseling would also be an option, but if the resources exist on campus that can sometimes be a better option as the counselors will have met with many students who have adjustment problems and they know what is typical and what isn't. Getting an assessment of her anxiety level may be a good idea. I hope you find answers!

The FA office at our university won't discuss financial matters on the phone, period - with students or with parents. They really have no way to verify on the phone that you are who you say you are.

She sounds like she might be ready for chess. A few games we enjoyed at that point: Ravensburger Amazing Labyrinth Connect Four (fast and some good thing) Mastermind SET Checkers (though I guess it is a lie to say I enjoyed it!)

Will she be a senior next year? If so, one thing to consider is that first semester college grades will be back by the time she applies to college. The AP tests aren't until May so she won't have her scores back when she's applying.

Fantastic. You must be so proud!

Yes, privacy laws mean that colleges can only speak directly to the student (and that typically applies even to students who are under 18). They may be willing to tell you what their cost of attendance is for commuter students, but they can't speak to you about the specifics of an individual student. I would suggest your daughter makes an appointment to talk with a financial aid officer. You could prep her ahead of time with questions. If she has not already done so, it seems like it would be a good idea to go to someone in the counseling office about her situation. As I recall from your other posts she's not happy with the the academic options for her major, with her roommates or with the housing and that she's been having health problems. Being unhappy with this many areas of life is a lot and maybe it is time to maybe it is time to reassess if this school workable situation or not.

The FAFSA computes your family's estimated family contribution. The college gives the Cost of Attendance (COA) which includes tuition, fees, room, board, travel, personal expenses. Sometimes that is similar to what student's actually spend but sometimes it isn't because everyone's expenses vary somewhat. The COA factors in whether the student is living at home or living on campus. What I've typically seen is that living on campus and living off campus (not with parents) has a similar COA, even if in reality one ends up being more or less than the other. If your daughter's school doesn't allow students to live off campus except with parents they may not calculate it that way. Your best information would come from speaking directly with the financial aid office at her school.

Miquon worked very well for us during this time. It is pretty open ended and not very expensive. Maybe take a look at the first couple of books and see what you think.

Fantastic. Maturity is a very good thing!