I agree it is complicated but also establishing the special needs early could allow him to stay on your insurance past age 26 and get disabled adult child benefit when a parent retires.

I would say it is worth applying. The earlier free they turn 18 the better. If he improves he can always go off SSI in the future. It also comes with Medicaid.

And doing a tech program their junior and senior year of highschool is usually free and gives great skills. They can still go to college when they are done as well.

I would say sure, do some low key visits. as an aside, does your local school ISD offer a tech/career center where students can go half days to learn hands on trades? If he has any interest in that I would apply for a slot there. Things like auto mechanics, constriction, paramedic, computers, graphic design, hvac etc.

New jobs are exhausting. A dear friend of mine once said that if you can PARK and PEE your first week is a success.

Coming in late here but what about I See Sam or Dancing Bears for reading and then next year add in the Apples and Pears spelling. You could easily just do part of a lesson each day to cut down on the daily amount of writing. I would get the reading going well. You can also finger spell or use letter tiles for the handwriting part

My one and only mid winter vacation was to Clearwater/Treasure Island area in 2019 and we hit the polar vortex. This is my friend in back with the captain and his wife on our dolphin cruise.

I am trying to find direct flights but often they leave here late day and then the return flight is early morning so we lose so much time. my friend is a guru at this so hopefully she can find something. Last year she got us 5 nights at an all inclusive for $250 total….$125 each, $25 per night. It was an amazing place for that price

This whole job thing kinda prevents that

I would prefer GR but could do Detroit or O’Hare but Detroit is a much easier drive traffic wise. We could also do Muskegon , Kalamazoo or Lansing if they had a cheap direct flight.

I feel for his wife. My situation was not quite like this and my ex is in prison for some of the same type things. It is horrible as it is big in the media and his family is suffering in all kind of ways. They have grief and loss but likely also shame and anger.

Bit far for me for a long weekend but I am going to Italy for a week later in the year.

I live 10 minutes from the beach here….but a nice warm beach vacation in Mid Feb sounds glorious

A friend and I have Feb 9-12 (possibly a day before or after) for a get away. We are in West Michigan. Warm and sunny sounds really good but we are pretty open to ideas. A short cruise, all inclusive, a time share rental, or ???? We are not fancy, just need clean and safe and 2 beds. We love hiking, nature, water, etc. No skiing but winter hiking might be an option. Are there any places you can fly Into where you don’t need a rental car but still have options of activities? Or cheaper places to go we might not be thinking of? unless we stay in Michigan and do the ice caves, etc, we would love temps at least in the 50s but warmer and sunny would feed our souls after months of not seeing the sun in west Michigan.

I do a $50 gift(s) for each kid and that is it. I don’t buy for extended relatives or even my “grandsons”. Instead I try to do experiences through the year. I want to keep it very low key. we go to my brothers house and have a nice lunch and maybe play games but NO gifts. So freeing.

How about pasta salad? Potato salad? Macaroni salad? Veggies and dip? Baked beans?

Shoot. I was going to say a load of clean fill dirt. One of the best gifts ever for my son with special needs.

I just finished and really enjoyed Dust Child. It is the story of an Amerasian child growing up in post war Vietnam told with dual timelines. Some tough parts that might be triggering but very eye opening from many perspectives. i listened to it as an audio book which was great as then the Vietnamese pronunciations were correct.

The snow was beautiful on the trees today, especially with the colored leaves still all on the trees. We got 8 inches last night.

If he is paying the bill I bet he is also tracking g who she is calling and when and for how long as well as her texting records

One of the things on my to do list.

I can’t list them all but this year I did Zion in the spring with friends and then I backpacked Isle Royale for 5 days with another group of friends.

A few pictures of today in West Michigan. It was cloudy so colors aren’t as vibrant. Hiking up and down wooded sand dunes. We could overlook the river, oxbow lake and Lake Michigan.

My stomping grounds

As someone also mentioned, rehab services can help with 1:1 driving lessons with an instructor that is experienced with learning challenges.