Registered and sharing widely. 🙂

It's not how I would choose to do things, but the article made me think that they had family and friends who were supportive. ETA: Honestly, where I live, people eat out a lot, and it's the expected way to socialize, and in some circles (many), you don't really get invited over for dinner, you get invited to eat out almost exclusively. Some groups do it almost exclusively. Paying for a single celebration meal doesn't seem as presumptuous as expecting people to eat out weekly or at least regularly as a bar for who can be your friend. (Sorry if that sounds harsh to people who do a lot of eating out with friends--my issue here is that it's so pervasive.)

How is iffy. It's sometimes lumped with wh- questions as an issue.

If he is on the spectrum, these kinds of questions could be a major challenge for him. Wh- questions are often tricky for people with ASD. My son has really narrow but deep language issues (mostly remediated), and no one realized until he was 13 that he struggled to answer those kinds of questions because he compensated so well. A new environment or context could've easily stripped him of some of those workarounds. As a guess and example, my son would've probably done okay with the first set of questions, but in the second situation, he might've dug in because he didn't know to ask why the meds were organized that way and absolutely would've needed to know to feel confident about following a rule that didn't make sense (if it's an arbitrary, "We follow standard system A vs. standard system B to organize our drugs, and you'll have to just memorize it," that would also be acceptable to his brain). My son would come across as rigid or stubborn vs. feeling like he's doing something random that might be incorrect because he isn't able to ask a meaningful question for clarification. This guy might not have the cognitive flexibility to navigate ambiguity over things like placement or multiple options and might not have the language to clarify (no matter what language is being spoken). The first situation you described had me thinking expressive/receptive language disorder, and the second one made me think autism. Language issues often go with autism. I don't know if he has a diagnosis, but someone in management might or might know legally the right way to ask him without running afoul of laws about it. Anyway, if he has a diagnosis, he might qualify for a job coach. If he doesn't have a diagnosis, he might need situations documented about why he's hard to train so that he can get a diagnosis or assistance. It might mean finding a job that's a better fit but filing for Section 504 accommodations vs. getting fired serially with no idea why. I have known people with ADHD who have been fired serially and truly have no idea why--people who have niche skills and/or advanced degrees! It's sad to watch that happen. People of goodwill deserve to know what's going on. You can't fix their glitches, but you can give them the feedback necessary for them to get help, to get accommodations, or to find a job that fits.

It might have also been functional, meaning that it was worn down to dirt in many spots from playing or work tasks.

https://peoplescdc.org/?fbclid=IwAR26OVI7FOgByX_oET-xZ6RpIvwLE_SkQnguXYanIKY-kcPSIlwelq5CI34

I assume so. And no, it's not enforced, which is why they had to cancel school sometimes for a building at time--they didn't have enough drivers to cover everyone, so they prioritized the little kids. My son that is in school part-time complained to the district, and they said they were as upset as him about it but couldn't really do anything since you have a right to attend school and a right to be bused. ***ETA: I think if your school has busing, they can't discriminate vs. having an absolute right to busing. I know some school stop busing at a certain age, or you have to be a certain distance away, but they can't just discriminate against specific kids.

We seriously considered a conference this summer that would mean a lot to my son, but then we ended up with other needs. We'd have to fly, but it's a rare disease conference, and we know a lot of people coming have been really careful. I guess I need to root for it to be closer to home next year.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/04/18/judge-declares-federal-public-transportation-mask-mandate-unlawful/?sh=6cb45f7e318f

Yes. We've been super cautious about Covid but were looking forward to nicer weather between surges to do some things. We can't throw caution to the wind because my kiddo is having a big deal surgery; there are appointments and things leading up to it that can't be missed due to illness, or else the surgery will likely be postponed (and the other surgery dates available weeks ago when we scheduled were months and months out). It can take 6 weeks to recover, so we really don't want to miss anything as that will interfere with school next year (he's headed to a brick and mortar high school). It's a private school (scholarship), and it would mess up finances to the point of having to change schools if he had to do homebound instruction (the scholarship money would eat up money for extra services vs. tuition, and we'd lose our deposits if he changes). I think even our understanding friends are tired of our caution. We're tired of it. There have been almost zero safe activities during the entire pandemic--it's not been taken seriously by people. The few safe activities offered have not had mask enforced, etc., so they have been safe in name only. There have been a few outdoor things, but there is almost always an indoor component or people getting in your face that is glossed over. We're all tired of working our schedule around tutoring appointments as well. They are almost all afternoons, and it breaks up the day without offering anything to look forward to.

I am so sorry. What a shock after all she's been through. Hugs and prayer as you figure out your next steps.

I think it really stinks that your state seems to use this as a means of control vs. something that is intended to benefit individuals with diagnosable conditions. I will be looking into the form in my state more in depth, but none of this seems to be part of the deal.

I didn't say this form needed to be signed yearly in my state. I'm surprised this is hitting so many sore spots--when I've mentioned this in other places on the forum as an FYI, no one has brought any of this stuff up.

I was giving this information for those who were worried about their young drivers with communication issues in case those people found it helpful. Not once did I say this would solve the issue of cops killing BIPOC individuals or help outside of a traffic stop situation. I did my best to quote a couple of those so that people knew what I referring to.

It is voluntary to put on there and to remove, and I think it was developed with the cooperation of the disability community, but I guess I should look into it more.

Yep, not just a still shot! Let them experience the full effect...too bad you can't send the smell over the video. The closest thing we've done to calling off sick when we're not is to take a mental health day when my kids had service providers that saw/treated us as cash cows and would penalize us for taking any time off at all. I think we did it once. Mental health is important too. It angers me that people who do the right thing pay all the time for people who do not. Being called a liar proactively because other people lie is vile. Being asked to produce a doctor's note that costs more than your hourly wage is exploitation. I'll admit that I don't know how to stop the liars from lying.

Our state started a voluntary program where you can have a doctor, psychologist, etc. sign off that you have a communication disorder. The BMV attaches this information to the plates named on the document vs. the person, so they will know when they pull you over. Communication disorder is purposely very, very broad--it can cover a host of scenarios brought up in this thread. Just mentioning it in case others need it (Ohio, but other states might have it also).

Gifted kids tend to come from gifted parents, so...😉 Shelagh Gallagher has talked about it at homeschool convention, but I think I heard it elsewhere too.

Steak, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, another veggie, and something for the kiddo who doesn't like steak. I think older DS is making a cake. DH is sleeping off a night shift, so we're watching church late online and spending the afternoon doing a messy craft, I think.

Especially true for gifted and 2e kids (depending on their learning issues).

I agree with this and will add that if hypermobility is an issue, you might need an evaluation for connective tissue disorders. If hypermobility is an issue, it might get better, or you might just have to teach good writing patterns and wait it out while building hand stability slowly through a variety of activities. Instruments are good for this, but the teacher will need to be aware of the hypermobility as well. We loved Miquon. It helped a great deal with the handwriting issue and was an excellent fit overall even if handwriting was not a concern.

Marfan is a hypermobility condition. It's a connective tissue disorder that is less common than some of the others. It would be better to have one of the others, unless it's vEDS (though not all presentations of vEDS are severe).