I just wanted to add that my daughter's OG tutor (the same teacher who is DS's intervention teacher at school) is dyslexic. She is remediated enough that she teaches dyslexic children how to read. And yet, she told me that she used her accommodations A LOT in college. The amount of reading that was required was just too much and too tiring for her. Specifically, she told me that she used audio versions of texts and had note takers for class. So I think that accommodations can be extremely useful in college, even for dyslexic people who seem to be fully remediated. DD is only 7th grade next year, so I'm not familiar with high school materials, but I'm hoping the suggestions from others will turn up some options for you.

When we were homeschooling, I found CLE to be the most effective math program for my kids who were struggling with math (DS14 has dyscalculia, DD13 has dyslexia with comorbid math issues, and DD16 just finds math difficult). If I were going to go back and do it over, I would supplement it for DS14 to target his specific needs. But the short lessons with concepts broken into easy to understand bits, plus constant review, was a good method for my kids. CLE does have a built in practice of math facts with flash cards and daily fact sheets. This is great, as long as you don't rely on that alone for mastering the facts. DD13 (dyslexic) was not able to learn her facts just by practicing them. The truth is that some people never master their math facts, so, while it is good to keep at it, it is not the end of the world if they are never mastered. DD's dyslexia school allows use of calculators and multiplication charts and emphasizes that understanding the concepts and knowing how to use tools (calculators, etc) are more important than fact memorization. You can create a folder or binder for math tools. In it you can keep a multiplication chart, a calculator, a number line, etc., as well as pages that list steps for certain types of problems, so that if they get stuck on how to do something, they can refer to the written steps. You can have a daily time for practicing math facts, where these tools are not used. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes per day. Or do it 5 minutes per day, twice a day. The rest of the time, allow her to use her tools during the math lessons. This is not cheating!! This is what an intervention specialist might do to help a child with math.

? I would have kept the old SQ, but the buyer requested it. And our new home only has space for a stackable unit. So, sadly, I must say good-bye. ?

We are leaving our old dryer behind for the buyer of our house. It's 30 years old (I have the owner's manual, which is dated). But it's a Speed Queen, so I don't think that is typical.

Thanks! Interesting! DS14 has always had trouble with sleep, and his pediatrician gave us orders to have his ferritin levels checked. And I didn't follow through yet, because we are in the middle of moving. I'll have to move that paperwork closer to the top of my to-do pile.

It sounds to me that they think dyslexia is linked to a vision issue. Which is an improper understanding of dyslexia. The CTOPP tests phonological processing, and since dyslexia is a phonological processing disorder, and your son scored low on the CTOPP..... I wouldn't think dyslexia is ruled out by those testing results. Did they say SLD Reading? If he has a low CTOPP and scored low on the reading achievement testing (don't think you said that he did, but I would expect that), I would think that SLD Reading would be a finding for the IEP. Could ADHD be contributing? Sure, it's possible. But ADHD does not explain away the low reading scores. I mean, they should not say, "he scores so low in reading, but we won't call it SLD Reading, because we think it's something like ADHD." He should get reading goals in his IEP. It is no surprise that someone with dyslexia might have higher visual spatial scores. It's common, actually, for visual spatial to be a strength for dyslexics, and there are many engineers and architects who are dyslexic. Although it sounds like the evaluators are not on top of their game, really, when trying to evaluate dyslexia and reading disorders, I think you should consider and ask more questions about why they mentioned autism. If they think autism might be affecting his ability to access his education (determining whether there is a disability that prevents a student from accessing his/her education is the WHOLE POINT of the IEP process), then they should be either running tests for ASD or paying for an outside expert to run them. Seriously. This is the law. They have to run evaluations if they suspect a disability. And there has to be a reason they mentioned autism. They may be seeing things that you have not identified yourself as red flags. I would follow up on that. There are people right here on the LC board who have fought to get their school district to acknowledge autism in the IEP and have had to wage major battles. If the school itself is bringing it up as a possibility.....it's worth considering pushing for more testing, is all I'm saying.

I'm glad it worked out. Congratulations to both boys! I'm more than a little worried now that we will face a graduation conflict in the future, because it recently occurred to me that since DD12 and DS13 attend different schools but are in the same grade, that they might both graduate from high school on the same day in two different locations. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen!! I looked up the schedules for this year, and one school had their ceremony on Saturday and the other had it on Sunday, so I'm hoping they stick to that pattern.

Also, take a look at Holmes on the Range and its sequels, by Steve Hockensmith. Tons of fun, set in the late 1800s. The characters are cowboy brothers who are fans of Sherlock Holmes and solve mysteries in the West.

What about Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand? Some of it is brutal to read, but it is a true story from WWII, and the protagonist has a Christian conversion at the end. Or Seabiscuit, also by Laura Hillenbrand. I like the CJ Box books, too. With that in mind, would he read Michael Connelly? I have read all of his. Maybe start with The Lincoln Lawyer, because the tone is a little lighter than the Harry Bosch books.

My dad has neuropathy in his legs and feet. He has seen several doctors, including the head neurologist at a famous hospital, who ran numerous tests. He is not diabetic (a common cause of neuropathy). No explanation. He will never get better and is getting worse. My SIL's SIL had an unexplained health issue that was deblitating. She saw many specialists. After a couple of years, it improved, also with no explanation. DH's aunt also has issues that doctors can't explain. I think it must be common.

Because you mention she is being tested for dyslexia this summer, I wanted to chime in a bit. DD12 has dyslexia. The trouble with math facts can be related to dyslexia, and more drill will not necessarily lead to mastery. The same with spelling. If she is dyslexic, she will need materials meant specifically to remediate that. You might look for an Orton-Gillingham trained tutor for the summer (OG is the gold standard for dyslexia remediation). The trouble I see with your plan is that she will need to spend so much of her time doing work related to her (possible) disabilities, and work that is of a nature that is not likely to result in improvements, because it is not the type of remediation she needs. That will not help her self-esteem and may do the opposite. I invite you to post over on the Learning Challenges board for some suggestions.

PeterPan, would you recommend Mighteor for the OP? I haven't used it, but I know several people here have tried it out. Would it help EF or mindfulness? I'm just thinking for a 15 year old, something that seems like a video game might be a good tool.

I can't wait to see Solo!! Yet I have to wait, because we are busy running from one thing to the next. I'm hoping we can see it at some point over the weekend. I'm glad you thought it was good -- now I want to see it even more!!

I ordered new swim wear just a couple of days ago, and I decided to go with these capri leggings, plus a tankini top. They say they are meant to wear over swim bottoms, so I ordered some, as well, which means that I could peel off the capris and still have a full suit on, if I chose. https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-swim-crop-leggings/id_269396?searchText=swim capri I have not been in a pool for years. Hate being without my glasses, but hate water spots on them. I have sensory issues, so I dislike being wet and drippy, and I hate when my bare legs rub together. So I sit by the pool and watch my kids when they swim. However, we are going to have a night at Great Wolf Lodge when we are on vacation next month, and I wanted to have a suit, so that I could do more than watch, if I want to. I might not like the attached skirt when it is wet, but I like the idea of having something other than leggings covering my bum. I think I will enjoy being in the pool more when I am more covered. DD12 had a great laugh when I told her that I ordered a swim suit. Evidently, she doesn't remember all the time I spent with her in the pool for swimming lessons and at hotels when she was little, and the idea of me in a pool seems hilarious to her. I told her I might want to go down the slide, and she laughed so hard that she almost fell off the couch. ?

OP, I wonder if some of the people who find the volunteering to be a hardship would find it easier to do an entire day at a time, instead of an hour per month. That way they could do their part, but not have it be a constant scheduling issue they have to work around. You could still offer the hour per month option. But if you give the parents another option for setting their volunteer shifts, it may make it more doable for some.

I agree with those who say that it is possible that it is an actual hardship for some families, and not just a case of people not wanting to pull their weight. When DD16 was in third and fourth grades, she took classes two days per week at a university model school. Not exactly a co-op. But It was stressful and hard for me to do my volunteering shift, because I had three younger children and no childcare option other than DH, whose work was almost an hour away. We didn't do our volunteering one hour at a time. Instead, it was a day at a time. Each family had one to two days per semester where a parent had to be at school all day to assist with making copies, grading papers, supervising lunch, wiping down tables and running the vaccum, etc. DH had to take vacation time whenever I had my volunteer shift. I never complained. But it was not something that was "no big deal." And I always had some stress over whether DH would be able to take time off, because he sometimes has meetings he cannot miss. I really didn't have another family that I would ask to take in my three littler children for an entire day; my friends either lived a ways away or had quite a few children of their own. Adding three more was too much to ask, I felt. Paying a babysitter would have been expensive for an entire day (and I never hired sitters, so I didn't have someone to ask). This school did not allow parents to bring younger siblings along when parents volunteered. But if they had, that option would not have worked for me, either. My kids needed my full attention and were not easy to just bring along. I would not have been free to attend to my assigned tasks while also watching them. OP, the fact that parents can pay to have someone take their shift makes it easier on families with multiple or little children. I would have been okay with that option, if I had been offered it.

If the bridal party is wearing gray and navy, and you will be in the pictures but don't want to exactly look like the bridal party, I suggest looking for a dress that is a medium to light blue. Or purple. Or if you find a dress that has a navy and gray pattern, that would be nice for coordinating for the pictures but not looking like you are an extra bridesmaid.

PeterPan, I'm sorry you aren't feeling well. I think it would be best if you see a doctor, so I hope someone is available to take you to Urgent Care soon.

HOORAY!!!!!!

Eons ago, when I graduated from high school, my mom did not invite my adult first cousin to the party (which was a very low key open house), because she assumed C would not drive a couple of hours to attend. Later, she learned that C. was sad that she was not invited. So I vote to invite them.

Texas, the fancy schmancy private boarding school in the town I used to live in called that year after 12th grade the "post graduate" year. They evidently have some students who attend their school just for that one extra year between high school and college.

Thanks, Heather! And congratulations to your son!

For the short term (the next couple of years), I think it would be beneficial to focus on areas where he has found success. So if he can continue at the bird sanctuary and add a part time job in a computer area, it could be a good combination. He can work toward computer certifications so that he can improve the kind of jobs that he qualifies for. He may find, over time, that he can build a good career doing that. If not, it is a great place to start, and when he is older and perhaps has more mature EF, he could go back to college. Technical writer or forest ranger both sound like good possibilities. To give you a bit of hope -- my brother barely passed high school with a GPA of something like 1.7. Amazingly, he was accepted to a state university, and my parents shipped him off, despite his lack of success with academics in high school, because they felt college was important, and because he was terrible to live with. He flunked out of college. When he was 25, he decided to go back to school for an accounting degree, got all A's and earned his CPA, and has been sucessfully running my dad's small town accounting business for over 20 years. No ASD, but I think he has undiagnosed ADHD. So someone who has trouble with school due to EF and motivation issues may be able to complete school successfully when older, once the brain has fully matured. ETA: While in school in his twenties, brother did get support from my parents. He moved back in with them and worked part time at Dad's office. My mom found it was still horrible to live with him, but they endured it, and I think that having that support was a key element in his ability to succeed. So you may find you need to provide supports for your son, even after most other kids his age have grown out of them.

In your OP, you say that she has dyslexia and focus issues. ADHD is frequently comorbid with dyslexia. In DD12, it can look similar to what you describe -- impatience, frustration, and trouble regulating emotions. Because you mention that she has some trouble focusing, ADHD could be a possible root cause and might be worth looking into.

What color will the bathroom floor be? I think a dark brown cabinet would be fine, but choose one that doesn't show the grain of the wood. And then choose a light colored countertop. Or choose a white cabinet and a counter that has brown and white tones in it. What kind of material will the counter be?