Dear Donna ...

My brother in law is seeing his LD Asperger son thru his second year of college. He is in a state school, not the private college they had both wanted for him, because the state university had to have federally mandated accommodations for learning disabilities and other disabilities that might impact his learning.

His dad also sees him at least once a week. My nephew had not wanted to have to learn how to drive, he wanted to continue living at home and be driven around. But his parents made him learn (his mother was dying & dad travels all over the country every week). Having his own vehicle has been good for him - it puts him, in that one area, into being like a regular guy. He is still not socially adept, virtually never speaks, but he does have a tentative career goal in the entertainment industry -- not acting , but in the computer technology that enhances films these days.

My LD/Bipolar daughter lives in a state with a tremendous junior college system. Some are strictly "college prep", and some are mostly technical trade schools. Many lie somewhere in the middle. for instance, you can get automotive technology and repair certificates, one at a time, in one term of school (or was it 6 month?). If she had the support system in place and in a secure supportive marriage, (AND was on her meds), then I think she could accomplish something like this and it would dramatically change her self perceptions. Just having that certificate to frame and hang on the wall.

My older daughter is in law school (a very prestigiuos one), but she developed grand mal epilepsy 3 years ago, shortly before she applied, and she is still trying to find an antiseizure medication that won't disrupt her short term memory or her word retrieval so badly. She has needed a lot of encouragement and emotional support, for she worries a lot.

I am happy that your son is in college. Can you see him being able to transition to living on (or off) campus at some point? Is he cooperative, does he have a good attitude about his therapies? I would think, knowing my bipolar daughter, that it would certainly help her entire life to not be so anti-meds. Her life is continuously chaotic without them. I don't see how she can stand it - the emotional stress would destroy me. She is bad enough for disability, but having trust, she can't get SSI and she hasn't worked many quarters in her life and will probably never have the quarters or the pay-in to even apply for SSDI.

Teri