Exhausted_Sage:

I have memory issues, migraines and was just diagnosed with MS - and I have 3 gifted children. I also have a friend in S. FL with a highly gifted child - that being said I want to give you some ideas on how to approach your issue:

First - rather than fighting your daughter's issues, you need to go to the schoolboard, with letters in hand from her neuro, and psychologist/psychiatryst stating that she has a brain injury, and the resultant effects are that she has an anxiety disorder where she cannot study around other othe students or be in a large classroom setting and that she needs extra time on tests, etc (whatever accomodations she may need).
That she cannot focus on "virtual" school on line because of her vision problems and that she needs a tutor to come to the house on a daily basis (or they can meet at the local library in a conference room or at school in the tutor's office if need be).

The ADA provides that the school board is REQUIRED to make "reasonable accomodations" for your child. My friend with the highly gifted child had to have a special tutor until he reached high school simply because he was not challenged and his counselor stated that it was a negative effect on his development to hold him back.
They provided a tutor that came to their home three days a week after school. I also had a tutor come to our home every day during the summer when my daughter was being moved from first to third grade - to make sure she was ready, and to prepare her for anything she may have missed. Both of these tutors were at the school board's cost.

You do have the issue of your daughter being 18, however, depending on your state, local municipality and school board, that may not matter - you may not need to get any type of legal custodial arrangement simply because she is still in school and that may not effect the school board.

I do not know where you live, but you should check with your local Bar Association or if there is a law school in your area call them and ask either of these if they have a Pro Bono service, free legal aide or Lawyer assistance at reduced rates. You may be able to get an attorney to help you run the gauntlett of the school board.

Either way - you can do this on your own - ask the school counselor or call the school board and find out who at the school board handles "special services for students" - make an appointment and camp out at their office until you get what you want. *you can always threaten to go to the newspaper - "local student denied school services because of brain injury. They don't want THAT published.

It would seem to me, a parent of 3 teenagers, that part of her anxiety, is the fear of goiing back, failing, being "that girl" , etc. If you can get her set up in a program over the summer, and get her back into the groove, maybe the two classes a day will be the way to go in the fall - and if not, then maybe she needs the tutor through summer and fall to get her through her courses so she can take the GED.

Then she can think about community college, or a work/study program/ or whatever seems best for her at that time. Regardless, you pay for the public school system, make them work for you.

Best of Luck

GatorGirl '83