Dear Noah.....high school and getting ready for college

I still cannot believe you are a junior in high school and now you have changed your mind and DO want to go to college...and not just like a local community college, but you would like to go "away" to college, like Ohio State University's MEGA bucks college. "Away from home." Key words for me...AWAY from home.

My job as your MOM has been to continue to homeschool you but also teach you life skills to get you ready to be on your own one day, which would probably be difficult enough with your high-functioning autism, but now we add into the mix getting you ready to attend college, and possibly "away" from home one day. We have a lot to do and we are busy preparing you now to begin college next year locally as part of the College Credit Plus program. We are hoping you can complete 2 years of local college here and then you can transfer if you still want to and have financing arranged, to OSU one day. This will allow you to bypass some of the more traditional university requirements, and hopefully be a slightly easier transition. I still have a lot of anxiety not only about the living away from home, as there are many things you still flat our refuse to do for yourself, but also some of the more stringent requirements any college will place in your lap.

So, we are moving ahead, getting a little more anxious sometimes as time passes but trying to hang in there. This year you will also probably begin to learn to drive, trying to time that just right for many reasons, including insurance, financial, etc.

Taking a big, deep breath here.........and let's just try to do this!

I love you!!  Always will.

Mom
XOXOXO