I've been slightly remiss in adding to my blog, the ending of a child's or maybe I should preface this with the "young adult" high school years is quite overwhelming for parents. I can hardly imagine what it is for these children. As I close on the 12 years of schooling my child has encountered, I remember all the trying and difficult times that we have gone through and how she has dealt with anger, disappointment, self-learning, finding her real self with assistance, and really achieving after long hard work. In life of a child, school is totally monitored by the teachers, they comment on what they see, advise an how they feel a child should learn, and you as a parent either agree or disagree and look for the correctness (if this is a word) of what the child needs. Being the parent of a special needs child we always wonder, "Did I do the best I could?", Is she going to carry all the things she has learned on to the next step?" "Are they mature enough to understand that medication is always going to be part of their lives?" "Can they cope outside of all the support they have gotten in school?". Believe me these questions all have been crossing my mind in the last 30 days. My daughter seems to be on a healthy path, she has demonstrated that she is maturing, there is plenty of room for growth, how will she be on her own? I have found that it is a scary path, but it is time that all the training, parental conversations, and guidance I have given must prove itself, and I must let go. The letting go and trusting judgement in every child is difficult regardless if you have a special needs child or not, but the parent of a special needs child has it hard. We HOPE, and I emphasize the word HOPE that my child remembers that the medication she is on is for her benefit, not the drug manufacturers! I hope she realizes that alone mistakes have HUGE consequences being away from home, and that teachers are not going to hover over her and tell her what to do. I have to hope and pray that all the lessons that I have taught her, her support groups have told her and her therapist has reiterated to her, have passed on to the part of the brain to REMEMBER!!! One last item I must share. My daughter has chosen a very good college that deals with her disability, we are very pleased. She had her orientation, an overnight stay. In these two days she would meet students that will become a very important part of her life next year. When she came home she told me that she met a friend she went to camp with, and a friend from High School was there. I asked her if she picked a roommate and she said " You know Mom the girls were all drama queens and talked about drugs, I found my friend from camp and two of his friends and we hung out and were known on campus as the Four Musketeers!" I know I am going to like school and to hang out with them." Part of me was concerned but part of me was very proud! My daughter was able to distinguish between what was good for her and not! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a path she continues on and keeps flourishing on it.