Geogirl has a good point. There may be services available to your son--but you have to know about them and ask for them in order for him to get them. Again, my nephew's disability is physical, so not an exact comparison to your son, but he is also completely mainstreamed. And that has caused some problems, because he's not in a special ed classroom with a special ed teacher who knows about all the resources. There's a ton of adaptive equipment that the school has, like rulers and compasses and protractors, but no one thinks ahead that during math lessons that use these, it might be a good idea to have them in the classroom for Nephew to use. He can't hold or move a standard ruler very well. But the classroom teacher doesn't know they exist, and the special ed teacher never sees the lesson plans. So what happens is that a week is spent sending notes back and forth between home and school and finally the necessary adaptive equipment is identified and located and given to Nephew. And then the next week, the class moves on to a new lesson topic. My brother and SIL have found that they need to really be on top of some of this stuff and remind the teachers repeatedly, to make sure that Nephew gets what he needs. And this is with a school system that is really trying to work with them--from the start they have been very willing to try new things, to keep Nephew in a regular class (he has health issues so a home nurse accompanies him to school daily), to really try and get him the best education possible. I can't imagine what it would be like with a school system that had less money or no desire to really work for Nephew. My brother constantly gets, "Sure, we have X equipment. All Nephew has to do is ask for it." But it can takes days or weeks to find out the school has the equipment. My brother finally broke down and asked for a list of every single piece of adaptive equipment the school system has, so that they can ask for things without spending days sending notes back and forth. It's the little things like this--yes, the school can help, but you have to know what to ask for in order to get that help. And if you don't know the help exists, it's pretty near impossible to get that help. I would encourage you to ask about other options and find out what's out there. Pull-out sessions, one-on-one aides for certain subjects, extra tutoring, whatever the school has to offer. Ask other parents what support services their kids are getting. And when you identify a specific problem, be it that it takes your son half an hour to figure out what the homework assignment is or that after weeks of your working with him, he still is not grasping a specific concept, go to the teacher and ask what can be done to address that issue. The regular classroom teachers aren't going to know everything that's available, they have too many kids with too many different needs in one classroom, but they should be able to help you find out what's out there, or point you in the right direction.

Thank you all for your opinions. I especially love that you confirmed it would be okay. Don't think I can have too much of that fabric...it's a soft rayon blend chenille. Thanks for the ideas about pillows, too. Will be fun to look for coordinating fabric. If you run across any in your searches, please think of me. Olychick

Yes, keep it filled, only the next cup is heating. I leave mine on 24/7 which is probably a bit wasteful but the unit doesn't get particularly warm so it's probably not too bad. I don't know how the lower models are now, but I bought Platinum from the start because it's quieter. I have friends whose cheaper models we're wake-the-house-up loud. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but they were pretty bad. Brew size options - it's really the only way to control strength, so the more sizes to play with the better. I typically use 6 oz, but my inlaws just bought me big box of Green Mountain medium roast which tastes like water to me unless I double up 4oz servings. Internal water filter - these were optional on some and standard on others last I looked. Something to consider if their water needs it. Yes I like it "enough" but I can't say I've ever had a cup of Keurig that I've particularly loved. But the convenience can't be beat.

Years ago I worked with a woman who was constantly suffering from sinus infections. Finally her doc sent her to an ENT who did surgery to clean out this woman's sinus cavities. I had told my husband about it and contemplated the fact that someday I might need to have that done to my left sinuses (right side is fine - left side is always "stuffy"). One day we're in the car, driving up Highway 50 to Apple Hill, and my nose was really bothering me. Hubs said to me that perhaps now was the time for me to ask my doc about the surgery. I said, "What surgery?" (it had been a number of years since we had discussed my former coworker's sinus infections). He replied, "You know -- the one where they remount your nose." "What?? Remount my nose?!?" Hubs had said "ream out" as in "clean out" and I'd heard "remount." I had visions of the doc lifting my nose up off my face and then putting it back down in a slightly different location... We both started laughing hysterically. I'm sure the other motorists on the road thought we were nuts.