Special Needs child. Old enough to drop out of school. Not mature enough to live on their own, What do you do?

That hits very close to home for me, my oldest son has Asperger's and dropped out at 18 very short of a diploma. He will be 23 this month and we are still working towards getting him to enter a GED bootcamp or Job Corps. Many people question why do we keep letting him stay in our home, his only other option would be some type of halfway house arrangement and we're afraid that he would end up picking up more bad habits than the ones we attempt to instill in him at home.

Maybe you can key in on his interests and find an organization willing to mentor him... Music, sports, art. I've witnessed many young adults through Special Olympics become independent, self confident and self sufficient. I'm not saying that this is his only option, but if he feels excited about the future, maybe he will stay the course and surprise you with his progress. Best of luck to you, your son and your family.

I have a special needs child. When he reached 16 friends at a special needs school told him he could quit. We managed to keep him in til he was 18 but that was it. He was so close to graduation but he was done with school. He may never hold real job, and will always need some sort of state services. But as long as he is home he cannot get on a waiting list. If we put him on the street some gang will more the likely pick him up before the waiting list. Doing the right thing by keeping him safe, is also keeping him back. But no parent want to put their child in a no win situation.