I'm so sorry for the loss of your son. Your poem is so poignant. Take care.

Most colleges have some sort of student plan that will cover accidents on campus. If he is an automobile accident, there would be auto medical insurance that would pay before any other policy would. In fact, usually regular insurance would refuse to pay if there was any coverage available from the automobile accident policy. Don't worry about being responsible for his bills. He is over 21. Legally, he is responsible for his own bills. Just remember that. If by some remote chance he gets into a serious accident, just be sure that when you are asked who is responsible for this bill, you say he is himself. Just because you are paying for his college, does not mean that you MUST pay for all his bills. Do not sign anything that agrees to this. What would happen is this. Suppose that he were to get into some very serious accident. (not much chance of that happening, but suppose) At some point, since he is unemployed, the hospital would seek funds from somewhere. If you did not volunteer to pay, the hospital would seek state aid. Don't cross bridges and worry about things that will probably never happen. Just remember. He is an Adult in the eyes of the law. He is no longer your child. You may feel morally responsible, but you aren't legally. Perhaps it is time for him to get some sort of part time job that at least, would pay for this sort of thing.

On the one hand, this could indicate your son is extremely bright. On the other hand, it could indicate his brain is developing in 'non-standard' directions and that an evaluation would be a good idea. Is your son advanced in other areas? Does he ask probing questions about how things work? Is he an avid 'watcher'? Are other family members unusually intelligent, supporting a genetic predisposition to high intelligence? Does he assemble jigsaw puzzles designed for older children easily? What about other building toys like Legos? 'Yes' answers here would support a high-intelligence theory. The words 'STOP' and 'PAUSE' could easily have been copied from a TV remote control. (Is the RC in all caps? and your son's writing also all caps?) Still, an impressive achievement for a 2-year old, but not the same feat as spelling 'cat' or 'tomato', or even mixing upper and lower case letters. Copying words can be a visual pattern-recognition thing; spelling them is a whole sound-symbol coding exercise -- so very, very different. (My older son started writing letters at age 2, but in his case, it was clearly a visual pattern thing -- simply copying shapes that he knew were somehow important.) How does your son play with other children? Is he indifferent to, upset by, confused by, or annoyed by other kids? Does he line things up often, and melt down when his lines are disturbed? Is he anxious or upset by changes in routine? Does he have just a few favorite toys, and play with them the same way over and over? Does he repeat words and phrases he's heard on TV? And if he does 'TV talk,' does it sound different from his regular speech? (Inflection, vocabulary, not appropriate to context) Does he use your hand as a 'tool' to get things instead of pointing? How are his language and speech development coming along? Does he mix up pronouns like 'it' 'me' and 'you', or have trouble with 'Wh' questions? Does he seem over- or under-sensitive to certain sounds, smells, tastes, textures, or sensations? Does he have a strong preference for only a few foods (macaroni and cheese, milk, chicken nuggets) and refuse to eat anything else? How are his sleeping patterns? Problems in these areas suggest you may want to have him evaluated. Very bright children with issues on the autism spectrum (Hyperlexia, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD, High Functioning Autism) could show the types of behaviors you described for your son, but would also tend to have many of the problems described in the paragraph above. If he's only got 1 or 2 issues from the second set of questions and they're not too severe, then you probably don't have anything to worry about. Just keep an eye on him, and enjoy your obviously bright little boy. Here is a link that might be useful: Hyperlexia

I do have to add, I have a 3.5 y.o. nephew who, upon returning from a trip to Barcelona last month with his mom and dad (my brother), said "We need more stained glass and mosaics in our house." Ah yes, and he doesn't even know yet that his Aunt does mosaics :) I got him this book for Christmas already (see below) Here is a link that might be useful: there's a fabulous sample page at her flickr acc't somewhere, too