Here's the recipe for cottage cheese daughter has! She got it from the program 'Good Eats'! She and her two boys, ages 4 and 5 love that show! They tape them and the boys beg her to play them over and over. They've really gotten interested in cooking, themselves and even use play dough to reinact the shows! She's letting them help her alot now! Quick Cottage Cheese 1 gallon pasteurized skim milk 3/4 cup white vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 cup half-and half-or heavy cream Pour the skim milk into a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Heat to 120 degrees F. Remove from the heat and gently pour in the vinegar. Stir slowly for 1 to 2 minutes. The curd will separate from the whey. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into a colander lined with a tea towel and allow to sit and drain for 5 minutes. Gather up the edges of the cloth and rinse under cold water for 3 to 5 minutes or until the curd is completely cooled, squeezing and moving the mixture the whole time. Once cooled, squeeze as dry as possible and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the salt and stir to combine, breaking up the curd into bite-size pieces as you go. If ready to serve immediately, stir in the half-and-half or heavy cream. If not, transfer to a sealable container and place in the refrigerator. Add the half and half or heavy cream just prior to serving. Oh, and her hubby (our SIL) is here with the boys right now, having watched Ohio State and Illinois (boo hoo--OSU lost) and he says it's really good and not gritty at all, when she makes it!

Do you have some type of program like Beth suggested in your area? My son was born 8 weeks premature and the dr's got me in touch with the Infant Evaluation Program in our area. A lady came to our house once a month until Shane was about 4 months old. She measured differnt things he was doing and making sure he was on track with other kids. If he wasn't, she tried to teach me things to do to get him to do them. In most instances he'd start doing the things a week later with no help and that was fine since most kids aren't right with the chart. I know this program was also for older children and they had more to it, like counselors who could do a whole evaluation of your child and tell you where they were on the charts and what needed to be worked on and developed in more detail. This type of program might be able to help you with your son. It's hard for a teacher to really pay attention to all those kids and they can't really diagnose things because they aren't a doctor. Good luck. ~Leslie~

The teacher won't call you back? That's a red flag. Go get professional medical evaluation and look for another school. A pre-school teacher is not qualified to diagnose autism or any other disabiity. Most of all, keep on believing in your son. You WILL find out what's wrong and many times it can be fixed. I was told that my daughter would never graduate and she's in her senior year and right on track. You have to be his staunchest advocate and question everything you're told if it doesn't sound right to you.

I commend you for trying to do the right thing. I think your obligation ends at the plan and the effort put into the plan. You are never obligated to employ someone unless your have created a contract with them. It appears you are still in a proposal stage so no contract obligation. In this situation I think I would pay a fee for the plan (if they will release it to you) and leave it at that. 30% would be way too much though. Years ago, we went to several cabinet shops, got several plans and quotes but the one plan that we liked was from a shop whose cabinets we could not afford--way out of budget. There was one specific use of space with the plan that no one else had come up with so we really wanted to work from that specific plan. We explained the situation to the KD and asked to buy the plan. We then took the plan to a custom shop that was able to produce cabinets within our budget. The price of the plan was a small fraction of the price of the cabinets (maybe 5%--it's been a long time and several houses ago so I really don't remember). So in your situation I would offer to pay a percentage of your budget for the plan if it is complete enough to work from (rather than asking them for their price). If the plan is just in conceptual stages I think at most, I would pay a nominal fee for her time and leave it at that. Regardless of whether they sell you the plan or not at that point you are clear to work with another shop to develop a plan to your liking. Elements of a kitchen design can come from anywhere and are generally a joint effort. Unless they produced a plan that has elements that have never been done before the ideas are not really original just unique to your space. If there are truely unique aspects to the plan that you intend to use then you do have an obligation to compensate for that I think.