It's happening, slowly

Jacob may be moving into a group home. It is the only "service" the state of Illinois can provide at this time. It is very close to us, we can visit, or he can leave at any time. He will be working every day Monday-Friday, unless there is a holiday. This is a huge leap in comparison to what he is doing now..... NOTHING. He is excited. We were under the impression that he would eventually be happiest in a group home. We just didn't think it would be so soon. He had dinner there last Monday to meet everyone. All his paperwork is in. He is going tomorrow for an overnight stay(24hours), and will go to work on Thursday. As long as that goes well, and I can't imagine it won't, all we have to do is wait on the state to process the paperwork. Unfortunately, the current time frame is "by Christmas" but I am trying to get a more narrowed down answer.

The home is the only one owned by this particular company, many other companies in IL have multiple homes. We like that this is the "one and only". The director has web there for 15 years, and 3 of the residents have been living there since it opened in 1992. These appear to be good signs. He will have a "goal program" similar to IEPs in high school. This will prevent Jacob from manipulating his new surroundings into letting him be lazy and therefore lose skills. We will see how this goes!!! Fingers crossed!!!