I just received a phone call from one of my son's respite workers that our son Chris is having a difficult time. He is in a group home 2 1/2 hours away. He has three other house mates that live in the group home. As it turns out all three of theses guys are able to leave the house on weekends which leaves Chris alone with staff. He really does what to be home with us and does not understand that because of gas prices we are unable to visit or bring him home for a visit as often as we would all like. Some of the staff understand and try to get him out with activities while others just sit at home with him. He loves hardware stores and that is one of the rewards that he gets if he has good behavior. Since this change with room mates  his behavior has escalated and now he is stuck in the house. I feel very sorry for our son and have tried to communicate with staff that they are setting him up to fail. Chris gets very bored and that is when things get out of control. It is just so hard to parent from such a distance. We would like to get him closer to home. The group home is not the issue but the day program. Chris went through 5 day programs here and sorry to say his history followed him and people just wouldn't accept him. To parents some times people see stuff on paper about our kids and that follows them forever.