Thanks, guys. At one point his dad and I thought he suffered from a bit of Asperger's, just because he was so "different". And he made some very worrisome friends--some of them seriously damaged people that he was attracted to--maybe because they, too, were "different" and suffered for it. He's extremely kindhearted, and very much a defender of the underdog. He lived with a young lady (and her 4 y/o child) for a year or so, and she had serious mental health issues. I was SO relieved when he finally moved out, and horrified when I heard some of the stuff she had done to him. He seems to have grown up a WHOLE LOT in just the past year or so, realizing (and appreciating) what is healthy, and outgrowing some of the hostility he used to have to the world.
He is coming to visit me here for the first time since he moved back to Colorado after living with me in 2007. He just made his first ever plane reservation all by himself, with his own money he has saved. It all sounds like the sort of thing any 18 y/o could do, but for him it just took a little longer. It's such a relief to feel like he is finally turning out to be someone capable of having a happy life.