Think tanks. Guest blogger Kimberly Drew created her own think tank to find solutions for problems associated with her daughter, Abigail’s special needs, which include cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, hearing loss, microcephaly, and oral dysphagia.

The Great Cup Quest Think Tank

Since our daughter was old enough and able to use a sippy cup, we started buying every cup we came across to find THE CUP—the cup she could drink out of at the right speed, with the right amount of effort, and that didn’t spill everywhere.  I think we could have paid for a small vacation somewhere with the money we have spent in sippy cups!

A Special Needs Think Tank Is Born

Having a child with special needs requires ingenuity and resolve. Sometimes you need a think tank. I’m blessed to have amazing family support. Sometimes one of our think tank members brings something to the table that just changes everything for us. For instance, Abbey’s bibs were getting too small for her neck circumference. I selfishly like her bibs to match her outfits…so, the bib extender was born when my mother-in-law made one out of fleece and Velcro. (If you’d like to know how to make some yourself, send me an e-mail!)

Special Needs Think Time Team

A think tank can brainstorm together. We’ve had to brainstorm and work our way through so many different things over the years. I’m grateful that our daughter has an entire IEP team to help us navigate the educational system. I don’t know where we’d be without all the teachers, therapists, and school staff that have helped us along the way. Even our church has thought through how to do Sunday school with Abbey so that my husband and I didn’t have to stay with her during that hour.

Special Needs Think Tank Faith

We are constantly evaluating, changing, improving, and processing almost every aspect of Abbey’s daily care and long term comfort. It does become tiring and frustrating at times, but comes with the title of caregiver. I know that it is discouraging not to have answers when there is an obstacle in your path. It’s especially hard because we care so much about our children, and want so badly to see them have everything that they need. I think it’s important to try to keep faith and perspective in play when you find yourself at a crossroad and needing solutions.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. When I’m weak and tired, frustrated or fed up, I rely on God to give me the faith I need. Perspective is also important. We have to get our eyes off of the microscope we’ve been staring into. When you’ve been examining a problem for so long, it gets bigger. Sometimes, you need to look around in order to remember things for what they really are.

Special Needs Think Tank Success

With all of that in mind, I’m happy to say we have found the perfect cup. Two actually! The one she uses at school is a short hot pink cup with an angled top. It’s called a Nosey Cup…but of course, the regular one wasn’t perfect. So, her therapist had to saw off the handles!  The great cup quest has ended, and we are saving money.

Who’s Part of Your Think Tank?

I think every parent of a child with special needs has an informal think tank, a group of people who help solve problems. Take a minute to give a shout out to the people who are part of your think tank. Leave a comment to tell us about them.

Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop-up box and the second at the bottom of this page.