We’ve been searching for that holy grail of a tidy way to
drink either assisted or unassisted for years.
Therapists say we’re doing the right thing with trying all the different
things available but I now have a cup cupboard that could just about fill a
recycling bin on its own. Time for
action, and this three piece post is about our latest successful steps on the journey.
Ordinary cups don’t work as they are either too wide or need
you to tip your head back. One way valve
straws don’t work as we can’t get the right angle. There are a variety of specialist cups that
are getting closer but still really messy and need to be brought out and about. Since P1 at school, E has been practising
with a straw drinking her milk and can now drink from a carton
with minimal squeezing at the bottom.
So we tried a straw in a cup.
First distance to was too far, that was easy,
cut the bendy straw to fit the cup. Then I noticed (and I’m embarrassed it took me so long) that
the straw will fill to the level of liquid in the cup. So fill the cup right up and only a small
distance is needed.
But that straw just keeps floating around. A quick google and we find strawberi straw
holders (also available on amazon). They keep the straw attached to
the side of the glass. Not perfect as E
is a bit rough so still needs someone to keep them in place. But basically job done and now E can have a
drink the same way as everyone else
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog via the article on Ouch! about finding a secondary school. My 6 year old son has athetoid CP and our recent solutions for drinking are the Safesip....much more expensive than the strawberri clips (especially if your cats like eating plastic), but lots better. My son can now pick up his plastic beaker to take a drink, we don't have to position him so close to the straw, and we too had the problem with knocking the strawberri clips off.
Our other solution for carton drinks are carton holders designed for toddlers to prevent squeezing. We use one called 'dwink'.