It's a scenario repeated day in and day out across the country: moms, dads, grandparents, respite helpers, foster parents, caregivers, or nurses sitting in a waiting area as a child completes a therapy session.

As they wait, some of them chat. Sometimes it starts small, the craft project, the weather, a smile, a nod.

Then someone sighs, "I am just so worried about what we're going to do this summer."

And then the resource swapping begins. In the waiting room, having children with the same diagnosis isn't as important as shared experience and more importantly, shared resources.

The waiting rooms of doctors offices and therapy services are places of friendship and support for those who love the children needing special care. Phone numbers, names of service providers to love (and service providers to avoid), and useful websites are written on scraps of paper and passed along.

"Hey, www.specialneedsneighborhood.com is a great place to start for any resource."~one mom to another

ARDS, IEPs, and school issues come up time and time again in these waiting room chats as do the frustrations of dealing with administrative red tape. Talk about nutrition, special diets, ways to eat out, and recipes to try abound as those with experience eagerly share their findings with those just starting out.

Support groups, swim lessons, safe places to play, supportive resources: it's all there.

Sometimes there is laughter as caregivers blow off steam. Sometimes there are tears as those who carry a burden share it with others.

Many underestimate the power of the people gathered in the waiting room.

But how do they keep it all straight? The phone numbers and websites and resources and names come in droves when parents get together.

Enter Kim Webb, René Craft and an Austin-born, free, online resource called SpecialNeedsNeighborhood.com. Webb and Craft met in a waiting room. They shared resources, stories, and supportive words.

They knew that parents had so much to give to each other and decided to provide a place where parents can go to find a resource, add a resource, find events in the area, and read a blog written with them in mind.

"We wanted to create a web site where families and caregivers of kids with special needs could communicate with one another about local resources; just as René and I did that first day," says Webb.

In 2007 their combined efforts produced SNN. Webb says that out of their own need, she and Rene' sought out other parents to see if their needs might be the same.

"René and I conducted countless hours of research to learn more about what our community needed," says Webb. "Our research results showed that parents and caregivers needed more resources and easier ways to find resources. Also, our research results demonstrated that they wanted to hear from one another about experiences with local providers and professionals."

Special Needs Neighborhood.com now provides almost 40 different categories of resources and reviews specifically for families in Central Texas (more cities and states are added each week by residents of those areas).

Want to know about horseback riding lessons? Need more information about reading programs? Need help on what restaurants offer gluten-free options or supportive staff for children who struggle with behavior issues?

Plus, if you know a great therapist, pediatrician, program, or service, why not share it with other parents on Special Needs Neighborhood.com?

Special Needs Neighborhood.com provides parent to parent answers to these questions and more. Don't see a category that you want? Webb and her team will add whatever you need.

Live outside the Austin Metro area? No problem. SpecialNeedsNeighborhood.com will open a platform for any city across the country. All you have to do is add a resource. From Atlanta, GA to Washington D.C., the message of parent to parent resource exchange is growing.

Webb and her team want to build the program nationally and, one by one, city by city, spread Special Needs Neighborhood.com into every community where parents and caregivers need it.

Webb wants readers to know, "Special Needs Neighborhood.com is user built. It's intended to be a resource swap. You add the information for each category...you may add your point of view about the speech therapist and, others also may share their opinion about this therapist."

Hard work and planning went in to making the site clean, simple, and easy to use. Webb shares about a lengthy process to make sure and get it right for parents, "We worked hard to avoid surprises. We spent hours with beta groups to test our concept so that we could avoid functionality problems and more. Their feedback helped our programmer to design a functionally easy Web site to use. So, thankfully no surprises around technical issues!"

So have all of their efforts paid off? Kim is happy to report that parents and specialists have responded with a resounding, YES!

"Our initial focus was to ease parent frustration and to create something for the purpose of giving back to our community," says Webb. "Parents write to say that the Web site is making a positive difference for their family and that they find the support that they seek."

Webb is also pleased to be a resource for those who serve the needs of children with special needs, adding, "Specialists tell me that they appreciate the web site as a more direct way to reach parents and caregivers about programs and services."

In addition to the expansion to other states, Special Needs Neighborhood.com also plans to release the Special Needs Neighborhood.com Radio program slated to launch this fall. The format will be 20 minute podcasts on various topics related to parenting a child with special needs.

Need a resource? Want to add a resource? Special Needs Neighborhood.com is built BY you, for you.

Disclosure
Austin Special Needs Kids Examiner has provided freelance marketing services for Special Needs Neighborhood.com through a non-media venue and is also proud to have SNN as our current page sponsor (see their ad on the right top column of this page until June 20th, 2010). No goods, services, promotional quotes, or advertising were exchanged for this article.

more photo credit: Salvatore Vuono

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