People with special needs often do not have the life skills necessary to live independently, and must require 24-hour care or assisted living after their parents pass away. A person with the ability to safely make themselves a simple meal or snack would require less care, and therefore may be able to live in a less restrictive environment. Learning how to follow directions could make an individual more likely to be hired in a job situation. Also, visuals would help students with limited reading ability to successfully cook a recipe. Children with disabilities can be provided with the tools necessary to learn life skills that are needed for independent living. Life skills classrooms can be equipped with resources so they can teach children skills like cooking, cleaning, hygiene, following instructions, et cetera. The ability to shop for, cook, and serve healthy and affordable food would both allow disabled individuals to have more affordable options and give them confidence and true independence in this area.
I will create a recipe website for learning support/life skills teachers that includes printable copies of recipes with cues, ingredient lists, lesson plans, and other materials. That way, teachers can more easily help their students with those skills. Children with special needs will gain essential life skills, and in doing so will become more confident, independent, capable, able to follow instructions, and ultimately successful. Cooking and sharing a meal provides positive affirmation and all-important self-confidence. Teachers will be able to incorporate planning, cooking, serving, and cleaning up after meals into lessons to add excitement, fun, and applications to subjects such as math and reading. Children with special needs will be more independent in the future, and may be looked upon as less burdensome. As adults they will be able to deal with real world tasks such as counting money, preparing meals, and cleaning. The goal of teaching disabled children is to improve their independence and functionality, and my website will assist teachers with this task.
Children with special needs are affected by this issue, and will benefit from my project. They strive for increased functionality and independence, but are often curbed by a lack of resources. Their teachers are also affected by this issue, as it is their job to teach children how to support themselves as much as is possible. Children's parents and families are affected, too, because they must deal with the effects of their children's disability every day.
people impacted:
10people involved:
25My younger brother has Down Syndrome, and from the time he was born I have been involved with special needs children. As a small child, I volunteered at Easter Seals where my aunt was an occupational therapist. Later, in middle school, I visited a life skills classroom almost every day to make friends with the students there. In this classroom I participated in activities such as cooking, shopping, and going to the Special Olympics. The students in these classrooms encouraged me with their perseverance in completing every day activities that most of us do without thinking. Programs such as Challenger Baseball, camps for children with special needs, and Best Buddies, have helped me to realize that I am passionate for helping disabled individuals. My brother and other children like him are undoubtedly the most loving and caring people I know. They tend to try their best in all they do, but are often hindered by their disabilities.
Every day my brother meets new difficulties that often require creative and unique solutions to overcome. His teachers, therapists, and my family help him in every way we can, but many children with disabilities are not so lucky. Specialized resources for life skills, such as adapted recipes, are in high demand. It is because I know and love so many children with disabilities that I want to help them become more independent by creating this website. The recipes, lesson plans, and materials included on this website will give teachers and parents of special needs children the resources they need to succeed.
I will create a recipe website for learning support/life skills teachers that includes printable copies of recipes with cues, ingredient lists, lesson plans, and other materials. I will work on website/graphic design, developing adaptive recipes, recipe testing with special needs children, and consulting with an occupational therapist, a cook, and a life skills teacher. The project will be ongoing because the website would remain online after the project itself has been completed, and web design students can continue to add recipes. It will affect not only the life skills classrooms in my area, but also life skills classrooms in all areas, as the internet has quickly become an easy way to share information globally.
Steps Involved: First, I will develop tentative recipes with cues. I will compile recipes from students at my school, my family, and recipes I have made in the past. I will design them with pictures, and will print them for my next step, which is testing them in a life skills classroom. I will have several sessions to cook with special needs students, and will make improvements to my recipes based on feedback I receive from the students and their teachers. Next, I will consult with an occupational therapist and a cook, and video tape them giving adaptive technique suggestions that will be posted on my website. I will next design my website, and create all the files necessary including recipes, lesson plans, shopping lists, the videos of the chef and occupational therapist, and suggestions from the life skills teachers. I will put the website online and fix any problems that may arise involving accessibility, broken links, et cetera. Finally, I will write an assignment for a web design class for students in the future to design and upload new recipes.
Occupational therapists, life skills teachers, home economics teachers, and cooks can help me by offering suggestions for cooking with children with special needs. Anyone can help me by submitting recipes to the website, or by offering to volunteer in a life skills classroom or befriending someone with special needs. It is important that we as a society value those with disabilities. Examples of recipes can be found here: http://s884.photobucket.com/albums/ac41/yourspecialchef
Through the grant from DoSomething, I was able to test out some adaptive cooking tools! Read what I discovered, and check out other areas of the site as they slowly but surely go online:
http://www.yourspecialchef.com/ysc_production/_design/app/_show/static/Adaptive%20Cooking%20Tools
The "Your Special Chef" Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/yourspecialchef, and the link for the first video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysw37NDVnoE
The first video is up! Check it out, comment, and be sure to share it with anyone who knows or teaches someone with special needs!
So many things are happening for "Your Special Chef" right now! The website is reaching completion and will be uploaded soon, videos are being edited from an occupational therapist and home economics teachers, and I've heard from multiple life skills teachers around the country who are planning on using the recipes in their classrooms.
I haven't heard back from any of the chefs to whom I wrote, but so far the project has been getting out regardless.
Plus, a new element has been added- a recipe generator. Visitors to the website will simply type text and find photos for each step, and the generator will automatically format the recipe according to a template.
