Fun, Functional and Safe Ways to Make Meal Prep Therapeutic For You and Your Child

By Denise Meissner
Occupational Therapist, mother of a child with Autism, and creator of QCharm Portable Visual Cueing System.

What do you think a TV talk show or DIY show might look like if the celebrity had to prepare the meals and then clean up the mess…all while caring for children with autism?!

During times when my son with autism wants to “help” me in the kitchen, I imagine Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart incorporating Applied Behavior Analyses and Picture Exchange Communication Symbols throughout their shows. But the reality is that parents must be creative if trying to have a fun kitchen experience while involving their special needs child.

When I learned how to cook, I was not taught how to simultaneously manage the behaviors of a child (or more than one child) who was throwing a tantrum, throwing food, or throwing a punch. So here are some tips that I’d like to share and that I think will greatly improve the home care experience for parents and special needs children.

As an Occupational Therapy Student (back in 1990), I spent 3 months working with children with autism and I found myself feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and exhausted. During this internship, I learned how to use daily tasks, such as meal prep, to help children explore and tolerate various tastes and textures, to encourage them to use both hands together, and to help them improve their ability to focus on a task or work through episodes of frustration. I was supposed to help them reach out of their comfort zone, but in reality they stretched me out of mine.

Ironically, I now have a child with Autism and he too has pushed me out of my comfort zone…thank goodness! Through my son’s behaviors, communication and supervision needs I have been given plenty of opportunities to learn new and exciting ways to work with him, to interact with him and to cherish him.

Today I would like to give you a few ideas that might help you interact, protect and cherish your child when you are in the kitchen:

1. Colors make sense: While researching paint colors for our kitchen and dining room areas, I learned that yellow is excellent for improving concentration, mental alertness, and mood. I even read that yellow is used in rooms to help those with dyslexia. Since we use our kitchen for both meal prep and scheduling, we did indeed paint our kitchen yellow.

2. Smells make scents: Because the sense of smell part of the brain (olfactory) is connected to the emotional center of the brain, aromas have a strong impact on our moods. There are several ways in which you can create a pleasant kitchen environment (to encourage you and your child to get in and stay in the kitchen), such as using flameless candles or plug-ins, scented pine cones and potpourri, air fresheners, odor eliminators, and even odor eating trash bags.

3. Stimulators: Whether your child craves sensory input or avoids textures/colors/ aromas, visual cues can help your child participate in meal prep (and eating). My home trainer and I set up several series of 4-5 visual cue cards in order to show different parts of one task, desired behavior before-during-after a task, rewards for positive behavior efforts, and to show how to be safe and why. To make the cues readily available yet decorative, I placed the cue cards in picture frames. You can easily place cards in the plastic frames that magnetically hang on your fridge. This also keeps the cards clean and in shape.

4. Simulators: To help your child practice slicing, cutting, peeling, serving and handling food items, you can use sets such as “Classroom Play Food,” “Cutting Fruit Plate,” “Birthday Party,” “Peel ‘N’ Play Veggies,” Slice n’ Serve Pizza,” “Hook n’ Loop Sandwich,” and “Cutting Food Box.” I discovered these sets in the catalog Beyond Play (www.beyondplay.com). These sets also give your child a chance to work next to you while you prepare a meal, which has two benefits: a) your child can observe and copy your behaviors and b) you can keep your child safe.

5. “Pairing” knife: To safely engage your child in meal prep, pair this task with something your child enjoys. For example, my son prefers to use “grown-up” utensils and I prefer that he not slice off his fingers. To make us both happy, I use Pampered Chef’s “My Safe Cutter” ($3.00).

6. Carry Out: If your child receives physical, occupational or speech therapy, you may have a home program to carry out so that learning and progress can occur outside of the clinic or school. Work with your therapist(s) and find ways to incorporate the program into the daily routine, rather than adding to your routine. For example, if your therapist wants your child to improve hand coordination, help your child wheel barrel walk to the kitchen (to improve shoulder strength and stability) and then give your child small food items to manipulate.

We can’t always afford a sitter to care for our children so we can prepare meals in peace. But we can use meal prep to foster our child’s development and help us enjoy time spent out of our comfort zones.

To enjoy fun, functional and portable visual cues-no matter whose kitchen you’re in- please visit www.qcharm.com. Let us create our patent pending wristband/removable charms kits for you. (200 Boardmaker images available. Website to be updated.)