The following tips are excerpted from "Breaking Bread, Nourishing Connections: People with and without Disabilities Together at Mealtime" by Karin Melberg Schwier & Erin Schwier Stewart. (Published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.; 1-55766-720-9. Copyright © 2005 Karin Melberg Schwier & Erin Schwier Stewart.) Although the book's main emphasis is on bringing more meaningful mealtimes to people with disabilities in an institutional setting, the ideas can be applied to children with special needs in families as well.
Tips for grocery shopping:
1. When planning a shopping trip to find the ingredients for a meal to prepare together, give someone who has little or no language skills a chance to help prepare the list. Spread a sale flier out and suggest he circle some of the items you need. Take the flier along to the store and hunt down the circled items together.
2. The grocery store, farmer’s market, and flower shop are all treasure troves of sensory experiences. Take time to savor the sights, sounds, smells and textures. Make it a hands-on experience.
3. Make a visual shopping list. Clip pictures of items for purchase from grocery fliers or magazines. Save the labels from the food containers to use on the next shopping trip. This can also be helpful for someone with limited language or speech skills.
4. Learn what kinds of foods make people happy. Is there a special birthday cake that brings back wonderful childhood memories?
Mealtime safety tips:
5. Make sure people know how to use oven mitts. Remember to use a potholder or oven mitt to take hot pans out of the oven.
6. And what do you do if the smoke detector goes off? It can be quite startling and scary for someone who doesn’t know what it means!
Tips for food & table preparation:
7. Wash your hands often when handling and preparing food, and before eating. Remember, any time you’re preparing food, you must wash your hands before you start. Use soap and warm water. Turn away from food, utensils, and work areas if you have to sneeze or cough, then wash your hands again.
8. Make sure to keep raw poultry such as chicken separate from other foods. Wash cutting boards, utensils, and hands after handling raw chicken and before using those utensils again.
9. When making food with large groups, split the tasks. If making an entire pie or four dozen cookies is too much for one session, try mixing the ingredients on one occasion. Pop the dough in the freezer. Thaw the dough in preparation for the next time you get together.
10. Have a manageable number of food items during a meal. Some people can be overwhelmed with too many choices and decisions.
11. Pay attention to the table setting. For some people who have perception and visual difficulties, a white plate, a clear glass, silver cutlery, and a white napkin on a white tablecloth may “disappear.” Try arranging light-colored foods such as potatoes and pasta on a dark-colored plate, for example, so there is a contrast.
Tips for creating a pleasant dining atmosphere:
12. Remember what you enjoy at mealtime: easy conversation, good humor, nice music, a calm atmosphere, and tasty food. Some people with disabilities may take some time to see this as a pleasant alternative to the rushed, noisy, overstimulated, staffdriven experience they may be used to having.
13. Turn off the cell phone and television for mealtimes.
14. Try playing some nice music while you’re cooking and eating.
Tips for mealtime socializing:
15. For some people, mealtime may be the best chance during the day to spend time with someone who will focus on them completely. Let these be times when you just enjoy each other. We call them “No Nag Days.”
16. Come to the kitchen or the table ready to be emotionally devoted to being with that person for this time. Your mealtime companion deserves your total attention.
17. The Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” applies to your dining experiences.
18. Talk with someone who has a disability in the same tone of voice as you would with anyone else. Avoid the temptation to singsong or end all of your sentences in an upswing as if they are questions.
19. Are people living in the home encouraged to clear after a meal? Many people feel proud to help tidy up. Always be ready with compliments and thanks for the help. Everyone needs to feel like they are doing for themselves.
20. If you are looking for an accessible restaurant in your area, try a web search. Type in “accessible dining” and the name of your city. It will pull up a varied list of places and their accessibility features reviewed by people with disabilities.
