I can...cook!

Shopping, cooking, clean up…these are all great activities that provide many opportunities for communication. Students can talk about healthy food choices, express likes or dislikes, choose favourite flavours or pick which chore to do first. So dig out the mixing bowl, the spatula and the Ablenet Powerlink® and let’s get baking!

Here are some ideas for general cooking vocabulary:

It’s my turn.	I made it myself.	I’m a chef!
Can I taste it?	What is that?	Is it cooked yet?
Let me see.	I want to stir.	Yeuckk!
What do we do next?	I want to cook something different.	Uh oh! I don’t think we did it right!
That tastes gross.	Do you like it?	Yummy!
That’s my favourite.	Let me do it again.	Looks like dog food!
Tastes good, doesn’t it?	I want to help.	This is the fun bit!

Recipe with Picture Communication Symbols:

No Tech Ideas:

• Add Picture Communication Symbols to simple recipes to allow your student to follow the steps.
• Provide simple symbol boards so that a student can e.g., pick the colour of the icing, the shape of the cookie cutter, etc.
• Choose recipes that offer many choices to allow maximum participation, e.g. pizza toppings, tacos, fruit salad.
• Laminate your recipes for durability and for frequent use.

 Light Tech Ideas

• Program each item from your grocery list into a sequential message device: the student can remind you what to buy at the store.
• Program the steps in a recipe into a Step-by-StepTM communication device. Your student can then direct the cooking process.
• The AbleNet Powerlink® 3 Control Unit allows a student who uses a switch to operate small appliances such as a blender or food mixer.

High Tech Ideas

• To assist a student in selecting recipe steps successfully, each step can be programmed into a single button, which automatically links to the next step.
• Keep your students’ vocabulary expanding by introducing new words based on resources such as Canada’s Food Guide. Talk about the different food groups and healthy eating choices.
• Students who have a favourite restaurant may be motivated to order their own food. Program a page based on a social script for ordering food (containing greetings, food choices, questions, comments etc.)

Resources for adapting cooking activities:

• http://www.mayer-johnson.com Mayer-Johnson has several books about cooking, including “I Can Cook Too!” (symbol adapted recipes, communication cards and more; recipes include at least one theme for each week of the school year), “Introduction To Kitchen Appliances” and “Let’s Go Shopping”.