May 2017
Reach Community Living Staff shares this story of an individual we serve successfully learning to cook meals for himself at home!
Michael is a young man who receives Community Living supports through Reach. The main goal that Michael is working towards is to be an all-around healthier and more active person. One way that Michael is working towards this goal is learning how to cook.
Like a lot of people it is easier for Michael to go grab fast food, or to microwave a pre-made frozen meal. While this kind of thing is convenient, it isn’t always the healthiest or tastiest way to prepare a meal. But the kitchen can be intimidating! It can be difficult to find the motivation to cook on your own. How do you decide what to make? Do you have the right ingredients? And if you’ve never made something before, how do you even know it will taste good when it’s ready? All of these questions can make the thought of cooking overwhelming especially with the convenience of fast food options.
Michael has been working with staff to overcome this and to learn to be comfortable in the kitchen. To help keep things simple Michael and his Reach staff started talking about Michael’s favorite foods. Michael really enjoys fish and shrimp, spicy foods, and things that don’t take a lot of time to make. So after this discussion Michael came to the conclusion that he wanted to learn how to make shrimp tacos. The first time that Michael made these with his Reach staff he had a few questions about the process and was a little worried that they would not turn out great. But they turned out well enough that Michael wanted to make them again!
Michael started to make shrimp tacos with his staff every week. And every week Michael’s confidence in his cooking ability would grow. He was able to complete the meal a little bit faster and with less assistance from staff. This kept going until one week Michael was feeling confident enough and motivated enough to cook his shrimp tacos on his own before staff had even arrived to help! Now Michael has a meal that he enjoys to make and can create on his own. Way to go, Michael!
Reach Community Living supports help adults with disabilities increase independence and integrate into their communities. We offer a wide range of individualized support services to help people achieve their goals, including: Supported Employment Services, In-Home Family Support Services, Supported Living Services, Independent Living Skills, and Empowerment Group. Learn more HERE!