Finding Your Way Around The Kitchen: How Adaptive Utensils Make Cooking Accessible For All

Before I begin, I wanted to say thank you for your overwhelming support of my recent posts. I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s blog on how to have a healthy relationship. Now let’s take a detour and begin today’s post. 

The first thing I want to say is, Happy Taco Tuesday everyone! If you have not guessed this blog is going to be about food and how people with disabilities can be included in one of America’s favorite hobbies, the art of homemade cooking. I know everyone except the really brainy people, the ones who majored in math in college, and hated statistics but here comes one anyway.

According to a poll conducted on behalf of Hello Fresh nearly one-third of Americans still believe it is better to eat in than go out because the quality of food is better. In that same poll, it was reported that 69% of Americans cook on a regular basis, an estimated 10 meals per week. 

Some of you who are reading this may question the validity of this poll and may be wondering what exactly is Hello Fresh. According to their website, Hello Fresh is a meal-kit delivery service with four basic plans depending on your dietary and food preferences. 

If we consider the Hello Fresh poll to be accurate or close to it, then we can logically come to the conclusion that cooking is a highly enjoyable pastime in America. The question can be asked then, how do we make cooking accessible for all? 

Fear not, this blog will attempt to give you, the reader, tips and suggestions on how you can make any basic kitchen accessible for all. To begin, let’s look at why home appliances were created in the first place. I believe Appliance Journal puts it best, “Home appliances were designed to make our lives easier. The cool thing is appliances aren’t a one-size-fits-all all solution. Home appliances come in many different shapes and sizes, there’s something out there for everyone. Preparing meals from a wheelchair is possible with a wide selection of ADA-compliant appliances.” The article goes on to further explain that ADA-compliant kitchens are becoming more popular for three essential reasons. 

1. There has been a significant increase in multigenerational households.

2. People with disabilities are now aging in place rather than going to a facility or an institution. 

3. There has been an increase in the belief that society should be more inclusive for all.

An article written in 2021 by Hadriana Lowenkron reinforces the idea that universal design not only benefits people with disabilities but society as well. 

Let’s look more at the above-mentioned journal. The Appliance Journal has comprised a list of accessible kitchen items that I believe will benefit everyone. 

The first thing they discussed was the height of the kitchen counters. They pointed out that most kitchen counters are 36 inches. They then mentioned how a universally designed home or residence typically has 34 inch countertops. This is useful for somebody like myself because my wheelchair would be able to fit under the counter more easily. After talking about the height of counters the next logical discussion would be to talk about some accessible appliances.

Rather than just regurgitate what the article said about these appliances, I have linked an article here:

https://www.ajmadison.com/learn/appliances/buying-guide/the-best-wheelchair-accessible-kitchen-appliances/

Once you have made your kitchen accessible you can take the next step to make cooking accessible for all. Now we will focus on some adaptive cookware and utensils that may be useful in the actual cooking process. 

The cooking process is fun for most people and if you have a disability, it can be as well. In doing research for this blog, I not only learned about adaptive spoons and silverware as well as straws which I already know a little about, but I also learned about cool utensils such as self-opening kitchen shears ie, scissors for cutting food for when you are preparing it. There is a whole slew of utensils I found on the website below.

https://www.thewrightstuff.com/adapted-kitchen-aids.html. 

In closing, cooking is not only a way to stay healthy, but it can be very therapeutic and relaxing, and given the right equipment, people with disabilities can now cook just like, and dare I say it, sometimes even better than their able-bodied counterparts. 

Well, dinner is done so I am about to go enjoy some of my favorite food, as today is Taco Tuesday!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Super Advocate,

Jay