Bring your karma
Join the waitlist today
HUMBLECAT.ORG

Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2019 - 10 - 14 - ID#dhw348
7
Adapted eating utensils (self.Blind)
submitted by Turkeypharm
I am not blind, but I do have a deafblind person in my class at school and have a question. I am looking for some sort of light up eating utensils to help my student eat. He is super attracted to light up items - toys, flashlights, ect and think this may help him! Could someone point me in a direction???
changeneverhappens 3 points 3y ago
Based off of your comments, you may want to look up CVI. If your student has any paperwork id check that out as well. Their particular diagnoses will give you some clues as to how to support them


Here's a meal set that has easy grip utensils and everything is bright red, which is an easy alert color for pwCVI.
https://www.maxiaids.com/dinnerware-in-high-contrast-red-color-4-piece-set


Whatever you choose, make sure its brightly colored and put it on a nonslip black mat to increase contrast and reduce visual clutter.
kazcar 2 points 3y ago
That was my immediate thought as well based on the limited facts given. There are lots of other strategies that can be incorporated by people with CVI to help them attend to objects as well e.g. movement, correct viewing angle and distance, extended time to view the utensils etc.
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
What's wrong with standard utensils? I think standard ones will be the easiest to use, and they'll have to learn to be satisfied with them for the rest of their life.
Turkeypharm [OP] 5 points 3y ago
While there is nothing 'wrong' with regular utensils, the student also has some mobility and grip issues. He is legally deaf and blind eating seems to be a little challenging for him. He seems to get distracted and 'forgets' about eating. He also has other mental disabilities and is currently in a severe disability classroom, I do think with time and proper support, he can move to a moderate class, but it is a ways away. He will most likely require support throughout life.
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
I assumed from your initial description that he might have additional disabilities in addition to deafblindness, but I didn't want to guess before you verified it. Are the utensils plastic or metal? i've found metal uffensils to be easier for eating for blind people because you get more of a sense of what food the utensil's coming into contact with. What part of eating gives him trouble—finding the food or getting the food onto the utensil?
[deleted] 1 points 3y ago
[deleted]
BlueRock956 1 points 3y ago
Hi, last year at the exhibit hall of the NFB’s national convention Google had a spoon and a fork which were meant to be used by people with fine motor difficulties. The utensil would stabilize the right side up, so that food may stay on it. The grip could be fisted, and it had a strap. I went back this year, but the Google table didn’t have them on display this year. I believe that this may be quite helpful in your student’s case.
Turkeypharm [OP] 1 points 3y ago
He uses metal utensils that have a foam grip. Honestly, the difficult part seems to be since its 'out of sight' he forgets to take more bites, so some of the issue is concentration but I feel like if it was easier for him to see, maybe he would not 'forget' so much. When we lift the loaded spoon to his 'good' eye he will take the bite. He also seems to struggle with loading the spoon. He has gotten a little more independent since school started, so he is making progress. We would like to see him make some more, because independent eating has to make a person feel better and more empowered! We don't mind helping him, but we want him to be able to do more for himself- independence is so freeing for our students!
SpikeTheCookie 1 points 3y ago
Here's an option that's made to be fun, but I don't know if the grip will work. Also, this is plastic and you might need to provide oversight, because plasticware can break: $1
CloudyBeep 1 points 3y ago
Plastic utensils may also be harder to use for this student.
cordovatech 1 points 3y ago
I can imagine that trying to use utensils and failing, while hungry and attempting to eat, could be very discouraging. Maybe — when it’s not time to eat — you could create a game that uses the light up toy as an indication that he used the utensil correctly? Maybe when he manages to fork or spoon a specific object, the toy lights up, and the number of objects he gets in a row will progressively increase the attractiveness of the light sequence — like a streak in a video game. Not sure what others think about this or if he would feel singled out.
razzretina 1 points 3y ago
When it comes to it, the act of eating is it’s own reward and you really don’t want to distract from that unless your student is having trouble eating. The more realistic you can make these everyday processes, the better. If the student has some motor control difficulties you might want to look into something, but otherwise, encourage them to eat with regular utensils. Save the cool light up stuff as after work rewards or things for free time.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc   •   HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.