Reflection:

For this cooking experience I only had the use of my left arm, which is my non-dominant arm. This is the reality for a lot of potential clients who have had CVAs, amputations, or really limited ROM from arthritis or other impairments. One of my neighbors is recovering from a stroke and cannot currently move her arm. I wanted to experience a small sliver of what her life is like through this exercise.

Cooking with one arm wasn't quite as difficult as I thought it would be, but I think that's because I used a compensatory strategy of only choosing to cook something that seemed doable with one arm while avoiding the foods that seemed too difficult to pull off. Then, of course, I felt guilty for robbing myself of the opportunity to gain more empathy for future clients through my avoidance, so I chose to choose harder cleaning tasks. Talynn and I tag-teamed washing and drying dishes with each of us only using one arm.

Doing this made me wonder how somebody with this impairment would functionally do the dishes and wash their hand. I tried washing the bacon grease off my hand but failed. It also reminded me of the importance of energy conservation, particularly planning, posture, and permission. I could easily imagine traveling back and forth from the fridge to the stove to the pantry to the cabinets getting old very quickly. Planning out all the ingredients, materials, and steps of the task would have made it much easier. I also realized how important it would be to stand/sit up straight so as to avoid overcompensating and tiring out the muscles on the unaffected side.

If I were setting up a treatment session for a client with only the use of one hand, I would pull out the dycem mats and peg cutting boards and educate/demonstrate to the client how to use them. I would also show them where the built up utensils are if their unaffected arm is their non-dominant arm. I found the built-up utensils made eating easier with my left hand. I would teach them about energy conservation, especially giving themselves permission to take longer than they used to in the kitchen. Lastly, I would get out the vacuum so the client wouldn't stress about making messes and having to try to sweep one-handed.

In sum, the experience was difficult but not impossible. I realized how easy it is to "cheat" through avoidance of difficult things. Energy conservation would make cooking with one arm much easier and would encourage someone with this impairment to not avoid. The OT kitchen is amazing with all of the adapted equipment it has, and if I were planning an intervention with a client, I would use the equipment to its fullest. This helped me understand what potential clients are going through and increased my empathy greatly

We drove out the National Ability Center in Park City to learn about how they adapt various recreatoinal activities to meet the needs of all individuals with disabilites. Their moto is "all ages, all abilities." We got to try out their different types of adaptive bikes. Pictured is me riding the hand-operated, recumbent mountain tricycle.