Organizing Closets with Christine Ha, Professional Chef

Two Blind Brothers clothing line

Olivia Brown-Giving a tour of her clothes organization system

Independent living skills are foundational to students’ development into successful, capable adults. These skills are often referred to as “daily living skills” and include areas such as eating, dressing and hygiene. Because students who are blind or visually impaired miss out on incidental learning that comes naturally to their sighted peers, they must acquire these skills through direct, sequential instruction. Parents and caregivers can teach these skills at home and discover which adaptations and techniques may be best suited to their child’s needs.

• An overview of skills you can teach your child, no matter his or her age

• How to identify and prioritize the independent living skills your child needs now

• Strategies to teach these skills

• How to create an ideal learning environment for your child at home and in your community

• An understanding of commonly used adaptive equipment to help your child perform daily living skills

• Wear short sleeves or roll your sleeves above the elbow when working at the stove.

• Wear oven mitts to handle pots and pans.

• Set a timer to remind you when to turn off the stove and electrical appliances.

• Make sure all your appliances are in good working order and avoid overloading circuits.

• Use a vegetable peeler instead of a knife for peeling fruits and vegetables.

• Use a pizza cutter rather than a knife for cutting, or a pivot knife that is connected to a cutting board.

• Don’t store spices on a shelf above the stove.

• Always turn off the gas flame before you remove a pan from the burner.

• Don’t wear clothing with long, loose sleeves when cooking.

Use trays or cutting boards in colors that contrast with your food. For example, keep a white cutting board for slicing apples or carrots, and a dark-colored board for onions.

Use the white side of the cutting board for darker-colored foods, such as eggplant or broccoli, and the black side for lighter-colored foods, such as onions and cheese.

• Make sure the cutting edge of your knife blade is facing downward before you cut or slice. You can identify the cutting edge of the knife blade without touching it. Since the cutting edge is usually curved, try rocking the knife blade forward and backward on the table top to determine when the cutting edge (which will rock) is facing downward.

• Try using a pizza cutter instead of a knife for slicing sandwiches.

• Use a knife guard when starting to cut fruit and vegetables.

Hold a light-colored measuring cup against a darker background when pouring milk, flour, sugar, and other light-colored ingredients.

Measuring cups and spoons are available with large print, tactile, and contrasting markings.

• Use a measuring cup with raised numbers on the side or mark the cup with a 3-D pen, such as a Hi-Mark Tactile Pen or a Spot ‘n Line Pen: a 3-D plastic liquid that makes raised lines, dots, and shapes to identify clothing, canned goods, frozen foods, and mark the settings on appliances.

• Use individually-sized or stacking measuring cups to scoop desired amounts.

• Measure spices into your hand first to avoid pouring into a spoon (some spice containers have a wide opening to insert a spoon), or use measuring spoons with large numbers.

Again, use color contrasts: dark pitchers and servers for milk and other light-colored liquids, a white pitcher for dark liquids, such as iced tea. When pouring into a glass:

• Locate the pitcher by trailing your hand along the table.

• Locate the spout by moving your hand up the pitcher, and then turn the pitcher until the spout faces the glass.

When pouring cold liquid into a glass, your finger placed over the edge of the glass can serve as a guide to help you know when the glass is almost full.

• With your other hand, move the glass toward the pitcher, keeping your index finger on the spout of the pitcher.

• Lift the pitcher slightly and touch the spout to the rim of the glass.

• Now hook your index finger over the rim of the glass so that just your fingertip is inside the glass.

• Pour until you can feel the water or other liquid reach your index finger. Also, listen for sound changes as liquid reaches the top of the glass.

• You can also try pouring with the pitcher in the sink and the glass or cup on the adjoining counter top. This can make it easier to lift the pitcher or kettle and can help with spills and cleanup.

• Try practicing with empty containers first, and pour over a tray to catch any spills.