CLE’s Top Chef

How one student mastered his meals

By Sarah Healy, Independent Living Skills Coordinator CLE Rockville

At CLE, one way that we support students in creating real change is by teaching skills in the environment in which they occur. This creates natural learning opportunities for our students and makes for real, lasting change. This occurs regularly during ILS sessions and has been particularly helpful for one of our students, David. David participates in bi-weekly ILS sessions in his apartment where he is able to practice skills in his own space.

Almost one year ago, David had his first ILS session in his new apartment, which came with a mix of uncertainty, nervousness, and excitement. David was exposed to a variety of new skills, challenges, and changes. David showed an eagerness to learn independent living skills and was open minded during his sessions. At the beginning, David talked about his desire to be independent and live on his own. Although he wanted this for himself he was unsure of what it looked like and where to begin. We worked together to break down skills and focus on one goal at a time. From the very beginning a goal David had was learning how to cook.

Jumping right into cooking a meal for the first time is a huge challenge so we broke down David’s goal of cooking into a few sub-sets of skills. These skills included researching a recipe, assessing the ingredients you have and need, being mindful of your budget, and going grocery shopping. David has worked hard on these skills and has made tremendous progress in the past year. David recalls participating in a group at CLE where students and I researched recipes and discussed our experience cooking meals. David told me that he enjoyed this group and was interesed in what other students were cooking during their sessions.

After learning where to find recipes David started working on creating grocery lists. At the beginning, he was overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin, in need of lots of support. David had many questions. How much do I buy? What do I need? How much do I spend? Figuring out these questions was a huge challenge for David. David explained to me that grocery shopping was hard for him because he did not know what a week’s worth of food looked like nor did he know how much money to spend.

When reflecting on his first few trips to the grocery store David remembers checking in with me frequently to ensure that he was buying enough food and that he was sticking within his budget. Now David is able to navigate the store independently and recognize what his grocery needs are. David was able to learn this skill through repetition and consistency. David regularly practiced writing his lists in his apartment prior to grocery shopping. He also grocery shops with a group of fellow students and an instructor each week. Getting into this routine has been a huge benefit for David.

The One Year Mark

Now one year into his time at CLE, David is able to cook a variety of foods independently. Recently David made a delicious cheesecake. He came to me excited to share his experience of cooking a cheesecake for the first time. David told me, “It was so good I ate almost all of it in one day.”

It has been such a joy to see David’s growth and to see him meet his goals. I am so proud of all he has learned and can’t wait to see the new goals David sets for himself and all that he accomplishes!