132 replies to this topic

[ingridsf]

I don't have any real disabilities, yet,

I'll save you a seat next to me at the meetings. We're currently on Chapter 7 of "Disabilities for Dummies." It's called "How to Make Friends and Ask Strangers to Grab That Thing on the Top Shelf."


Ingrid

[specialteach]

The hardest thing for me though is not cooking, per se.  It's getting the food, or to be more exact, finding the acceptable level of compromise regarding quality. It's great that foodies insist on fresh, organic and/or locally grown, antibiotic-free stuff.  I care about sustainability.  But I work full-time, am on two boards, write fiction, my friends are equally busy, and I have limited paratransit with which to travel.  Frankly, I don't WANT to use Safeway delivery but it's the easiest and cheapest.  It's a source of guilt as well -- shouldn't I be supporting farmer's markets, etc.?  And I won't even go into the gastronomic trauma that is Safeway proscuitto.  I desperately want to be a control freal about what I buy but cannot be.   

Ingrid, have you thought about finding a local CSA (community sustained agriculture)? Depending on the CSA for a fee they deliver a bag of fresh produce to your door. Now is the season when there is finally a crop to harvest and a great time to join on.

You can find day 2 here. There is discussion of adaptive materials in both sections. The manual food chopper might help with dicing onions.

Edited by specialteach, 20 May 2004 - 03:34 PM.

[Mayhaw Man]

That reminds me -- frozen organic fruit and frozen puff pastry shells are so easy to make desserts with. Add ice cream, chocolate sauce, a little brandy, liqueur, or an unholy mixture of all and dig in.

Ingridsf-
I think that the argument that these are HOLY items when combined with abandon and glee can pretty easily be made.

I stand with all who have praised the authors of this class. It is truly inspired and wonderful work.

[specialteach]

This link is for the organic consumers website csa page. It has a list of different csa around the country.

[John Whiting]

At a much lower level of seriousness, there are some dedicated foodies who develop sensory disabilities, either temporary or permanent, such as loss of smell, which can make one relient on extremely strong flavors and those sensations that may remain; e.g. heat, salt, sweetness. I realize that this is a totally different area from physical disabilities involving motor functions.

Please join us for Part Three/Sensory Issues.

Part Two also addresses some of these issues. So much is interrelated. Our three perspectives touch on many different aspects of disabilities.

I'm fascinated. This is of course at a lesser level of seriousness than motor disability, but I find it curious that it's not a subject often treated (or perhaps it's merely my own ignorance). A few years ago after a respiratory ailment I spent a year totally without a sense of smell. It was a challenge I'd rather not face again.

[ingridsf]

That reminds me -- frozen organic fruit and frozen puff pastry shells are so easy to make desserts with.  Add ice cream, chocolate sauce, a little brandy, liqueur, or an unholy mixture of all and dig in.

Ingridsf-
I think that the argument that these are HOLY items when combined with abandon and glee can pretty easily be made.

I stand with all who have praised the authors of this class. It is truly inspired and wonderful work.

Oh, verily, say ye, Mayhaw Man. Especially when thou:

1. Wait patiently for fruit and pastry to thaw/bake, respectively, before adorning and gobbling.
2. Select the platter as your serving vessel rather than the under-sized "dessert plate."
3. Are generous with thine guests, apportioning one Pepperidge Farms Box of Pastry Shells per Big Hungry Boy/Girl, saying "Get thee behind me, ATKINS," if necessary.




And to you, specialteach:

Thank you, for the csa tip. Actually, I got The Box a number of years ago, and am thinking of trying a similar but not csa business called planetorganics. It sounds kind of like a minor problem but buying produce this way requires -- quite appropriately -- a bit more effort to clean, trim, and bag up stuff for storage until use. The other issues are coordinating delivery from more than one supplier (I'd still have to use Safeway), and making sure they actually bring delivery up the stairs. Writing these little things up makes me feel like I'm being a princess but it adds up fast, as I'm sure you get.

On to Part 2!

Best,
Ingrid

[lovebenton0]

At a much lower level of seriousness, there are some dedicated foodies who develop sensory disabilities, either temporary or permanent, such as loss of smell, which can make one relient on extremely strong flavors and those sensations that may remain; e.g. heat, salt, sweetness. I realize that this is a totally different area from physical disabilities involving motor functions.

Please join us for Part Three/Sensory Issues.

Part Two also addresses some of these issues. So much is interrelated. Our three perspectives touch on many different aspects of disabilities.

I'm fascinated. This is of course at a lesser level of seriousness than motor disability, but I find it curious that it's not a subject often treated (or perhaps it's merely my own ignorance). A few years ago after a respiratory ailment I spent a year totally without a sense of smell. It was a challenge I'd rather not face again.

John, we also felt that this topic is often ignored. Food-related sensory issues can be very serious. We just can't live without eating! Although not the same as other physical or intellectual disabilities, the problems can be distressing, and debilitating, making it difficult for the person to enjoy eating and to maintain sufficient nutrition in their diet. These issues often reflect just one aspect of the disabilities a person is dealing with, or they may be the main problem.

So glad your olfactory issues have passed without permanent loss. As in your case, sensory issues can affect our lifestyle, as well as the food we eat. My father lived without a sense of smell and very little taste for over 30 years. As a child I thought that he ate some of the strangest things. He depended predominantly on texture. More on that in Part Three tomorrow.

[ingridsf]

I've been quite overwhelmed by this all today, and can't stop thinking about how we all have been dealing so long with quite serious challenges, not just to health and all, but to good eating. (Not that there's a distinction, of course!) But of course we've all kept stirring, and mixing, and chewing, and in some cases, restrictions seem to have honed our skills and appreciation, despite being a depressing load of responsibility at times. I would NEVER have guessed there were so many of us, however you want to define "us."

Makes me want to say, Hey, let's meet up and celebrate eating, and cooking, and learning and we'll call it the Real Slow Food Movement, where everybody's got a place at the table,' to mix in a number of bad puns. Speed is, like, so overrated.

I think we need a festival of some kind. I'm going to think about this. Probably over something to eat.

Ingrid

[lovebenton0]

And to you, specialteach:

Thank you, for the csa tip. Actually, I got The Box a number of years ago, and am thinking of trying a similar but not csa business called planetorganics. It sounds kind of like a minor problem but buying produce this way requires -- quite appropriately -- a bit more effort to clean, trim, and bag up stuff for storage until use. The other issues are coordinating delivery from more than one supplier (I'd still have to use Safeway), and making sure they actually bring delivery up the stairs. Writing these little things up makes me feel like I'm being a princess but it adds up fast, as I'm sure you get.

On to Part 2!

Best,
Ingrid

You're not being a princess, Ingridsf! This is what we're doing here.

It is difficult for me to get to the store or a market also. I can no longer drive. Believe me, you wouldn't want me on the same road you're traveling on!

We are fortunate to have a garden, and a long growing season in Central TX. However, that hardly supplies us with everything we need. My mr picks up little necessities when needed then takes me to the store or market about once every one to two weeks -- often my only outings for the entire month. But sometimes I am here alone for a week or so and it is more problematic then. Bringing home a lot of food at once to clean and store is a problem when those activities are difficult for one, as they are for me also. It is a real consideration when determining how you will order food. Additionally, I note that your schedule leaves you little time to complete these daily tasks. When I cannot complete that all at once I just do it in stages -- and try to eat some of the tougher to prep for storage foods first.

Even the garden or good neighbors sharing a volume of food to deal with at once can be a real chore. Right now I have 20 lbs of peaches to peel, cut up, and preserve before they go bad. A wonderful gift from my neighbors but still a major task. I sat for hours today prepping peaches for jam and still have about half of them left to do. Of course spiced peach jam, and a cobbler, will be worth it.

[Chad]

Part Three is an excellent way to round out the course.

Seems like a good place to link to the Chemotherapy: Cooking for a Patient thread as it deals with many of the same issues.

Great work, folks.
Chad

[babka]

finally read through the entire class and wow!!!
I'm so impressed, and forwarding links to everybody I know--Congratulations!

[specialteach]

I would personally like to send a huge thank you to babka for her help on my section. You may not be a favorite person among teenage boys, but you are one of mine!


One of the things I love about eG is that all that matters is our love of food. In my noncomputer world I am constantly thinking about "do I tell them about my illness" and "are my medicinally induced food issues making me look crazier than usual?"

Coming out of the illness/disability closet is a difficult decision. There are days when I want to shout it from the rooftops, but then I remember our society still has a long way to go with acceptance of others.

Hopefully this course will help people realize that we really are just like everyone else.

[Mottmott]

One of the things I love about eG is that all that matters is our love of food.  In my noncomputer world I am constantly thinking about "do I tell them about my illness" and "are my medicinally induced food issues making me look crazier than usual?"

Coming out of the illness/disability closet is a difficult decision.  There are days when I want to shout it from the rooftops, but then I remember our society still has a long way to go with acceptance of others.

Hopefully this course will help people realize that we really are just like everyone else.

No, unless it is too great a burden for you, you should come out of the closet. Limitation is our common fate. It’s all degree. Do not become “invisible.”

Ironically, our society often treats those with greater than average limitations with callousness, impatience, or indifference. And yet many not only transcend those limitations in their personal lives but can achieve in their public lives eminence denied to most of us. Witness a scientist such as Hawkings or painters such as DeKooning who made some of his most poetic paintings in the last stages of Alzheimer or Chuck Close whose paintings after his stroke rival and perhaps surpass anything he did earlier.

Further, all of us will experience some degree of impairment at some time in our lives either from accident or illness which may be temporary or from the creeping diminutions of time. We need to incorporate this reality into our society's values and practices.

[SethG]

This will sound stupid, but I just read the second and third installments of the class and I just feel compelled to thank the three of you again for your hard work. Inspirational.

[KatieLoeb]

Further, all of us will experience some degree of impairment at some time in our lives either from accident or illness which may be temporary or from the creeping diminutions of time. We need to incorporate this reality into our society's values and practices.

Very well said, Mottmott.

[ingridsf]

One of the things I love about eG is that all that matters is our love of food.  In my noncomputer world I am constantly thinking about "do I tell them about my illness" and "are my medicinally induced food issues making me look crazier than usual?"

Coming out of the illness/disability closet is a difficult decision.  There are days when I want to shout it from the rooftops, but then I remember our society still has a long way to go with acceptance of others.

Hopefully this course will help people realize that we really are just like everyone else.

No, unless it is too great a burden for you, you should come out of the closet. Limitation is our common fate. It’s all degree. Do not become “invisible.”

Ironically, our society often treats those with greater than average limitations with callousness, impatience, or indifference. And yet many not only transcend those limitations in their personal lives but can achieve in their public lives eminence denied to most of us. Witness a scientist such as Hawkings or painters such as DeKooning who made some of his most poetic paintings in the last stages of Alzheimer or Chuck Close whose paintings after his stroke rival and perhaps surpass anything he did earlier.

Further, all of us will experience some degree of impairment at some time in our lives either from accident or illness which may be temporary or from the creeping diminutions of time. We need to incorporate this reality into our society's values and practices.

You better believe it. The numbers are troubling. Just in California, there are 6 million people with disabilities. As the population ages, access to nutrition, housing, and health care diminishes, and the judicial backlash against the Americans With Disabilities continues, more and more people will, ironically, become disabled.

My focus is on women and girls with disabilities. The wretched truth is that the unemployment rate for women with disabilities is 76%, with two-thirds of that group expressing the desire to work. 40% of women with disabilities report no source of income, earned, benefits or public assistance. They are solely reliant on family and friends, which for some permits survival but places them at risk for caregiver abuse and depression.

As many of us who are disabled keep saying, changing attitudes is the way to help us. We have to be out and proud of who we are, just like other communities. That's why this course, and the responses are so heartening to me. Good food keeps me happy and given what some of us are up against, anything that sustains us is hugely important.

Best,
Ingrid

[snowangel]

Further, all of us will experience some degree of impairment at some time in our lives either from accident or illness which may be temporary or from the creeping diminutions of time. We need to incorporate this reality into our society's values and practices.

Very well said, Mottmott.

I echo your sentiments greatly.

One of the things that is hardest is pity and staring. I remember being at the grocery store a few weeks ago. There was a woman who had a child, similar to Heidi, and she was struggling to get the shopping done with this child. Having been there, done that, I offered assistance. Her first reaction was "I don't need your pity." I explained that I was not coming from pity, but rather understanding of just how difficult tasks can be that most of us find simple.

We don't need people asking "how do you do it?" Most of us living with disabilities (be it ourselves or someone for whom we are providing care), we do it like everyone else. Every morning, the alarm goes off and we start a new day.

For those of you with friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors with disabilities, I invite you to ask them about their disability -- respectfully. Not with pity, but genuine interest. Last summer, I had a long conversation with my cousin Trent about his mental illness. At the end of our talk, he thanked me, and added that disabilities are something that most people don't want to talk about, and often it is refreshing to be able to talk about the disability -- honestly, so someone who is listening and not judging.

As Heidi gets older, her severe mental retardation is more and more apparent and visible. It cuts Diana and Peter to the quick when we are out in public and people look at Heidi with distain or make comments that are loud enough for us to hear. Our friends who have spent a lot of time with her have come to appreciate the many, many gifts she has to offer.

As I said earlier in this Q & A, it has been a pleasure to present such personal information to such a remarkable audience.

[lovebenton0]

One of the things I love about eG is that all that matters is our love of food.  In my noncomputer world I am constantly thinking about "do I tell them about my illness" and "are my medicinally induced food issues making me look crazier than usual?"

Coming out of the illness/disability closet is a difficult decision.  There are days when I want to shout it from the rooftops, but then I remember our society still has a long way to go with acceptance of others.

Hopefully this course will help people realize that we really are just like everyone else.

No, unless it is too great a burden for you, you should come out of the closet. Limitation is our common fate. It’s all degree. Do not become “invisible.”

Ironically, our society often treats those with greater than average limitations with callousness, impatience, or indifference. And yet many not only transcend those limitations in their personal lives but can achieve in their public lives eminence denied to most of us. Witness a scientist such as Hawkings or painters such as DeKooning who made some of his most poetic paintings in the last stages of Alzheimer or Chuck Close whose paintings after his stroke rival and perhaps surpass anything he did earlier.

Further, all of us will experience some degree of impairment at some time in our lives either from accident or illness which may be temporary or from the creeping diminutions of time. We need to incorporate this reality into our society's values and practices.

I believe that the only way that people's attitudes and misconceptions of people with disabilities will be changed is to be more exposed, not less, to realize they know and interact with people with disabilities every day of their lives. Mottmott is right -- it is all a matter of degrees.

During the construction of this course I was asked if I knew the number of people in the US that are affected by disabilities. I said I knew there were many millions, but did not know the head count. So I looked. Well to be brief about this -- the current US census says that approximately 1/5 of the population of the US is affected by disabilities. 20% of the population. The numbers are staggering. Our representation and acceptance is minimal in many areas.

Degrees.

Some of us couldn't hide our disabilities if we wanted to, obviously. For others -- their disabilities are not as apparent. None of should have to be invisible, but sometimes that is the protective cloak we choose surround ourselves. The more we can educate people through daily living, accomplishing, enjoying the options we have available to us, the greater I think our chances are of being accepted, individually and as a whole. We don't have to shout it -- we can just be ourselves.

One of my personally favorite quotes I heard from a quadraplegic writer who lives in a modern day iron lung. I saw him on TV -- I have to watch captioning to keep up with dialogue and missed his name. If I knew the name of the man to contribute it to it would be in my signature line. He said, in reference to people with disabilities:

"The two most misleading statements are 'Disabled people can't do anything.' and 'Disabled people can do everything.' "

Edited by lovebenton0, 21 May 2004 - 01:32 PM.

[ingridsf]

You said that so well, Susan, about assistance and how hard it is to be visibly different from other people. Of course I don't know the woman you offered help to, but what I noticed was that you offered. You didn't step in and start assisting without getting her permission. Had she been I, you would have gotten a different and more positive response. People don't always respect my personal space and I see-saw back and forth between resigned education and simply being pissed off when a stranger grabs my arm to lead me or pats me on the head. I'm small and fragile-looking but I'm also an adult woman who doesn't want some strange guy grabbing her.

I've had almost 40 years of growing into who I really am, which includes having muscular dystrophy. Yet I still balk at asking for help that no one, really, seems to mind giving. I think one of the hardest things for me is that I want to take care of people, too. This is one reason why I like cooking so much. But sometimes it's been hard for my family and men I've been involved with to let me fill that role. My little nephew has shown me that he doesn't have a problem with me taking care of him, which has been totally great.

Thanks to all again.

Ingrid

[specialteach]

Mottmott, if only the world was as accepting as you are.

I work at a school whose sole purpose is to treat special education students. One would think that in an environment such as this I could be open about my illness.
Unfortunately this is not the case. There is a parent at my school with the same illness. The year I had her daughter I was shocked at the comments I heard. And these are from educated, supposedly sympathetic people. If I have concerns and work where disabilities and illnesses are the norm, imagine what it is like for others.

There are days when I want to shout from the rooftops (both physical and virtual) that I have this disease. I would love to tell the world that most of their assumptions about me and people with my illness are wrong and I can do more than they imagined. Someday I will, but the US has too far to go before I can.

Most people in my non-work life know about it. There is nothing I love more than people asking questions. Nothing makes me happier than educating people about what I go through on a daily basis. There is no stupid question, as long as it is a sincere one.


I also believe you have to be able to laugh at yourself and your situation. Life is just too hard if you don't.

[ingridsf]

It's really hard sometimes when you think you're in an enlightened environment and -- ZING -- somebody says or does something that you would have sworn would never happen there. Like the national disability services org I was considering of joining the board of. Surely this would be an exemplar of progressive attitudes and equal access! Nah, not so much. The all-day retreat didn't have accessible bathrooms. The disturbingly few of us with disabilities who were there were casually told to raise our hands when we needed to go so someone could take us and assist. I didn't know a soul in the room and wasn't expecting to get to know them while I sat on the potty. I asked if we could all follow the same procedure, to at least level the field a bit. Nope. And taking a pass on that board was an easy decision.

Being an activist is SUCH a joy.

It's hard to find information about our lives with disabilities -- I generally feel like I don't exist demographically. Very little is out there that talks about what it's like for women and girls with disabilities. A wonderful, warm-hearted researcher named Harilyn Rousso has a study, "Strong, Proud Sisters," on the Women's Policy Research website in DC. Here's the link to the publications page:
http://www.centerwom...cfm?ProgramID=9

Corbett O'Toole, teacher, disabled, mother of a disabled daughter, will make you feel positively excited about life in general: http://www.centerwom...m?StatementID=5

The on-line magazine The Ragged Edge publishes a whole range of writing on what it's like to live with a disability: http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/

On the print side, there's Mouth magazine. Uppity, in your face and a real kick to the backside when such kicks really are called for. http://www.mouthmag.org/

If you're not just annoyed/momentarily disheartened but think some legal muscle needs toning, check out the Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund: www.dredf.org.

Need for a disability-related class action lawsuit getting you down? Check out Disability Rights Advocates: http://www.dralegal.org/

Hope you don't mind links that aren't about food/cooking. Just that it took me a lot of effort to find these, and never know who might use them. Back to our regularly scheduled program!

Ingrid

[lovebenton0]

It's really hard sometimes when you think you're in an enlightened environment and -- ZING -- somebody says or does something that you would have sworn would never happen there. Like the national disability services org I was considering of joining the board of. Surely this would be an exemplar of progressive attitudes and equal access! Nah, not so much. The all-day retreat didn't have accessible bathrooms. The disturbingly few of us with disabilities who were there were casually told to raise our hands when we needed to go so someone could take us and assist. I didn't know a soul in the room and wasn't expecting to get to know them while I sat on the potty. I asked if we could all follow the same procedure, to at least level the field a bit. Nope. And taking a pass on that board was an easy decision.

Being an activist is SUCH a joy.

It's hard to find information about our lives with disabilities -- I generally feel like I don't exist demographically. Very little is out there that talks about what it's like for women and girls with disabilities. A wonderful, warm-hearted researcher named Harilyn Rousso has a study, "Strong, Proud Sisters," on the Women's Policy Research website in DC. Here's the link to the publications page:
http://www.centerwom...cfm?ProgramID=9

Corbett O'Toole, teacher, disabled, mother of a disabled daughter, will make you feel positively excited about life in general: http://www.centerwom...m?StatementID=5

The on-line magazine The Ragged Edge publishes a whole range of writing on what it's like to live with a disability: http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/

On the print side, there's Mouth magazine. Uppity, in your face and a real kick to the backside when such kicks really are called for. http://www.mouthmag.org/

If you're not just annoyed/momentarily disheartened but think some legal muscle needs toning, check out the Disability Rights and Education Defense Fund: www.dredf.org.

Need for a disability-related class action lawsuit getting you down? Check out Disability Rights Advocates: http://www.dralegal.org/

Hope you don't mind links that aren't about food/cooking. Just that it took me a lot of effort to find these, and never know who might use them. Back to our regularly scheduled program!

Ingrid

Ingrid, what a true learning experience they passed up on that one! They want to help people with disabilities, but they are not willing to experience even the slightest bit of what many of us live with daily? They need to start with an ADAtude sensitivity course for all their members. The daily dignities we all deserve as human beings should not be discounted as unimportant because there is no monetary value attached to them.

That would have been an easy pass for me, too! Better to join with others that have some concept of what helping really means.

It is a hit to get "zinged" where you least expect it. A couple of years ago -- I was still working and still driving, trying to maintain a regular life as much as possible, not walking with a cane all the time as I must now -- I had a severe vertigo attack in my family doctor's office. No one even said a word to me as I was thrown off-balance against the wall and fell to the floor, right in front of the receptionist. She just glanced at me and looked away. I couldn't even speak and knew that I was going to vomit any moment. There was no way I could stand up; I proceeded to crawl out the door to my car -- no I didn't drive. I must say that was one time I was very grateful that someone (a patient) just opened the door for me. The bushes got blessed instead of the carpeting. I felt a bit like a sick puppy down on all fours heaving into the greenery.

Thank you for the links. We have quite a few in the Resources section that are not directly food related. We appreciate you sharing those with us.

[TrishCT]

I was a complete political neophyte several years ago when I ran for a high municipal public office. I disclosed to the nominating committee that I had MS (it was not a secret, but since I was not in the public eye, it was not something most people knew). They said as long as I felt I was able to do the job they supported me.

The campaign was contentious because no incumbents were running and it was a free-for-all. My opponents, who were the majority party in town, had not held this office in more than a decade and they were gunning for me. Right before the start of the candidates' debate I was told that my MS might be brought up by one of my challengers. I never expected to become an MS poster child but if that was what this was going to boil down to....so be it....

At that point, I no longer cared about winning an election. I did care that someone thought MS was a political weapon to be used to injure an opponent. How dare they think MS is political "mud"? Bring it on! The issue was not brought up at the debate, later I was told my opponent said it just to psych me out beforehand. GAH! I won that election and was also re-elected.

Having an illness or disability is a challenge... and during my time in office I spread the word that we can overcome these challenges through our own self-determination and the cooperation of others. Although some of us may face more limitations than others, working together as a team we can achieve the best quality of life for all.

Ingrid, keep on keeping on ! Sadly, that group could not see the forest through the trees, their loss .

This EGCI course was truly inspirational on many levels. Thank you.

[snowangel]

To return this thread to food.

A close friend, Melissa, has MS. She has good days and bad days. She is married and her husband, Doug, is a great help, but teaches and some of his classes are evening classes. Melissa loves food, and really misses being able to cook on her "off" days.

So, for her birthday and Christmas every year, I give her food-related gifts. "Gift Certificates" good for many things like either taking her to the grocery store and assisting her, helping her prep food, or shopping for her. Certificates offering to assist in prep for a special meal she may want to cook for Doug. While they dine, I retire to another room with a book, and take care of the clean-up. Frozen meals, portioned in one-person portions -- if it's she and Doug, she can take out two portions; if she's alone, she can take out one portion.

Judith mentioned in a recent e-mail that someone had given her 30 lbs. of peaches, which she is fighting to take care of. I would not only have given her the peaches, but spent the day with her helping to prep, can, make cobbler, talking.

These little things are greatly appreciated. Gifts to people with disabilites do not have to be stuff they have to dust or won't use. They don't have to cost a lot. If the friend/relative enjoys good food, think of ways to help that person enjoy food.

[dumplin]

I have a disease called Interstitial Cystitis. When I was first struggling with it 3 years ago, I was very limited with what I could do around the house without pain. My husband loves to cook, so between the two of us we managed to stay fed. I would cook when I felt like cooking, and just store the food in the fridge for dinner.
I now feel better thanks to an implant that controls my symptoms. My husband still likes to help with dinner preparations. I would leave cutting to him...things just happened to me.

I really appreciated the part about nausea. I've had medicines that give me nausea, and its hard to eat...or even think about food. Sometimes I would think about a comfort food that I could stand and eat that. Right now, its broccoli rice casserole. Not high brow, but its tempting me at least.

Snowangel, I love your suggestions for your friend. I loved getting great food items, but it was often a struggle for me to take advantage of a gift. My MIL brought me fresh peaches from SC when I lived in Michigan. She helped me peel and freeze them. I've had produce go bad because I've gotten sick before I could cook it. You're a good friend.

I want to thank all of you for this wonderful series. I still love to cook when I can, its an outlet.

[snowangel]

I should add that when I help her shop, and I also go home with her and help her get things washed and in the fridge, things in the cupboard, and help her do some initial prep. She said she appreciates that almost more than the help in shopping.

[srhcb]

From Part 3. "Lack of the olfactory sense is another circumstance that connects issues of texture and eating. The less one can smell and taste food the more important the feel of food in their mouth may become."

I have a friend who was born without a sense of smell. He can remember when he was a child being confused when people talked about smelling things, but it wasn't until he was around twelve years old that his mother took him to a doctor who figured out the problem.

Since he'd never had any sense of smell he didn't considered it a disability. In fact, when he was in the janitorial business it was actually an advantage at times. He could perform unpleasent cleaning jobs without having to deal with the nausea associated with bad odors.

He was a pretty good eater, and being a single parent he had even become a fairly passable cook. He relied a lot on feedback to make up for his own dificiencies in the area of flavor distictions. Italian food was one of his specialties and favorites, and he had even worked in the kitchen of a local Italian restaurant.

I don't recall anything else unusual about his eating habits, other than that he had a remarkable affinity for chocolate milk.

[JennyUptown]

Interesting and informative - just wonderful!

[lovebenton0]

To return this thread to food.

A close friend, Melissa, has MS. She has good days and bad days. She is married and her husband, Doug, is a great help, but teaches and some of his classes are evening classes. Melissa loves food, and really misses being able to cook on her "off" days.

So, for her birthday and Christmas every year, I give her food-related gifts. "Gift Certificates" good for many things like either taking her to the grocery store and assisting her, helping her prep food, or shopping for her. Certificates offering to assist in prep for a special meal she may want to cook for Doug. While they dine, I retire to another room with a book, and take care of the clean-up. Frozen meals, portioned in one-person portions -- if it's she and Doug, she can take out two portions; if she's alone, she can take out one portion.

Judith mentioned in a recent e-mail that someone had given her 30 lbs. of peaches, which she is fighting to take care of. I would not only have given her the peaches, but spent the day with her helping to prep, can, make cobbler, talking.

These little things are greatly appreciated. Gifts to people with disabilites do not have to be stuff they have to dust or won't use. They don't have to cost a lot. If the friend/relative enjoys good food, think of ways to help that person enjoy food.

Susan, come down to visit me! Your friend is very fortunate to have you. The gift certificates is a wonderful idea.

Some communities, unfortunately not all, do have service orgs that provide help for people with disabilities to go shopping. Some even provide more personal help such as helping one with the put up and prep of the groceries you bring home, or changing the light bulbs in your home. You can go to your state's web site to find a link to your Disabilities Commission or Dept. In the Resources section you will also find a link for web sites listed by state that may provide some help for you.

In all fairness to my dear neighbor -- she also has disabilities and had a mountain of peaches to deal with herself. Her husband helped her with theirs -- he is also dealing with disabilities from severe back injury -- and I told her how to freeze some. We wanted to meet here -- she is a little more mobile than I am (I could not have gotten the peaches to her if our situations were reversed!), and I have the set up here -- so we could make jam together, which she has never done before. Our good times during the day were not matching up so she went the freezer route. Their grown children help them quite a lot in the garden, they are lucky. We help each other when we are able. We trade garden goods, share recipes, and check on each other when we haven't seen that smiling face over the fence.

My husband finally realized what a task I was tackling and sat down and prepped about 10 lbs of the peaches in the time it takes me to get everything set up. sorted, and started on mine. I cooked jam after midnight when I was feeling better after spending most of the day down on the couch or in bed and by then the kitchen was cooler anyway. Canning is a difficult chore for me -- dealing with sterilizing jars and moving them and the hot product in and out, up and down, is pushing my safety envelope to the limits -- but I'm not going to give it up. The pleasure that it brings to me to "put up" homegrown food, or neighbor-grown in the case of the peaches, is too great.

Discovering the right tools that work for you, help make the job safer for you, when attempting kitchen tasks is essential. We can find a way to do many things, to cook and be part of the world we enjoy. Everyone has limitations, whether due to disabilities or to the availability of options in their lives, so I just keep trying new ways to work around mine.

The jam is still worth it. I have one more batch to go.

[jeniac42]

I'll admit I haven't had time to read through all the Q&A, so maybe some of this has been covered.

I work in a bakery and one of my coworkers is deaf. I'm not sure if he was born this way or if it happened later in life (though, at a guess, I would say born that way; when he writes things down they come out in ASL grammar instead of English grammar). He doesn't seem to have balance problems, but it's made me think about how difficult it must be to cook without hearing. He can't hear his timers going off, so we all pitch in to let him know. As you probably know if you've been in a professional kitchen, moving around with so many people can get frustrating, and even more so if you can't ask someone to move out of your way easily or hear them saying "behind you" so you can anticipate having to move out of their way. As an aside, he still manages to do more work in a day than almost anyone there. I am trying to learn some basic ASL signs (I've got "thank you" down, anyway) so I can talk to him better. So far it's mostly pidgin signing, which he usually understands.