Ms. Cundiff’s Special Needs Class at the Gallatin County Middle School consists of 8 students all with different cognitive development and sensory issues.   The Gallatin County Cooperative Extension Service Family & Consumer Sciences Agent, Ronda Rex was called upon to assist the students with reading recipes and cooking/baking.  According to Autism Speaks, “every person with autism is different, so the life skills that will be taught, and the pace that they are taught, will vary from person to person. For example, one young adult with autism may ultimately be able to live on his or her own with very little, if any, outside support, while another may require support and services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Starting to develop life skills to the best of a child's ability at a young age will make a difference as they get older.  Most people with autism benefit from clear, hands-on instruction in life skills that will help them to increase independence.” 

Ronda reached out to the University of Kentucky Specialist, Dr. Courtney Luecking for resources and recipes to assist the Ms. Cundiff and her students.  Dr. Luecking shared visual recipes and a program known as the Dr Yum Project, which is a pilot program being conducted by certain counties in Kentucky.  The University of Kentucky Eat, Plan, Move and the Oregon State University Food Hero recipes were utilized with the students.  The students prepared several foods and snacks throughout the school year.   One popular food that students especially liked was the “Personal Pizza.”  With such sensory challenges, it is very difficult to get the students to try the most common foods.  One student, Jensen, only eats two kinds of frozen “convenience” foods which are obviously not the healthiest choices.  However, on pizza day, Jensen was able to touch his pizza with much positive encouragement from his teacher.  So, for most students, this is nothing but for students with sensory issues, this is a real breakthrough.  Other students enjoyed their pizza from creating it to eating it.  And this is a recipe that can be created by the students in their classroom from now on as the classroom has a kitchen. Through observation and Ms. Cundiff’s feedback, her students are responding well to the cooking classes and trying exploring new foods along with following directions.      

In the Fall 2024, Ronda will continue to work with Ms. Cundiff’s classroom to complete various sewing projects.  Ronda will also be conducting the Dr. Yum Project as a pilot program as part of Dr. Courtney Luecking’s Pilot with the Kentucky counties. 

https://www.autismspeaks.org/life-skills-and-autism 

Success Story submitted June 2024