Independence in the Kitchen: Braille Your World

My son Liam is 6 years old (almost 7!!) and he is deafblind. He enjoys helping me around the house. One of his chores is to unload the dishwasher (see Accessible Job Chart for the Home). When he first started helping with this, he was able to put away only a few dishes independently. By making some changes and accommodations, Liam is now able to be to do many of the steps in putting away the dishes all by himself. In addition to working on braille literacy, these changes in the kitchen have helped to address the Independent Living Skills area of the Expanded Core Curriculum.

A young boy empties the dishawasher — *Liam empties the dishwasher.*

Young boy carrying pots and pans — *Liam puts away pots and pans.*

Making Storage Accessible

At first a lot of the dishes we used daily were stored in cupboards that were high up. As a result, Liam was not able to reach them independently. This weekend I switched the cupboards around so that the dishes we use on a daily basis are at Liam’s level and he can easily put them away by himself. Storing items where a child can easily reach them promotes accessibility and independence. See also: Making Storage Accessible.

Cabinet at low level — *Dishes were moved to lower cabinets*

A young boy puts plastic cups away in a cabinet — *Liam was able to find them independently.*

Finding braille labels on shelves — *Checking braille labels on shelves*

Organizing Items By Category

I added bins to organize the dishes for both of my sons (their drinking cups, plates, snack bowls, school lunch box dishes, etc.) to make it easier for Liam to sort.

*Cups and lids in bins marked with braille labels*

Adding Braille Labels

OF COURSE I added braille labels to both the cupboard shelves and the bins for Liam to read!

Plates with braille label — *Braille label on plastic bin with corresponding label on shelf*

Cups with braille labels — *Braille labels for cups*

This will help him to be able to set the table at dinner time more independently as well.

*Reading braille labels on silverware sorter*

He has been very excited to see his kitchen organized with braille 🙂 He has shown everyone that has come over to our house!

Variations:

Labels could be placed on the outside of the cupboards as well as the inside
Dividers could be placed in the cupboards instead of bins or do not need to be used at all, as stacks would work fine.

For more posts like this, see also:

Creating a Braille-Rich Environment at Home

Using Braille in the Kitchen