American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
Future Reflections Special Issue on Cooking PASSING IT FORWARD
Dinner for Sixty: Building Skills and Confidence at the Colorado Center for the Blind
by Maureen Nietfeld
From the Editor: Maureen Nietfeld describes herself as a person with multiple disabilities. She is Director of Student Services at the Colorado Center for the Blind, a position she has held since April of 2020. She serves as second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado and president of the NFB of Colorado's Denver Chapter. She and her husband David have a five-year-old son, Logan. Maureen is active in Colorado's Blind Parents Division, and she says being a mom is her absolutely favorite thing.
After I went blind from a rare genetic disease called Von Hippel Lindau syndrome, I had zero confidence, no blindness skills, and abysmally low expectations for myself. In 2009, hoping to get my life back on track, I decided to attend the Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB) to learn how to live as a blind person. I was very nervous about taking this major step, but the Center transformed my life.
Most of the instructors at the CCB were blind, and they served as wise and patient role models. My blind instructors instilled me with the knowledge that blindness techniques were practical, safe, and effective. I got excited about the idea of working in the blindness field myself.
In 2010 I was offered a job at the Colorado Center for the Blind as a home management instructor, a position I held for close to nine years. It was incredibly rewarding to watch people's progress, to see the growth in each person during their time at the Center. I felt honored to work with so many people from all over the world and to be a part of their journey as they gained their independence.
One of my most treasured experiences was working with a student I will call Anna. When Anna arrived at the Center, she already had fabulous skills in Braille and access technology. However, she had very limited experience with cane travel and home management. Anna had no experience at all with cleaning or cooking. In fact, she had never even used a microwave.
We dove right into training, starting with the very basics such as pouring drinks. We prepared hot drinks such as cocoa, and we used the microwave to heat up frozen meals. We made sandwiches, and we used the toaster to heat waffles and bagels.
At the Colorado Center for the Blind, we use the Structured Discovery method of teaching. All along as we worked on these tasks, we explored our environment and worked on problem-solving. We focused on cleaning techniques as we went along. We always discussed how we would transfer these skills to other environments and other tasks.
As I worked with Anna I noticed immediately that she was a sponge. It was clear that these skills weren't already part of her life because she simply wasn't given the opportunity to try them out. Anna quickly moved on to preparing more complex meals. She went grocery shopping independently, and she made it very evident that she was quickly gaining the ability to live on her own.
At the CCB one of the requirements is that students prepare a “mini meal” for fifteen guests. Students need to plan every aspect of this project. The mini meal is usually completed around the midpoint of a student's program, which means they have been at the Center for about five months. Anna prepared a wonderful blackened chicken over fettuccine with a homemade Alfredo sauce, garlic bread, and dessert. In just five months, she went from never using a microwave to cooking a complex meal for fifteen people! The meal went off flawlessly, and she needed almost no assistance from me.
When students are ready to graduate from the Colorado Center for the Blind, they prepare and serve a meal for sixty people. Anna made chicken tortilla soup, a black bean salad, and key lime pie, all from scratch. I remember walking into the kitchen to check on her. She was preparing her key lime pie like an expert. I said, “Well, you don't need me anymore.” That's exactly what I hope to say to every student when they graduate from the Colorado Center for the Blind.
I really learned so much from working with Anna! The most important thing I learned from her was that blind kids need the opportunity, the space, and the freedom to get in there and cook and clean and learn just as sighted kids do. Anna made the decision to receive training at the CCB because, as a student in college, she was really struggling because she didn't have the skills to live independently.
Too often people think that blindness is a barrier to being able to learn the skills of home management. At the CCB we know that is not the case. If you are a parent and you think your sighted ten-year-old should be able to prepare their own breakfast and make their bed, then your blind child should be doing those things, too. We need to set our expectations high so our blind kids are prepared for a future of independence, confidence, and success.