April ~ Day Six

Nick has trouble with wrist rotation, therefore it's difficult for him to manipulate cutlery. Preparing food is a good time to practice using various kitchen implements/cutlery.


My objective:

I really want to work on pacing and observe Nick to see if he can regulate his movements with mine.


Activity:    

Cutting a banana.


Our roles:

For this activity, I decided that we would use one banana (cut in half) and two knives. We would work together and cut our own section of the banana simultaneously.


Limits:

Half a banana each. No music. No dogs in the kitchen.


Communication:

Explain the activity and define our roles.
Use chanting to scaffold the cutting. "Cut, cut, cut, cut".
Stop the action and pause. This gives Nick time to regroup and think for himself.
Make little noises if needed. Nick is aware that a small noise means something, therefore checks out me and my body language for further information.


What happened:

As expected, Nick battled to hold the knife correctly and needed assistance with the correct grip. He quickly picked up on our simultaneous pattern, although raced ahead at times. In order to slow him down, I deliberately paused and waited for him to get back in sync with me. He was very aware of coordinating his movements with mine and tried hard to concentrate on the pacing of the activity. The power of the pause is amazing. Try it!


What next:

Use another banana and bring in an apple. I want Nick to *feel* the difference between cutting a soft fruit and a hard fruit.