In her 11 years of experience working with special education students, Beverly Worth Palomba has found that developmentally-challenged individuals require certain teaching strategies. After developing a culinary arts class for her special needs students, she found there wasn’t a cookbook on the market that enforced these critical teaching methods. As a result, Palomba decided to fill that void and created Special Day Cooking: A Life Skills Cookbook.
Geared not only toward those with autism, down syndrome, ADHD, ADD, and other developmental and learning disabilities, but young people with a desire to learn to cook as well, the recipes in Special Day Cooking are supported by a proven approach to cooking that show great success. All recipes are in large type, and are formatted in consistent, easy-to-follow steps for all skill levels. They are safe — needing only a microwave, toaster or blender and a plastic knife to cook, and sometimes no equipment at all — and can all be completed in one hour or less.
“Whether a person is living at home, in a group home or have their own apartment, cooking is a very important life skill and one that’s needed every day,” shares Palomba. “We want our children to be as independent as they can be, and sharing a recipe with family or friends makes you feel great. Up goes your self-esteem and self-confidence!”
Including more than 60 recipes, Special Day Cooking goes beyond cooking skills to teach life skills including:
Knowledge to promote independent living
Working together and fostering teamwork
Self-confidence and building self-esteem
Bonding with family and friends in the kitchen
Strengthens motor skills
And so much more!
After working in the computer industry in Massachusetts, Beverly Worth Palomba moved to the San Francisco Bay area with her family and turned to her real love: education. She has been a teacher from Pre-K through high school for more than 20 years and, during the past 11 years, she has worked exclusively in Special Education. She created a life skills cooking class four years ago at the local high school geared to the needs and abilities of her students. In addition, she provides cooking workshops at local community centers. This program inspired her first book, Special Day Cooking: A Life Skills Cookbook. She enjoys cooking, gardening, reading and spending time with her husband, daughter and kitty named Kiwi.
For more information, visit www.specialdaycooking.com.
Special Day Cooking is available at SpecialDayCooking.com and on Amazon.
