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Helpful Adaptive
Dining Aids
Eating your food can be messy
business if you are able bodied,
young, old or somewhere in
between. Making a mess, spilling
your milk, or dropping food on
your shirt happens to all of us at
one time or another. Having
limited mobility or dexterity can
turn a, once enjoyable dining
experience, into a dreaded,
unwanted experience.
The following dining tools will
assist in making the eating
experience easier and more
enjoyable.
Scooper
Plate - The scooper plate
is more like a small bowl (or a
plate with a rim). It makes
lifting the food from the plate
easier. Because of the rim, less
food is likely to fall on the
table. Some scooper plates have an
anti slip surface on the bottom so
the plate does not slide around
while eating.
Weighted Utensils -
Weighted utensils usually look
just like your regular stainless
steel spoon, fork, and knife. The
only difference is that they are
quite a bit heavier. The weight is
in the handle. Having a heavier
utensil makes it easier for people
with shaky hands (such as in
Parkinson’s Disease) to grasp and
hold on to the utensil. The nice
thing about the utensils is that
they still look nice. Anyone could
use them.
Utensils with Big Grips
- Utensils with large handles can
be purchased almost anywhere.
These handles are usually black,
rubber and have a good gripping
surface. You can find the big
grips in cheese slicers, spatulas,
spoons, peelers and more. They are
especially nice and easy to use. I
would recommend them to anyone.
Bent Utensils -
Online specialty stores offer bent
utensils. You can buy right angle
and left angle utensils. Many of
the utensils have an easy to bend
handle. In this way, you can
manipulate the handle to the best
angle that will aid in easier
eating.
Cups with Handles and Lids
- Cups that have large, easy to
grip handles can make drinking
much easier. These cups are good
for those that have shaky hands
and risk spilling or dropping the
cup. Those with limited strength
in their hands can also benefit
from cups with handles as well as
lids.
Plate Guard - A
plate guard is a plastic lip that
fits around a standard plate. A
plate guard does the same thing as
a scooper plate. The nice thing
about a plate guard is that you do
not need to purchase new plates.
You can use your regular plate and
put the guard on it so food does
not fall easily off the plate. The
guard acts as a guide to get the
food up and off the plate.
Non-Slip Surfaces -
As mentioned above, many scooper
plates have a non-slip surface on
the bottom. There are also more
and more serving bowls that come
with an anti sip surface. This is
a great feature because you do not
have to hold onto the bowl with
both of your hands; you can stir
without worrying about the bowl
falling on the floor. Non slip
surface material is also available
in grocery stores that can be cut
into squares and used under bowls,
plates and more. This is an easy
and inexpensive solution for
stopping the movement of bowls and
plates.
Adult Bibs - Adult
bibs or clothing protectors as
they are often called can be very
helpful in keeping food and liquid
off of clothing. Adult bibs now
come in decorative designs as well
as standard terry cloth and
disposable or wipe clean options.
Wearing a clothing protector makes
sense and can save on extra
washing and stain removal of good
clothing.
©Assisted Living Store, Inc.
(March 21, 2008)
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