Created by Anna Moyer, as a part of her Girl Scout Gold Award Project
Accessible Chef is an online resource designed to help individuals with disabilities, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), learn and practice cooking skills. Healthcare professionals who support individuals with IDD, like nutrition educators, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, can also utilize this resource to help make food preparation more accessible and inclusive. The platform offers free accessible recipes, a custom recipe creator tool, and adaptive cooking resources and tips to support meaningful skill development in meal preparation. By providing clear visual supports, step-by-step instructions, and adapted tools, this resource encourages personal choice in meal preparation and empowers individuals to build confidence and independence through everyday cooking experiences.
Resources Available through Accessible Chef:
- More than 300 free visual recipes that teach foundational cooking skills. Visual recipes break down instructions into discrete, sequential steps using plain-language phrases paired with clear images of ingredients and instructions.
- Adaptive cooking resources and tips, such as guidance on the use of adaptive cooking tools, video demonstrations of cooking skills, basic cooking definitions, and strategies for efficient shopping and cooking.
- A customizable visual recipe creator that includes editable templates and a library of ingredient and cooking tool images. Users can input their own ingredients, tools, and step-by-step instructions to create accessible recipes tailored to individual needs. Templates are fully customizable, allowing users to upload their own images and adjust formatting to best support learners with IDD.
By increasing opportunities to enhance cooking skills and increase autonomy in the kitchen, Accessible Chef offers the potential to improve nutrition-related health outcomes among individuals with IDD.
See below for resources.
