Prepare a meal for yourself or have a family member, loved one, roomate, etc prepare a meal for you.

Prepare a meal for yourself or have a family member, loved one, roomate, etc prepare a meal for you. The real help you will need is having someone arrange the meal on the plate for you and to have them bring it to you. Ideally the meal should incorporate multiple textures, and can be eaten with fingers, silverware, or both.

Set yourself up in the dark. You can use a blindfold in a dim room, or really black out the room. Either way I want it to be very dark – to the point where you can’t see your plate. If you are completely on your own, prepare your plate, but once you are in the dark, give it a few spins so that you aren’t sure what is in front of you.

Have your roomate, family member, or partner bring your plate to you. If you want, they are welcome to eat with you in the dark – this doesn’t have to be a solo thing.

As you eat in the dark, I want you to reflect on what it means to be deprived of one of your senses while eating. Does the food taste different? Were you able to find what you needed? If you are completing this experience with someone else – how did the conversation go? If you were eating on your own – what was the experience like?

In your reflection, please address the following prompts:

How the meal was set up – describe who prepared it for you and what your setting was. Use your descriptive skills here to let me know what this looked like. What did you eat?

Describe the process of the meal. What happened? How was it?

Reflect on the experience. How did you feel about this? As a COTA – if you were working with someone who was unable to see their food, tolerate textures, use their motor skills, swallow easily – could you use anything you learned to support them? How can you support someone when they are eating or during mealtime when they don’t necessarily know what is about to come to them. Please explore a variety of possible scenarios.