For those who do not know, I am enrolled in cooking, Orientation and Mobility (O and M), and Amazon Echo Dot classes at a local training center for the blind and visually impaired.
I was nervous as a frantic mouse who was trying to get away from a cat the night before. Would I do well? Would I graduate in time? What would happen if I found employment in the middle of my training? Even though all these questions were going around in my mind, I felt comfort knowing I knew some of the staff and instructors, and two of my classmates from previous classes.
I woke up bright and early Tuesday morning; I quickly dressed and was ready for the bus way ahead of schedule. I waited and waited; when the bus did not show up for the arranged time, I called the company. Come to find out, the company had a computer problem and I was scheduled to be picked up on Wednesday. I had to cancel my ride, and my grandpa took me to the school.
I was still early for class, so I hung out in the conference room and talked with my classmates and staff.
Soon our lecture on safety and cooking meat began. I learned all kinds of things about the safety of cooking meat.
Spaghetti was on the menu. Soon we were adding our sauce in our pans. One of the goals I identified during my pre assessment was that I need to improve my chopping and dicing skills. I was able to peel and chop garlic, along with chopping and dicing one large green bell pepper and two mushrooms. One thing that I learned was that cutting on a clear cutting board was not helpful because of the contrasts. I ended up using a solid white cutting board. Once my ingredients were ready, I added it to my sauce and I let it cook, stirring as needed.
Once the sauce was finished, the teachers added in the spaghetti and hamburger that was already precooked. We stirred everything together.
The dish came out tasty and we were able to enjoy it for our lunch. We even got to take some home to our family.
I can not wait to share the rest of my journey with you and to acquire new skills and to grow in my confidence.
Harris' InkWell 
Hi Amanda
Do you have any specialist equipment to use in these courses you can share? Even equipment which is sold in mainstream stores but is useful to the VI counts. For example: spoons, bowls, plates in contrasting colours? Talking weighing scales? Talking microwave ovens? Large print menus? Or accessible via a smart phone or tablet using audio? Brailled knobs on cookers?
The *how* of what you learn, the techniques you use. All these things will help your blog writing so much more and educate everyone else.
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Hi Christine,
I am learning how to use Amazon Echo Dot to look up recipes. I have learned how to use cutting boards that have contrasting colors.
Chelsey here: this sounds like a fun experience I really want to take some independent living classes, but there is no center near me. 😦 I can’t wait to hear more about your classes. 🙂
Hi Chelsey,
Thanks for reading my post. I’m enjoying my classes.
That’s great to hear and I’m trying to look for some classes near me, so wish me luck. 🙂
Good Luck! 🙂