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Awakening the senses with food and fun Arousing the senses with the tastes and smells of delicious foods is second nature for Leslie Sassaman. The trainer at the Young Chefs Academy in the Packing House has shared her cooking skills with children for nearly 2 years. On Sunday, Ms. Sassaman and other chefs hosted a special event for children with autism, bringing smiles to their faces with new and tasty foods. The fundraiser was held in observance of World Autism Awareness Day and raised over $1,000 for the nonprofit organization Autism Speaks. "There was an air of fun with the kids," Ms. Sassaman said. "We put a lot of effort into planning the event and to see it unfold without a hitch was very rewarding. There was a lot of positive energy in the room." Thirty five children with autism came from cities throughout Southern California to participate in Sunday's event. They were split up into 2 groups for hour long cooking sessions. The event was free for the families who participated as they were all sponsored to attend by local businesses. There was also 3 guest speakers who spoke with parents, Grady Jennings, a financial planner specializing in economic planning for special needs families, and Hitendra Shah, a doctor specializing in autism treatment and Philip Hain, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chapter of Autism Speaks. "A lot of kids with autism are extremely picky with food and this was a playful environment for them to be exposed to different types of foods," said Jess Block, a co-organizers who attended with her 3-year-old son. "Also many autistic children have food allergies and can't participate in events like this so all the food was wheat and dairy free."
There was plenty of ways for the participants, who ranged in age from 2 to 29, to experience food and have fun. There was a fruit station, where strawberries and banana were cut up and placed onto skewers, a cookie station, where participants could decorated cookies with frosting and other toppings and a smoothie station. The participants were also tested at stations challenging their senses of touch and smell. One station had jars with items such as cinnamon sticks and participants had to guess what was inside. Another station had bowls of corn where they could feel the kernels in their hands. "The cookie station was of course a giant hit," Ms. Sassaman said. Ms. Sassaman said the Young Chef's Academy plans to host more fundraisers and may set up a regular class for children with autism. It's estimated that about one in 150 children in the United States has autism or a closely related disorder. Autism Speaks is the world's largest autism advocacy organization, dedicated to increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders, to funding research into the causes, prevention and treatments for autism and to advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Ms. Block said that the Culinary Institute of America published a piece about the event in their newsletter, leading to a barrage of emails from people all over the world asking how to run a similar event. "It was great to see how many people could be inspired by this," Ms. Block said. —Tony Krickl |
