part. Most of Sarah’s friends do not have special needs and I attribute this to the attitude of our principal and how this attitude is carried down through the school. At Sarah’s school, all kids are special, not just kids with special needs, and that is equality and it is a beautiful thing to witness. PSN: How did you come up with the idea of a cooking show? VS: Honestly, the idea was born out of a solution to a really difficult problem in Sarah’s education plan. In 7th grade, I had to make the difficult decision to home school my daughter because she would not engage in her resource classes. So, she went to school in the mornings for classes with her typical peers and I hired a special education teacher for two one-hour sessions a week. I taught her the other three days in the afternoon. I’m not a teacher, so I found activities she could learn from, thinking this would be more appeasing to her. So, we started cooking. And that is when I realized how many skill sets she could learn in the process. Math, sequencing, fractions, crossing midline – you name it. And the more we did it, the more I
Sarah and Valerie working together on recipes
thought “this can apply to anything you do with your child”. I decided that the cooking show was the most pleasing format to show other parents how to teach your child independence in their natural environment. I had no idea it would be this popular. I actually thought it was just another crazy idea I had. PSN: What is something your child does that you’ve come to appreciate as a gift? VS: All of her euphemisms. They have now become an actual love language in our family. Probably not the best thing to do, but, we all can talk “Sarah” and it brings us a lot of joy. PSN: Do you have a proud moment you would like to share with us? VS: Actually, there are a lot of moments where I am proud of my daughter, but, they all seem to focus around her courage. Sarah will pretty much try anything and for that I am truly proud. I know she is afraid sometimes, but, she will still try. Horseback riding, singing in her school choir, taping the cooking show – all of these activities caused her some fear, but, she attempted them anyway and triumphed over her fear. I really have a lot of respect for her for doing this. PSN: What do you know now that you wished you had known earlier? VS: That this whole disability thing is really not that big of a deal. It’s different, but that is it. And a “go-to” person for additional help and insight. Finally, our doctors are always a great resource –sharing the latest reports and learnings about CCHS and guiding us through the decision making process.
Photo Courtesy Valerie Strohl
JUL/AUG 2013
PARENTING SPECIAL NEEDS.ORG
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