Toronto cooking school helps adults with Down syndrome gain independance

Lisa Dickie has always been an avid cook.

Coming from a large family, meals were always a big production.

Dickie spent years catering, even worked with a chef preparing vegetarian meals. But what’s most interesting about Dickie is her background in special education. So three years ago, she decided to combine her love of cooking with teaching and opened a cooking school.

“It was just a natural progression to offer classes for adults with Down syndrome and autism just because there aren’t a lot of opportunities,” said Dickie. “Especially once people reach the age of 18.”

The emphasis is on independence at Dickie’s Cooking School on Danforth Avenue, offering classes once a month tailored to young adults with Down syndrome, autism and mild intellectual disabilities.

“But the focus is, what constitute a meal and how do you make it?” Dickie explained. “My students break out in groups of two and four and they work as a unit.”

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When cooking student Matthew Hoffman was asked what he liked most about the cooking class? he replied, “Friends. we stick together. That’s what it’s for to be together.”

Each class covers basic cooking skills, how to plan and prep a meal, the components of a healthy meal, food safety and hygiene.

“The best way to inspire confidence when cooking is to break a task down,” said Dickie. “It doesn’t make sense in any cooking class whether it’s for someone with Down syndrome or it’s an adult class to give them the entire recipe right from the start, it can overwhelm anyone.”

What it boils down to at the end of every Thursday two-hour class is friendship.

“Oh they’re building friendships. They are working together, they collaborate on recipes, they talk to each other about what they like in terms of taste, would you add a bit more salt or would you do it differently,” said Dickie.

“Some of the students started with friendships, but they are definitely deepening their friendships and we end each class where we eat the meal together so it’s social the way a cooking class should be.”