Chandler is a 17-year-old young lady who was referred by RCB Merideth Wheeler for Independent Living Services to compliment the VR services she was receiving. Merideth believed the services would enable Chandler to capitalize on her strong desire to learn to be as independent as possible. When IL counselor Chance Groves met with Chandler, she learned Chandler loves to cook and bake and had plans to pursue a degree in the culinary field upon high school graduation.
Chandler has been living with low vision her entire life, and she has independently developed several skills to be able to manage a lot of activities; however, she has been very open to learning adaptive methods to more safety complete tasks around the kitchen. She has been especially receptive of handling these tasks using adaptive methods instead of being device dependent as she understands she will need to function safely in any kitchen in which she works without having to carry various adaptive devices from place to place.
Since beginning independent living skills training, Chandler has already reported an increased confidence in her ability to handle tasks more safely. Her mother has stated she sees Chandler functioning more independently, because Chandler frequently puts her skills to use not only in her culinary classes, but also, helping the family prepare daily meals for a large group of farm workers.
While the reports of Chandler’s skill gains are exciting, one of the most satisfying opportunities to use her new abilities came following the December tornados in Western Kentucky when she baked 300 cookies for the victims in her area. Her connection to the Independent Living program has given her the confidence necessary to work on such a large scale to serve others.
Thank you to RCB Merideth Wheeler for connecting Chandler to the Independent Living program, and Congratulations to Chandler, and to IL Counselor Chance Groves for achieving this recognition of work well done.