Life Skills: Learning to Cook Around Sensory Challenges 🥞 When Ben was younger, using the stove was a real challenge. One of the biggest barriers wasn’t the cooking itself — it was the sound . Ben was extremely sensitive to the sound of food sizzling in a pan. He called it “the sizzle,” and when he heard it, he would often run out of the room. So learning to cook on the stove has been something we’ve worked on very gradually over the years. We didn’t start with foods that required a very hot pan or created a loud sizzle. We started with quieter, more manageable cooking experiences and slowly built from there. Today, Ben can do things like flip a pancake, stir food cooking on the stove, and participate much more comfortably in meal preparation. He’s still not independent with stove cooking. He needs supervision, prompting, and help along the way — and that’s okay. The goal has never been to rush independence. It has been to help him participate, build confidence, and continue learning at a pace that works for him. Sometimes a life skill isn’t difficult because someone doesn’t understand how to do it. There may be a sensory piece making the skill much harder than it appears from the outside. For Ben, before we could work on cooking, we first had to work with the sizzle. ❤️ Are there any everyday life skills that have been harder for your child because of a sensory challenge? What helped them take that next little step?

Hi to all our new members! We are excited to grow our Skool together into a supportive, helpful community! What Brought You Here? ❤️ We’d love to get to know you a little better! If you’re comfortable sharing, what is one thing you’re hoping to learn more about or find support with here in Ben’s Circle? It could be communication, sensory needs, routines, behaviors, social skills, independence, homeschooling — or something completely different. Even just a few words is perfect. ❤️ Your answers will also help us know what kinds of videos and conversations would be most helpful to share here.

When we were getting ready to go out into the community, there were often many important things for Ben to remember—staying close, walking safely, using appropriate social skills, and following expectations in different places. Instead of trying to verbally remind him of everything each time we went out, I created simple visual key rings with reminders he could look at before and during our outings. These visual prompts helped make expectations more predictable, encouraged independence, and reduced the need for constant verbal reminders. In this video, I share how I used this simple strategy with Ben and why it became a helpful tool for community outings. Every autistic person is different, but I hope this idea inspires you to create visual supports that fit your own child's needs. 💬 I'd love to hear from you. Have you ever used visual reminders, picture cards, or checklists to prepare your child for community outings? I'd love to hear what has worked for your family.

We'd love to get to know you. ❤️ Where are you from? ❤️ Who are you supporting? ❤️ What brought you to Ben's Circle? ❤️ What's one thing you hope to learn here?