The 'Berry' Important Life Skills My Son With Down Syndrome Is Learning

This week during my son’s occupational therapy time, the therapist started working on some skills with my son while I started slicing a big box of strawberries.  “When can George start working on cutting with a knife?” I asked.  “Let’s start today!” she suggested.  So, we divided the strawberries between us.

This task was not easy for George, who has Down syndrome. His fingers are short and thick and he struggles with fine motor skills. Slicing strawberries is complex: using a sharp knife, cutting off the stem but not too much of the berry, slicing the fruit into smaller parts, and removing anything mushy or unripe. The therapist reminded him that knives are not toys and to keep the knife straight while being careful not to get cut. He also needed to rewash his hands a few times when a few strawberries got shoved in his mouth.

After the initial excitement of using a knife, there were loud sighs about this task even though there were plenty more strawberries to be sliced. To cheer him on, I decided to motivate him by connecting the task to a future job skill at one of his favorite restaurants — Dairy Queen.  “You know this is good practice because someday if you are working at Dairy Queen, you’ll need to know how to do this when someone orders a strawberry sundae.” George thought about this and then mumbled something about how “Blizzards” are a better choice anyway.  Blizzards are a blended ice cream treat from Dairy Queen that likely wouldn’t need strawberries.

Although I love his cleverness and sense of humor suggesting an alternative, I do want to make sure he has kitchen and other job skills mastered. This has made me think about: What other household jobs can he do or help with? Is he ready to follow directions and complete a task? Will he one day be ready to get a job and earn his own money? I came away from this experience with the realization that I need to involve George in more daily tasks in order to help him learn new skills and build stamina. A berry important lesson!