Cooking School @ Autism Family Alliance

​Their cooking school began in 2002, providing top-quality instruction for adults and adolescents on the autism spectrum. Finely-honed teaching methods raise their students’ abilities to impressive levels. They prepare meals on the high-end of home cooking, displaying this skill wherever they reside—whether in the family home or an assisted-living arrangement. Some of their students have found jobs preparing food in restaurants. Their service model engendering this success differs from many other adult services. They employ a one-on-one teacher-to-student ratio. Their teachers (known as coaches) all have prior, verifiably successful experience working with persons on the autism spectrum before joining them. They give additional training, specific to their cooking program, and provide opportunities to attend quality courses on ASD. Beyond teaching their students how to cook really well, they use non-coercive strategies to help them overcome unhealthy eating habits. Their cooking classes always culminate in shared meals, where conversation and social skills are cultivated. They have hosted service providers from other cities—even from other countries—who want to learn how to run cooking classes like theirs. In their cookbook, they set out step by step how to replicate their cooking school. Now anyone with a kitchen and the determination to help people on the autism spectrum have better lives can teach them how to cook really well.