Dean’s Success Story- Assistive Technology Awareness Month

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Dean is a young boy with brown hair. He sits in his hair chair and smiles as he grasps the EasiEater fork with both hands. On the tray of the high chair, there is. a piece of. a cracker.

Happy Assistive Technology Awareness Month! This month, we hope to share some AT success stories to help everyone learn what an amazing tool AT can be!

Dean is a handsome and happy two-year-old boy with developmental delays. A developmental delay refers to a child who has not gained the developmental skills expected of them, compared to others of the same age. Delays may occur in motor function, speech and language, cognitive, play, and social skills. 

Dean and his family have been working with SoonerStart and Oklahoma ABLE Tech to help Dean reach his developmental milestones. Before receiving SoonerStart services, Dean had difficulty with self-feeding and using utensils. Dean’s SoonerStart team introduced his family to a piece of assistive technology (AT), the EasiEater Spoon and Fork. The EasiEater utensils are lightweight, curved, and easy to grip. The fixed curve in the utensils helps make the hand-to-mouth motion easier.

Thanks to the EasiEaters, Dean now self-feeds with ease. The family’s next goal is to transition from the EasiEaters to regular utensils!

To learn more about SoonerStart or AT for infants and toddlers with disabilities, visit our SoonerStart Collaboration webpage.

 
 
Dean is sitting in his high chair. He is looking at the blue EasiEater fork as he pulls ramen noodles that are in a clear container towards his mouth. On the white high chair tray, there are several noodles and crackers spread across the surface.