Picture Cookbook: No-Cook Recipes for the Special Chef: Volume one

There has never been a cookbook like this, nor has there been a book that could improve the lives of families with special needs members more than this book has the potential to do. After a futile search to buy a book for teaching her daughter to cook, the author eventually wrote the book she had sought to buy. The first in a series of four cookbooks for budding chefs with special needs including autism, attention deficit disorder, Down’s Syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, illiteracy, advanced or young age, The Picture Cookbook is the result of the author’s four years of efforts teaching her own autistic daughter to cook and bake. <td The title says it all, but the book is not simply a series of pictures leading the potential chef through the steps. All aspects of avoiding injury and ensuring success have been cleverly thought through. Using modern kitchen tools, the authors have written recipes that are safe for anyone to use, be they young children, confused adults or people with special needs. Furthermore, for the benefit of teachers and caregivers, instructions on the process of teaching someone to use the cookbook are detailed, as well as discussions of issues that can arise.

The picture index allows cooks to easily spot their favourite recipes without the need to read or understand names. The book boasts lay-flat binding, extensive colour-coding, and beautifully laid out colour photography.

Joyce Dassonville has worked as a registered nurse, family law and personal injury litigation lawyer, appeal commissioner and dispute resolution specialist. She spent five years advocating on behalf of special needs children. She is the mother of three. Her youngest daughter, Dominique, is a low-functioning autistic girl (aged 12 at the time of printing). Joyce ultimately gave up her career in law to ensure that her daughter becomes functionally independent by learning life skills. Joyce lives in South Surrey, BC.

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Ehren McDow is a trained chef and professional baker. He is Joyce s son and Dominique s older brother. At his insistence, he began cooking with his mother at age two. He applies his culinary arts training to modify and create recipes appropriate for people with special needs. An avid reader of cooking books and science fiction, Ehren lives in Vancouver, BC.