Sometimes disease affects life in unexpected ways. The simplest tasks -- delivering food to your mouth -- can seem impossible. Strokes, cerebral palsy and other health conditions affect muscle and nerve function, making it difficult to manage regular eating utensils. The ability to feed yourself is pivotal to remaining independent and staying out of an assisted living or skilled care facility. Fortunately, several eating utensils were designed to make eating at home -- and staying at home -- easier for people with special needs.
Focus
Specially designed eating utensils address specific needs, such as cutting food into bite-sized pieces, grabbing it with a fork or spoon and delivering it to the mouth. Buttering a piece of bread takes dexterity. These necessary tasks are also time-consuming and can require the attention of a caretaker. Well-designed eating utensils, however, diminish obstacles for those with special needs and increase independence from caretakers.
Weighted Utensils
Utensils with weighted handles reduce the effect of hand tremors, notes the Handicapped Equipment website. It is difficult to eat soup with shaking hands. Trembling hands also lead to messy and embarrassing spills. Weighted utensils are easier to use for people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions that cause shaky hands.
Grip
Arthritis of the hand, muscular dystrophy, carpal tunnel syndrome and other medical conditions can affect your grip in a way that makes it difficult to close your hand tightly enough around the narrow handle of an eating utensil. A weak grip can cause you to drop the utensil or lose control of the food between the plate and your mouth. Some eating utensils are equipped with thick handles that require less dexterity and grip strength than regular utensils. In other cases, a strap secures the eating utensil to your hand. These utensils are handy for a person whose hands cannot grip objects but whose arms are strong enough to deliver food from the plate to her mouth.
Knives
Cutting food into bite-size pieces is challenging if you have full use of only one hand or when you suffer from a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to coordinate the independent motions of each hand. One-handed cutlery sets feature a fork that, when pushed down onto food, retracts into a three-sided box knife that cuts food into a bite-sized piece. When you release pressure, the fork extends into the food and moves the box knife a safe distance from your mouth.
Feeding Device
Scientists are developing mechanical feeding devices for those who cannot hold conventional utensils. The Digital Resource Foundation for the Orthotics and Prosthetics Community reports that the Ontario Crippled Children's Centre in Canada has developed such a device. Caretakers put the food plate onto a spindle, which the operator can rotate by pushing or pulling a knob. The operator then pushes buttons that cause the machine to scoop and lift food to the operator’s mouth.
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