James Thacker Overcomes More Than Cerebral Palsy Limitations-2023: Wrote by James Thacker assisted with his mother Diane Thacker

Motivational Mondays: Invent Your Solution

Today is # NationalChopstickDay2023.

In celebration of #National Chopstick Day, A-NOD For Situational Awareness LLC is sharing James Thacker’s story on how he discovered chopsticks and how he has overcome “the idea that those who deal with disabilities find it impossible to eat with them”.

Before discussing James and his discoveries, I want to draw your attention to today’s National Chopstick Day informational summary. It highlights that Japanese food is usually eaten with chopsticks (known as o-Hashi in Japanese), and according to the National Chopsticks Day Summary, the author noted that chopsticks can be extremely challenging, if not impossible, for individuals with disabilities affecting their hands to use. As such an author for the BBC website in August 2014 concurred that food enthusiasts and those with disabilities still encounter numerous obstacles when dining at restaurants, mentioning that many people without disabilities also find it difficult to eat with chopsticks!

Yet my son. James Thacker, age 11, disagrees with the concept. That., this is impossible to to us.

In fact today at the age of ten, he found. A pair of chopsticks is in our kitchen drawer, asked what they were and began to look at videos to learn how. This said James deals with Sensory Processing Disorder and low muscle tone. Born a micro preemie, 1.6lb. This said, he spent three months in the NICU overcoming many barriers. One of his barriers was his failure to thrive along with eating concerns. Yet, thankfully unders his doctor's are he makes us for his height and weight, and today he is thriving today to her satisfaction. As such, any way that we can get him to eat the foods that he needs to maintain his weight and height is a good thing, his doctors says. So, if James wants to use chopsticks, this then provides for him an even more reason to learn and then demonstrate it what he has learned.

Because James' story speaks to an aspect of Situational Awareness which strives to bring awareness to those crises and barriers that deal with anxieties, disabilities, and sensory health concerns while in the situation that they are in. And such, our A-NOD vision strives to help loved ones who have disabilities find resources that can aid in them within their world, and within this space chopsticks can help one learn how to eat when their physical conditions limits their ability to do so.

This said, James found a the video regarding the use of ChopSticks and called it a life hack.. Amusingly, James became serious and asked me, “Have you ever done it left-handed? And I told him I had not, yet mentioned that he could once he figured it out.

This said, Chopsticks are mentioned as early as 1,400 years ago in the Kojiki book - a chronicle of Japanese history thought to have been written in 712 AD. However, historians believe they made their way to Japan from China via Korea much earlier than this and have been a fundamental part of Japanese. In August of 2014, an article was done on Katsuyuki Miyabi, a Japanese craftsman, who does not think anybody should be excluded from this age-old tradition and is custom-making chopsticks for clients who are disabled.

So, based in the Fukui prefecture of Japan, Miyabi's solution is spring-operated and requires little strength and dexterity to use. Although they look like chopsticks, they operate like tongs. Squeeze them together to pick up food, and once the pressure is released, they spring back open.

Individually designed, Miyabi says each set of chopsticks needs to meet the specific needs of the owner. For example, a person lacking a thumb needs a unique design from somebody who has paralysis.

IMAGE SOURCE,KATSUYUKI MIYABI

Image caption,

The individually designed chopsticks are spring-operated

IMAGE SOURCE,KATSUYUKI MIYABI

Miyabi meets clients face-to-face. First, they choose the style of chopsticks together, then Miyabi carves them according to the precise shape and measurement of the client's hand, and factors in other disability needs such as strength. The result is a pair of bespoke chopsticks, uniquely suited to the individual client.

According to the Japanese cultural blog Spoon & Tamago, the meetings are not just so Miyabi can simply get measurements, but also so he can understand how the disability of clients affects them in daily life. This is a game-changer for those who deal with cerebral palsy.

As such, James was diagnosed with a mild case of cerebral palsy when he was about two years old in Iowa City at the Children's Disabilities Center. Dr Reasoner did not, at that time, know how long his condition would last. And did not know what it might do to James. She also explained all the different signs and symptoms he may experience, suggesting that he do physical therapy to begin work on his muscle tone.

Just last year, James graduated from this type of program. And before graduating from his Physical therapy program, his doctor signed off on James, indicating that she did not see any other signs of cerebral palsy in him.

 A miracle, yes, as well as, accommodations were made, yes, and the outcome was always a journey, yet, as hard as it may be, one that needed to pursued.

Because many, many people, I am saying again and over, have heard this before. It takes the community to raise a child. This said, I am so blessed to know the many who have been in our world. Going forward, I would like to be part of your world as well. In programming and resources. Especially those that stem from our business, A-NOD For Situational Awareness LLC., which strives to find those other resources that families can benefit from. Networking is the best way, especially on days when we deal with hard situational moments.

As the journalist said in his articles, moments like this are central to Japanese life and death, nd disabled people could benefit from accessible chopsticks rather than resorting to Western cutlery, and James and I would agree and say, no matter the culture, what is central to one’s life and death, when our loved ones deal with disabilities, it is beneficial for all to find the resources and accommodations to assist, rather than what is prescribed.

This makes all the difference, just like James taught, by the how and why.