Josiah is 13.  You would think by this age, he would be very adept at feeding himself.  However, until recently, he really wasn’t.  Unless we sat right next to Josiah and held onto his plate or bowl, typically it went flying.  We learned early on it was important to never leave Josiah’s side during meals.  Suction cup bottoms on bowls or plates were a joke.  Josiah peeled those up effortlessly.

At one point, I put  heavy duty Velcro on the bottom of his plate to secure it to the table.  That worked for a short while.  But this kid is smart.  He figured out if he pulled long enough and hard enough he could rip that plate right up off the table and throw it across the room.

Needless to say there were many, many times over the years in which we had to clean up food off the floor, off the walls, off the furniture, off the drapes and off the ceiling even. Many, many times we had Josiah clean up his food mess, which really was us hand-over-hand helping Josiah (who was most often vehemently opposed to cleaning it up), clean it up.

When we run into a situation with Josiah that warrants change, I almost always resort to the internet. We are not the first, or only family who has a child that likes to throw his food across the room. Usually, when I search the internet for a solution to a Josiah problem, someone has already faced the problem, resolved it and created a product to help.

In this case, the problem really was more about finding a way for Josiah to independently feed himself.  He required our constant assistance at the table because it was difficult for him to feed himself.  Let’s be honest here.  He required our constant assistance at the table because Josiah craves attention.  Leave him alone for a minute and he’ll figure out a way to get your attention, one way or another.  Hence the plate tossing.

When I found this GripWare Plastic Scoop Dish, I was thrilled.  At just $7.99 it was too good to pass up.  I loved the curved edge which allows Josiah to scoop his food to that end to help ease it up onto his spoon or fork.  Plus, it has non-skid feet to prevent it from sliding.

Josiah loves it.  We do too.  He is so much more capable of feeding himself and the incidence of plate tossing has subsided greatly.  Maybe all the food hurling was just Josiah’s way of expressing frustration with trying to eat off plates that gave him great difficulty.  In the 6 months Josiah has had this plate I can’t remember one time that he’s thrown it.  Major success.

We are even able to walk away while Josiah eats to go get a napkin or fill up a water glass without being concerned food will fly in our direction any second.  I think Josiah loves the independence.  What 13 year old still wants to have an adult hovering close by, with one hand holding his plate at every meal?

So now Josiah feeds himself, even oatmeal out of his scoop dish.  If you know someone who needs assistance with eating independently, I’d highly recommend one of these. We got ours on Amazon.  Keep in mind, they are not microwave or dishwasher safe.  However, they are Josiah proof.  That’s got to be worth something.

Now if we could just find someone who has solved the problem of kitchen stools being thrown around the house,

Wonder if Amazon has a solution for that?