Adaptive Utensils: Rocker Knives
Adaptive Utensils: Rocker Knives can be beneficial for one handed food cutting. In an earlier post I described “What My Wife Uses For Cooking”. My wife had a stroke when she was in her twenties and is unable to use her left arm. An important adaptive utensil she uses is a rocker knife. There are many styles that are commercially available. The one she uses was purchased many years ago at an antique shop and is pictured below. It still works well!
The reason that Rocker Knives are useful for one handed use is that the food being cut does not have to be stabilized with a fork when a rocking motion is used to cut food. Of course a fork can be used. As I mentioned in the previous Blog my wife also uses an adaptive cutting board with nails that can be used to stabilize food when cutting. Rocker Knives, then, are not strictly adaptive utensils. They can be used by anyone for food cutting activities. the Good Grips Rocker Knife is pictured below. This knife is held with a standard knife grip that is like holding a screwdriver. The handle of the knife rests diagonally across the palm.
When using a standard knife a sawing motion is used to cut the food. With a Rocker Knife a rotating forward and back or side to side motion is used. Another type of Rocker Knife is the T Grip Rocker Knife. With a T Grip knife the force from the hand is transmitted from right above the area to be cut. A cylindrical grip may be used to hold this style of knife like the adaptive utensil: rocker knife pictured below.
There is also a Vertical Grip Rocker Knife. With this knife the force is again transmitted from right above the food to be cut. The grip used will be cylindrical but with this knife the forearm will be held in a neutral position during use which may be helpful for some individuals.
We are planning on adding Rocker Knives to our adaptive eating aids shop As you can see there is a lot to consider. We hope we can help you with the selection process. We invite you to contact us at anytime about this or other topics. For a concise yet comprehensive guide to adaptive eating aids please visit our Guide to Adaptive Eating Aids.