How Cooking Helped 14-Year-Old Boy With Autism Overcome His Challenges

For a fourteen year old to be a YouTube star and author is amazing. For a fourteen year old with autism to be a YouTube star and author may be less likely. Meet Chase Bailey, a teen from Irvine, California who has used cooking to overcome his challenges with autism, while at the same time becoming hugely successful. It all started for Chase after watching a show on the Cooking Channel. He told his mother that he not only wanted to be a chef, but he wanted to have a restaurant, blog and cooking show. His mom said, “why don’t we do that now?” And they did.  This isn’t any old YouTube channel, his YouTube show, Chase N’ Yur Face, has 17,000 subscribers. He has cooked with a variety of celebrity chefs, been endorsed by Guy Fieri and appeared on the network show The Chew. Individuals with autism often struggle with fine motor skills and social skills. The cooking techniques help Chase master his fine motor skills while the show itself helps him develop his speech and social skills. His show has become such a success that on November 10th he launched his first cookbook, The Official Chase N’Yur Face Cookbook, full of his own recipes plus family favorites. The proceeds of the cookbook will go to Chase’s charity, the Chase Yur Dreams Foundation, which assists individuals with autism by providing grants for job training and education. Chase is an inspiration to all kids with autism as well as to children with other disabilities. Read more about Chase, his show and his cookbook here.

Photo courtesy of chasenyurface.com