Inspired by her younger brother with Autism, Selfability™ founder Amanda Savitzky found a way for Steven to participate in the kitchen that was rewarding and empowering. 

Growing up, Amanda found herself surrounded by a family full of passionate cooks. Cooking has always been important to her family, and she grew up cooking alongside her mother and older sister. But her brother Steven always struggled to participate, finding the experience chaotic and overly stimulating.

In 2012, Amanda created the very first iteration of the Selfability measuring set (called “The Match Cooking Prep System”) for her college thesis project. At that time, she was preparing to graduate college and he was graduating high school. For her, life seemed straightforward with getting a job as a natural next step. For him, life seemed less straightforward— as he would start losing the daily routines of school and the services that came with it. The anxiety and uncertainty faced by their family fueled the concept that would eventually come to be.

Instead of creating a system based on fractions, she substituted with combinations of color and symbols. She recreated recipes and replaced traditional measures of fractions with matching shapes and colors.

In April 2012, with the measuring cups she designed, Steven was able to make one of his favorite foods, pancakes, for the first time on his own.

Today in 2023, the fundamental design of the original cooking set is the same, but finetuned and tested with local New York schools, aids, ands therapists who work with people with intellectual disabilities. We envision a world where everyone can live independently. And we're excited for you to join us on this journey.