Share your Autism Holiday Tips
I try to have this discussion every year about this time. I personally enjoy and actually learn quite a bit about how your family handles the Christmas Holiday.
Not everyone celebrates Christmas, I realize that. The question is basically, how do you handle the holiday season? This tends to be a very overstimulating time of year for many kids and adults only the #Autism spectrum.
It would be great if we could share some tips or tricks on how you minimize the holiday stress for your child on the sectrum.
In the comments below, please share with us, how you handle the Christmas/Holiday season? How do you make it easier for your child with #Autism? How does your child on the spectrum respond to all the bright light, noise and chaos of said holiday season?
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What a great post!
Holiday clothes were a no no for us. He had his favorite comfort outfits and we stuck to it.
Pick and choose the holiday activities that suited him best. Fine motor skills were tricky, so we did crafts at home that were appropriate to HIM, and tossed out the idea of “age appropriate”.
My son liked to cook, so he was given charge of some cooking tasks so he could truly contribute to the holiday preparations with pride.
driving to see the lights in neighborhoods was good, because we all got to enjoy the pretty pretty, but were not stuck in the slow line of traffic at light shows. We could head home when we needed to.
Opt out. If the family wanted to participate in activities that wouldn’t work for my son, we would find a sitter and he could opt out, without denying the family their activity.
Keep it simple. Every year our family chose a few “traditions” to carry out that holiday season, rather than force ALL the traditions EVERY year. After all, the holidays will come along next year as well. Let each person voice what they’d like to do, see or eat this year, and make it happen.
As always, the most important thing for the family AND my son with autism was not to let the autism rule the roost. It was something we had to take into account, for certain, but not allow it to deny the others of what made the holiday special to them. Balance made it healthier for the family, and a healthy family is the best atmosphere for anyone no matter their unique needs.
We take a sensory bag with LOTS of fidgets. Also his body sock for privacy and some input while we are away from home. His special snacks are ALWAYS in tow as well. We prep him for a week or two before the holiday party (where it is, who will be there, etc) One thing I also do is gauge his mood that day and I make no bones about letting the family in on that when we arrive there. It works for us 🙂
Here is a press release we did for the holidays from Project Lifesaver.