Holiday Shopping While Neurodiverse (As a Customer)
For the second part of this 2 part blog, I want to cover Holiday Shopping while neurodiverse, this time as a customer. Yes, even those who are sensory or neurodiverse have a commitment to getting holiday gifts for those that are close to them such as families, friends and colleagues.
But just the idea of going into a store and being subjected to sensory overloading moments are enough to make even the simplest shopping visit seem like an odyessey. Sensory overloads, loud music and angry fellow customers are things that we neurodiverse and sensory friendly individuals don’t need on top of other things
To this end, to go with the other blogs I have already done on similar topics, there are alternatives to holiday shopping for neurodiverse and sensory friendly customers that are out there. Perhaps one of the most popular forms of sensory friendly holiday shopping is shopping online.
Now, I know what some of you must be thinking, why should I shop online when I can be out amongst the crowds who have the same holiday spirit as me? I hate to break it to you, but not everyone is going to have that same holiday spirit as you.
In addition, there are also travel headaches, sold out items, and wait times that you have to take into consideration. Shopping online is just as good as shopping in person, especially if you are sensory friendly or neurodiverse. It’s 24/7 and a majority of what you are looking for is on there for you to purchase without human-to-human interaction.
Yes, there are a few areas where you have to do in person shopping such as getting or giving a second opinion on something or finding an item that you cannot find online.
Now there is also the matter that holiday shopping isn’t simply what it used to be. Yes, the holidays have always been commercialized to an extent, but back in the day there was order and civility amongst those shopping for gifts something that is very lacking in today’s society. If you want to get a visual idea of what holiday shopping used to be like, watch this episode of “The Jack Benny Program” from 1960.
Catch you all later!!
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