While the holidays are supposed to be full of joy and cheer, the reality is that they can be stressful under the best of circumstances. In fact, more than 40% of Americans report that stress levels go up during the holidays.
If you’re a parent of one of the 1 in 31 kids in the United States with autism, the holidays can certainly present some challenges — the sensory overload, the break from routine, and new faces and places can all present potential hiccups.
As specialists in the field of autism spectrum disorder, the team at Celebrations Speech Group wants to share a few great strategies we’ve learned over our many years of working with kids. With a little effort and a lot of patience, your family can navigate this holiday season and beyond with more ease.
The holidays are hardly a surprise, so it’s a great idea to prepare your child as best you can so they have a better idea about what to expect. Some great prep practices include:
This is an area where our team can really help. During your sessions with us before the holidays, we can help prepare your child by teaching them coping mechanisms and ensuring they know what to expect. In fact, the holidays are a great time to really gauge the work we’ve been doing with your child.
The holidays are all about bright lights and music, everywhere you go. If you want to get in on the holiday spirit at home, you should get your child involved in the decorating and do it gradually so your child has time to adjust to each addition.
This will also help prepare your child for a world full of Christmas decorations, Hanukkah candles, and cinnamon spice.
While you can control the sensory information at home, there’s little you can do outside your home, so it’s a good idea to introduce your child to the new sights, smells, and sounds under your careful guidance.
Here again, our team can certainly help and introduce your child to some of the new sensory information they will likely encounter over the holidays.
Holidays are exhausting for most people, especially for kids with autism. So, pace yourself and make sure you carve out quiet time. If you’re traveling for the holidays, make sure you have a space where your child can have a proper timeout away from the excitement.
And be sure to check in with your child often to see how they’re doing. You can even create a secret word that they can use to let you know that they need a break.
Over the holidays, it’s a great practice to maintain some routines to keep your child grounded and in familiar territory. For example, we suggest sticking to their eating and sleeping schedules, and we also recommend having their favorite foods on hand. Now may not be the best time to introduce new foods on top of everything else.
There are many more best practices that we can share with you to make your holidays go more smoothly. To learn more, please contact one of our offices in Brentwood, Stockton, or Elk Grove, California, to arrange a consultation.
