Ways to support Autistic Children over Christmas

With Christmas only a few weeks away there can be lots of excitement in the air about Father Christmas arriving and what gifts he will bring. Whilst this can be a moment of real joy for many, for others it can quickly become overwhelming.

Not all Autistic children are the same. Whilst some will crave sensory input and delight in this period, others will struggle experiencing sensory overload and feeling dysregulated. Everyone is different! This article helps to raise awareness as to some common aspects about Christmas than can cause distress.

Routine

At school the Christmas term brings Carol concerts, Nativities and Christmas Jumper Day. Whilst these are often perceived as fun, they may require changes to the timetable to accommodate last minute rehearsals. This can be difficult for children who thrive on structure and routine, especially if it means missing their favourite lessons instead. If they are not interested in singing or acting, for some people this can create feelings of frustration and injustice when these events are prioritized instead.

Equally, throughout Christmas home routines may change, with visits from less familiar family members or meals out. Christmas Day can be a challenge having to blend several different families’ traditions into one. This can be anxiety-provoking for some Autistic Children if they do not have their typical, familiar routine to follow.

Where possible, try to plan ahead and talk to children about what is going to happen.
Some children cope much better when they know what to expect. If they have a sense of what is coming up, this makes it much easier for them to mentally prepare.
Visual prompts can be useful to remind people about new activities or routines.
It can also help to tell children when then their routine will revert back to normal, by including details such as once this has happened, then we will go back home.

Sensory

Smells

Christmas can be filled with a host of magical smells from roast chestnuts, mulled wine, log fires, Christmas trees and gingerbread. For those children that are hypersensitive to certain smells, these aromas can be very intense and overpowering. In addition to depleting their emotional resources, they may be left with headaches or nausea which may explain their refusal to go certain places and or their reduced appetite for certain meals.

Consider having a safer, less-fragrant environment that the child can go to. This may be having set times that they spend in their bedroom, which is calmer and more familiar to them.
Ensure cooking areas are well ventilated to help control the spread of strong smells.
Consider keeping food items in one area where people can help themselves to avoid smells such as stinky cheeses engulfing the whole house!
Alternatively use safe smells to masks ones which are overwhelming.
Spend time choosing smells that the child enjoys and then try to capture this on a tissue or favourite blanket so that the child can smell this scent instead.

Touch

What family traditions do you have on Christmas Day itself? Are you expected to dress up in your finest outfits, or does everyone don their best (or worst!) Christmas jumper? Are you all expected to wear the cracker hats? Some traditions can put additional expectations on people to act or behave in a particular manner. It also spotlights certain tactile elements. Many Christmas jumpers can be made of itchy and heavy materials, and adorned with extra sensory features such as bells, voice boxes or flashing lights. If the whole family are wearing them, there can be a lot of pressure if one person does not want to. This can be very overwhelming for some people.

Hugs can also be a source of unwanted physical contact. This can be hard to navigate if the adult family member is insistent.

Have a think about what fabrics your child feels most comfortable in, and try to avoid items with too many seams that may causes irritation or even pain.
Remove labels in advance if these are known to cause concern.
Encourage the child to wear clothes before the event so as to ensure that they are comfy and familiar, rather than having to wear them for the first time on the day itself.
Take a spare set of favourite clothes to change into if needed.
Explain to relatives in advance if hugs are a trigger point. It may be that individuals can use alternatives instead such as fist pumps or high fives which may be easier to tolerate.

Sound

Is Dad the first one to crank up the music volume and blast out the lyrics ‘It’s CHRISTMAS’ along with Slade? Or do younger children fill the room with the sounds of shrieking and delight that they have received a much wanted gift? Couple this with the sound of new toys, cooking timers and family charades and you can start to understand why children who are hypersensitive to sounds might struggle.

Try to use ear defenders and/or loops were possible.
Allow children ways to regulate their own sounds, by listening to their preferred music and a volume they can control.
Quiter times throughout the day in a different room can also be helpful to build their resources back up again. Whether this is time to chill with a Christmas film, or just 5 minutes out one on one with a family member.

Sight

Children who are hypersensitive to visual stimuli can also find the Christmas period particularly overwhelming. Often bright or flashing lights can be difficult to tolerate, but equally difficult to avoid during the festive season. These may physically hurt and irritate people leading to sensory overload and/or headaches. Visual clutter can also be a difficulty for some Autistic people, who may have trouble concentrating in busy or visually cluttered environments.

Set decorative lights to a static mode instead.
Use a dimmer switch to reduce brightness where possible.
Be aware of harsh strip lighting.
Swap patterned wrapping paper for plain more subdued colours, or make an activity of buying brown wrapping paper and decorating it as a family instead.
Allow children to use sunglasses and shut blinds where possible.
Have set periods of time away from bright lights or visual clutter. Five minute breaks in quieter less cluttered rooms, or else sitting in the car if out and about, may help to replenish emotional resources and reduce fatigue.
Time in nature or in sight of natural water has also been shown to help reset emotional overload.

Movement

For children who need regular exercise and movement breaks, Christmas Day can sometimes become quite static with extended periods of sitting at the table, playing games or watching films; especially if its cold outside.

Try to ensure that there are regular movement breaks throughout the day. These can help to maintain focus as well as regulating emotions by reducing stress.
Often just a few minutes can help to improve things.
Bare in mind a child’s arousal levels: slower more rhymical movements can help to calm children whilst faster paced movements can give them more energy.
Use exercise that your child enjoys. Maybe your child can join you in taking the dog for a walk. Family games could include a keepie-uppie competitions or a game of catch. Or maybe they enjoy doing 10 minutes of kids yoga on youtube.
These are all great ways to give your child the movement that they need.

Food

Eating can be a multisensory experience involving sight, sound, smell, touch and taste too. Eating difficulties are common amongst Autistic children and this can be amplified across the Christmas period with extra family meals together. Some children will stick to familiar food items throughout the year so it can extra challenging if they are being asked to eat seasonal only items such as sprouts or Christmas pudding.

Try to plan ahead. If you know that your child is a picky eater, can you include their favourite foods as part of the meal instead?
Try new foods in advance, so that there is less pressure on the day itself
Does it need to be a sit down meal, or can you have a buffer instead?
Consider where the child in sat, being center-stage can add more pressure and increase stress levels. Consider seating them on the edge of the table where it may be quieter instead.
Allow items which help reduce their stress such as fidget toys or loops to reduce noise levels.
Consider activities before the meal to top up their emotional resources so that they do not become overly depleted.

Presents

For people who love to receive surprises, buying surprise gifts for other people can be really important. However, some Autistic children can become very anxious about receiving unexpected presents, and much prefer to have a gift that they have asked for instead. This doesn’t lessen the importance of the gift by buying something that the person really values instead.

Keep in mind the child’s preferences. Where gifts require assembly or batteries, consider doing so in advance. Having to wait extended periods until something is ready to be played with, could trigger upset for some children. Other children, however, relish being the ones to construct things and may get annoyed if they cannot do so. Think about which scenario applies for you.

Equally be mindful of the way in which presents are opened. Some children enjoy racing through their gifts and opening them as quickly as they can. Others prefer to take their time savouring each one as it comes. Where families take turns opening one present each, this can add an additional element of pressure for some children, catapulting them into the spotlight with several sets of eyes watching their every move. For children who struggle to know how to react in certain situations this can be very daunting. Consider whether a less demanding approach may be useful for your child instead.