Vanessa's Blog - November: Advice for families at Christmas

We all want Christmas to be a special time for our families, but it can be a challenging time of year for young people with autism. Here are some ideas to help reduce anxiety for our young people at Christmas time:

 Try using a visual countdown (cross off days on a calendar) to show how many days until Christmas.

Have photos of any relatives/friends you will be seeing over the festive period to prepare your young person in advance.

Remember that some of our young people find surprises very tricky. Some may even need photos of their gifts on the outside of the wrapping paper, so they know what is inside.

Try to have a relaxing bedtime routine in place. Some of our young people can find it particularly difficult to sleep at Christmas time. They are trying to manage a lot of excitement, anticipation and change. It depends on what your young person finds relaxing, so here are a few ideas:

• A warm bath with a few drops of lavender essential oil
• A hand or foot massage
• Gentle music
• Mindfulness colouring
• Some young people need to burn off some energy before bedtime-perhaps jumping on a trampoline.
• Try some heavy work activities to help regulate the senses (see our helpsheet in the resources section)
• Try to keep to routines when possible
• Limit screen-time before bedtime

Remember that your home will look very different once it is decorated; try to find some photographs of last year, to prepare your young person for what it will look like. Where possible, get them involved in decorating.

Hopefully these ideas will help your family and your young person have a more relaxed, happy time at Christmas.

These ideas were written by Erica Umney (Outreach Assistant and Mum of two autistic children)