"How to Deal with the Challenge of Being on the Spectrum during the Holidays”
By: Esther B. Hess, Ph.D.
I often am asked by parents to help them prepare their child in anticipation of an upcoming holiday excursion to family. The following are tips for families wishing to travel successfully with their special needs child over the Thanksgiving holiday:
1) Create a social story with your child that anticipates the upcoming holiday. The story needs to be written but does not have to exceed 6-7 pages. Have your child help you draw and narrate the upcoming event with strategies that the two of you think of to help the child calm in case he/she becomes agitated.
2) Role-play Thanksgiving. Give multiple opportunities to play out ‘scripts’ for your child to use if and when confronted by confusing scenarios over the holiday. These role-play activities can be done within your home, with a social skills group with like minded peers and/or in a therapeutic one on one setting.
3) Consider shortening your stay for the holiday. Typical Thanksgiving weekends are a four day affair. Talk with your husband/wife about the possibility of attending this family event for only one day. If this is not logistically possible, create a place for your child to have multiple opportunities for ‘down time’ (hotel room, for example, or quiet areas in a grandparent’s home), where the child can retreat and reorganize if and when he/she feels over stimulated by the tumult of the holiday.
4) Alert your extended family of your plans ahead of time. Send out a thoughtful e-mail to all parties involved explaining your child’s circumstance and what you may need to do to make sure that he/she feels secure at this family event.
Navigating the holidays is no easy task. You need to know what a good parent you truly are, just for taking the time to figure out how to make Thanksgiving an event that your child will truly be thankful for. Wishing you the best of holidays.
Comments