The holidays are meant to be fun! Music, food, family, decorations, parties, gifts, time off of work/school—what’s not to love? Unfortunately, all of these “fun” things are not always so fun for our kids with social learning challenges. The holidays can instead become a source of stress for the child and the family because of all the unexpected and unstructured activities.
The following list should be considered in understanding your child’s view of and potential behavior during the holiday season:
- Bright lights and flashing colors can lead to sensory overloads
- Unfamiliar family members expect hugs and kisses from the child who doesn’t like to be touched, especially when they don’t know the person well or see them often
- Receiving a gift can lead to false hopes and unexpected results—when your child opens a gift expecting one thing and then gets another, this can lead to rigid thinking
- Loud music can lead to sensory overloads
- Parties can be fun but often times children do not know what is expected of them and this leads to rigid thinking and unexpected behaviors
- Lack of routine and structure can be anxiety provoking
- Unfamiliar foods and smells can feel disgusting to your child and lead to sensory overloads
- Sleep schedules are thrown off due to staying out late or getting up early
- The holiday season often times means the rainy season—this limits the amount of physical activity your child gets and can lead to “bouncing off the walls” or feeling lethargic and tired
- The decorations in the house and around town are beautiful but they are also unfamiliar, this can lead to children feeling very distracted and/or uncomfortable
- When children see the gifts that other people are getting, this can lead to feelings of jealousy or disappointment—these are genuine, big feelings and can be interpreted as being ungrateful and disrespectful by others
- Family and friends who do not see our children often usually expect them to “act their age”—this is unreasonable and can be very discouraging to our kids who are working so hard to become good social thinkers at their own pace
- Parents frequently feel stressed during the holidays and this is transmitted to the child(ren)
- There are a lot of events to attend! Parents sometimes forget that their children do not have the stamina to go from one event to the next without downtime and this can lead to unexpected behaviors, emotional breakdowns, and very rigid thinking
To get tips on how to help your child, click here.