Presents aren't always a joy for everyone...

Reposting a hugely popular post from last year.

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Most children are fortunate enough to receive far more Christmas gifts than they need. For many children an enormous mountain of Christmas presents that they can rip open is the most exciting thing possible. For many autistic children it is terrifying. As we mentioned in an earlier post give them GIFT TIME SPACE, but it can also be helpful to space out gifts over the day or even days and weeks. 

This is a fantastic strategy for a number of reasons. It spreads out the excitement of Christmas which can help reduce anxiety and stop your child becoming too overwhelmed. It enables your child to take time to enjoy each gift rather than having so many that they all become a blur.  

Sometimes you may need to watch and make a judgement call as to whether your child is ready for another present. Danielle's son will often spend several hours playing with the first present he opens, no matter how small and that's OK. Danielle waits until she can see he is getting distracted from the first gift and then asks him if he is ready for another one. Before his understanding was this good she might show him a present and judge his reaction. In their house they spread presents out over a number of weeks. Sometimes the main present won't get opened until way past Christmas, and that's ok. If they give them all to him at once then he can't focus, gets overwhelmed and doesn't enjoy any of them, retreating to his old familiar toys. 

It isn't that he doesn't like the new ones or doesn't want them, he just can't process them all in one go. So don't be disheartened if they open one small present and that's enough for the day. All in good time!

Don't forget we have our Christmas download support pack available now!

Autism Friendly Christmas Pack

£4.99

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