Quick Tips for Christmas Day with a Special Needs Child

There is much said about what to do to prepare for Christmas with special needs child – from advent calendars, to keeping a schedule, to planning enough activities, but what about a plan for Christmas Day? What happens when all of that build up, the anticipation and excitement, bubbles to a full boil on December 25th? This is where having a plan for Christmas Day is essential to the success of season for all of you.

Here are my tips to make Christmas Day a success for you and your special needs child:

Make a plan: Create a visual schedule for your child noting what the plan is for the day. Be sure to include times they will have to wait (for example, presents are opened after Grandma arrives), time for free play (with choices listed) and when meal times will be. Keep it where they can see it, and refer back to it throughout the day. This is most important during transition times.

Food: I suggest filling your child’s stocking with morning-friendly food items. Granola bars, breakfast cookies, fruit and nuts are all things your child can eat the moment they open their stocking, plus the different textures (crunchy and chewy) will provide proprioceptive input and help keep them calm and organized throughout the day.

Visits: If you go to visit other people, or if you have guests at your house, make a Quiet Time Pack. Put your child’s favorite toy, DVD, stuffed animal, weighed blanket, earphones or MP3 player, and a favorite snack into a bag that is easily transported or readily available at home. When your child feels overwhelmed, over-stimulated or just anxious, they have the things they need at the ready.

Take Breaks: With the chaos of the holidays, the busy household, new smells, sights and sounds, the holidays are challenging for sensory-kids. Create ways your child can take a break—like asking them to run to the car with you for something you forgot, ask them to give you (or a guest) a tour of the house, or let them hang out in a quiet room and watch their shows (with a heavy blanket).

Don’t forget the Sensory: I know this seems difficult to do in the middle of Christmas Chaos, but do try to keep up with your child’s sensory needs. Proprioception, linear movement, down time, and everything else they crave (or avoid) needs to be addressed. Think of their sensory system as the foundation for their mood (and stress level).

Creating a structure for the day’s events allows children the opportunity to relax a little, not feel so anxious, and enjoy the holiday without getting overwhelmed. Perhaps the best thing about Christmas is that no matter how chaotic it is, our kids tend to only remember the good things. Don’t stress too much about each thing being perfect, remember that Christmas is truly about being a family and the magic of giving.

Merry Christmas!

Hartley Steiner lives in the Seattle area with her husband Jeff and their three sons: Gabriel, Nicholas and Matthew. Gabriel struggles with Sensory Processing Disorder, High Functioning Autism, Bipolar and Learning Disabilities. Hartley is the author of SPD children’s book This is Gabriel Making Sense of School. Hartley chronicles the never ending chaos that is her life on the blog Hartley’s Life With 3 Boys. When she isn’t writing, or dealing with a meltdown, she enjoys spending time in the company of other adults preferably with good food and even better wine.