Thanksgiving is typically celebrated by spending time with family, and eating a big meal. This is a day that is going to completely throw off the schedule that your autistic child is used to. This can make things stressful for both the child, and his or her parents. Here are some tips to make coping with Thanksgiving a little bit easier on your child.
Kids who have an autism spectrum disorder rely on there being a consistent schedule. When school is out due to a holiday, like Thanksgiving, this can cause your child to feel some stress. Suddenly, everything he or she expected to do, to go to, or to encounter, on a typical Thursday has changed.
Hopefully, you have spent some time preparing your child for what to expect on Thanksgiving. With luck, your child’s teachers have spent some time at school discussing Thanksgiving, and the changes it brings. Your child may already realize that there will be no school that day.
Parents may want to use a picture schedule to help your child keep track of Thanksgiving Day. First, you will take a shower, and put on fancy clothing. Next, we will get in the car, and drive to Grandmother’s house. When we get there, we will say hello to everyone. We will watch football on television. Later, everyone will sit down at the table, and say a prayer, before starting to eat. Having some idea of what will happen next, and then after that, could help your child feel calmer.
You may want to go over what foods, specifically, will be served at Thanksgiving dinner. This will help your child to know what to expect. Talk about what your child should do if he is offered a food that he does not want to eat. You may want to “role play” that a few times with your child, to ensure confidence.
Half of all children who have autism have a tendency to wander. Make certain that you are paying close attention to where you child is throughout the Thanksgiving holiday. If you cannot be right next to your child, then assign a relative who understands your child to watch over him or her for the few minutes it takes you to go to the bathroom, or set the table.
If you are using a device that helps your child communicate with other people, (like an iPad), bring that with you to the place where you will be celebrating Thanksgiving. Few things are more frustrating than being unable to communicate with someone you really want to say something to. Allowing your child to continue to use the tool that helps him or her to communicate might prevent a “meltdown”.
Make sure that you give your child a place that he or she can go to if your child is feeling too much stress, or if it seems that a “meltdown” may be about to happen. This could be the bathroom, or the car, or whatever works best. If you promised your child that your family will leave when your child has had too much to deal with, then you need to make sure that you follow through on that promise.
Image of Edsel Little on Flickr