Louise: “People do come and talk to us, or if staff working with someone recognise that they’re not their usual self, they’ll approach them, check they’re alright and just let them know that somebody is here. We take the time to listen to everyone and work out how best to support them. […] We’ll talk to them. We’ll give them Social Stories. We’ll communicate with them using their preferred communication.”
Dewayne: “Some people go home to family for Christmas, but a few people here have lost parents, so coming up to this time of year, it’s about reassuring people about Christmas, preparing people so they’re less worried and respecting their independence.”
Our team’s tips on dealing with seasonal changes:
- Don’t decorate everywhere, and have quiet spaces if needed.
- Observe and listen to autistic people to understand what they need.
- Be aware that it’s not a happy time of year for everyone.
- Provide reassurance and communicate about changes in the run-up, especially bigger changes.
What are the common challenges autistic people and their families can face at Christmas?
Elaine: “Well, one of the big things is everything gets busy visually, physically, even with traffic. It’s all those little things that add up. We’re aware that different people have different triggers.”
Louise: “I think a big one for families as well is the routine just completely changes. Families at home feel like they have to meet certain expectations, so they’ve got added pressure on them as well. We do find that some challenges increase as we lead up to Christmas, and then you have the new year blues because it is such an anti-climax. We’ve got different strategies in place for them. It just comes down to knowing people, giving them time to express themselves how they need to express themselves or communicate in the way they need to communicate, or just knowing when to give them space.”
Ivan: “To me, it’s about loneliness, and those feelings can be quite difficult to express.”
Our team’s tips on understanding common challenges:
- Small changes to the environment can add up – be aware of people’s triggers.
- Added expectations and pressure can increase challenges in the run-up to celebrations – give people time and space to express themselves without expectations.
- Be aware that autistic people can be at greater risk of loneliness during the holidays.
Do you have any final tips for supporting autistic people during the festive period?
Elaine: “Listen to the person, like with their body language. Don’t play carols if they don’t like music in the background and know what they like to do. Don’t be offended if they want to go off to their room, be on their own and just chill out to get away from all the noise. You could have a plan for the day and talk about a plan in advance. You can have it in a written form or a picture form, like a timetable. But you can also have something like a ‘whoops’ card to use if something happens that you weren’t expecting. Give them choices as well. Do you have crackers, or don’t you have crackers? Do you have ones that bang or don’t bang? One of the guys we support came to us and said he’d been told that ‘Christmas is for children’, and we said ‘Well, we enjoy Christmas. Christmas can be for everybody, and everybody is different.’ You don’t need to follow the norm.”
