nts

Helping with Festive Sensory Issues

If you live in a relationship setting, remember that the quieter times that your other half needs throughout the day still apply at Christmas time and perhaps even moreso.  Times without TV and times when they don't want to engage in conversation, are still important to them so try and ensure these are adhered to, even when there are a lot of other things going on.


Remember that it can sometimes be difficult for us to speak up and mention issues so if you can stay aware of potential sensory triggers (which you'll probably already know about anyway), there's a better chance that issues won't arise.

If you're a fan of seasonal home fragrances such as candles, reed diffusers, wax melts etc. is your other half (or any autistic visitors you may have) equally enamoured with them?  If there are scents they can tolerate, best stick to those and don't suddenly introduce any new ones.  If they can't tolerate the scents at all, they're best avoided.

It would be a good idea to agree on any Chistmas decorations in advance.  Don't let your other half walk in to find the usual house environment that they left a few hours ago already festooned floor to ceiling in bright, shiny decorations and flashing lights. If you do enjoy fairy lights, maybe get a set that has multiple settings so that they can offer a gentle twinkle or a static light.  Unless your other half doesn't mind them, it's probably best to avoid lights that flash rapidly.  


If you have guests visiting who are on the autism spectum, it's a good idea to check what they can tolerate in terms of lights and if you do have anything super bright and animated that will cause issues, turn them off fur the duration of the visit.

If you have children that are old enough to understand, explain to them that some people find Christmas time overwhelming and need to be quiet sometimes. Hopefully, they'll already be aware of this from the rest of the year but maybe it just needs revisiting because many children will be so caught up in festivities that it's understandable they'll forget.  


Help your autistic other half by agreeing times when it's OK for children to play noisy games.  
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