Christmas Day Visuals

Everything is different at Christmas and there are many things that can be hard for autistic children. There are lots of things on Christmas day that I know my kids will find difficult:

• Too many people in a small space
• Decorations and furniture has been moved around
• Lots of presents all at once
• Having to sit at the table for a long time

Whilst these are things my kids find difficult they are much easier to manage if they are prepared. I know my eldest needs time to process new or different things before they happen. We all naturally prepare our children for things that are coming, we talk about Christmas for most of December. My son is non-verbal so I need to use visuals to support his understanding and preparation.

In December we read lots of books about Christmas and do a book advent calendar. We also do lots of Christmas activities, we do this because it is fun but it is also helping to prepare our kids.

Christmas Visual Aids

We use lots of visual aids in our house as both kids have communication challenges. In our visual aids for Christmas I have included pictures of the family members who will be coming and some pictures from Christmas last year as this will bring back memories.

I have also created some Christmas visuals that I would like to share with you. This includes social stories, visuals and Picture Exchange Communication System® cards.

Some other visuals below:

Christmas Social Story

We use Social Stories to focus on specific things I want my son to understand. Below is a copy of a Christmas Social story- please feel free to print out a copy to use with your children. You can download using the button below the picture.

I have also created a visual schedule for Christmas day. This has been done using the free Christmas samples from PECS UK.

Visuals and PECS cards really can make a big difference. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas xxx

If you are looking for present ideas check out our favourite Christmas gifts for 2020 here.