Christmas can be so stressful for the child with autism and of course for the family! Apart from the usual sensory issues surrounding the day and the anticipation for the child of what is to come their way, for parents buying presents is always done with the best of intentions. Previous years have resulted in wasting money on presents that were not opened and meltdown after meltdown, this year took some careful consideration. We now understand each other better. It only took SEVEN years! Better late then never! I really think this was our best Christmas yet. Full house on Christmas morning. We knew this year not to wrap presents and to allow for our little Autie to go for breaks in between getting his presents, he is not keen on the sound of paper ripping. I brought him upstairs with his new National Geographic planetarium in a dark room and let him just chill out. Mean while... downstairs the younger two munchkins ripped open their presents, having a great time together and this tiny little change to our usual routine made all the difference to our Christmas Day! This was the trigger to all hell breaking lose on previous Christmas mornings. I am delighted to say there were no tears or meltdowns for the day and EVERYONE enjoyed themselves.
Santas Autism/Sensory Friendly presents included ....
1. Theraputty - Fine motor skills, you can hide things in it. It is tougher than playdough so the child has to work harder to find things.2. Mario Kart Characters - current interest.
3. Nintendo 3DS - big hit of course. Since he has taken an interest in the DS speech has improved so much and it is a great reward and great motivation. Can become obsessed so limited time to play is advisable.
5.Pop up Tent- for getting away on his own for a bit.
6. A Plasma Ball - Visually stimulating and very calming. 
7. Bunny Sleepy Time alarm clock - Analog clock designed to solve problem with child getting up too early! [Worth a try will let you know how this goes ;) ]
8. Pin Art - lets face it everyone loves Pin Art!
Overall great hit with my son this year so thought it might help someone else as it can be quite difficult when looking for gifts as interest in typical toys is not always a given with these gorgeous kids!
Happy Christmas All! I hope 2013 is as good as 2012 if not better, here is to a great year!!
Toys found at : http://www.sensationalkids.ie
http://www.toys.ie/
http://www.hmv.com
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1 comments:
So glad you had a good Christmas - we did here too, for once! Am going to save this list of present ideas, it's excellent!
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