Sensory Integration Education

Christmas sensory challenges are bigger, brighter, noisier, strongly scented, more crowded,  differently flavoured and routine-busting challenges! We’ve curated the best advice we can find to help children and adults with sensory integration and sensory processing difficulties manage the changes and challenges presented during the festive season.

Planning and Preparation

Dramatic changes to daily / weekly routines can be very dysregulating for both children and adults. Where possible, maintain helpful routines. Adults with sensory integration (SI) difficulties could plan how they will cope with changes to routine, for example, by planning how they will self-regulate or remove themselves from a situation which is becoming overwhelming. 

For children, discuss with them how events and places will be different during the Christmas period (decorations, music, busier etc) - a social story may be useful here. A social story is a series of pictures illustrating an activity or event step by step. You could create your own or look for downloadable ones online. Children may like helping you create visual aids or a Christmas calendar setting out when different events are happening that vary from routine. Include where they will be, when and who will be there. Talk about what can be done to make this event enjoyable and not overwhelming. Think about what sensory differences there will be so the child is prepared and you can consider how to support them in coping with these differences.

Make Time for Movement Breaks

Getting your body moving, particularly movement that involves pushing or pulling, resistance activities like swimming,  jumping or holding your own body weight by hanging off play or gym equipment is very regulating (calming) - particularly for individuals with SI difficulties. The festive season can involve a lot of sedentary days: plan in regular movement breaks.

If you are receiving therapy for sensory integration or processing difficulties, ask your SI Practitioner for individualised advice that fits your unique sensory needs.

Christmas Decorations at Home

If you enjoy Christmas decorations around the house, gradually set them out so the environment changes at a comfortable pace. Have decoration-free areas that are unchanged to provide a calming, usual space to be.

The National Autistic Society recommends involving the person in decorating and respecting their decisions on what decorations are used and how many are set out. 

Create Your Own Sensory Pack

Both adults and children with sensory sensitivities can find the extra noise, bright flashing lights, additional scents and pervasive Christmas music an assault on the senses. Public areas like shopping centres are likely to be busier than usual too. Coping with all this extra multisensory input can increase the risk of sensory overload. Put together a sensory pack that will help manage the sensory input and provide calming input relevant to the individual’s particular sensitivities. This could include:

• Sunglasses
• Ear defenders or ear plugs
• Headphones / earbuds and a phone to listen to music
• A peaked cap to pull down to obscure some of the visual field
• A favourite hoodie
• A drink and preferred snacks
• A chewable item if chewing helps with self-regulation (such as chewable jewellery or zip tags, or chewing gum)
• Favourite fidgets 
• Compression clothing
• Weighted toys or lap pads

For children with sensory differences, reassure them that it’s okay to wear or use items that help them feel regulated. It’s far better to wear their favourite top and ear defenders than feel pressured into wearing a scratchy Christmas jumper to ‘fit in’. Whilst we’re talking clothes, have a look at our blog on Sensory Challenges of the Changing Seasons which discusses transitioning to warmer, winter clothing.

Set the Expectations of School, Family and Friends

The festive season often involves seeing friends and family that we may not regularly see and who may need a little help in understanding and respecting that sensory integration and sensory processing difficulties underlay many behaviours. 

Be frank about managing their expectations if your child doesn’t want to interact with unfamiliar people or join in activities, or if they prefer to eat their own food (much more on food below!) and if they need to find a quieter space or need to leave early.  Setting these expectations in plenty of time before the visit or event will help everyone. 

And contact your child’s school to set their expectations too. This is a helpful article, from Reachout ASC, loaded with practical ideas about the school nativity play, school Christmas parties, classroom decorations, changes to the school day during the run up to Christmas - we encourage every teacher to read this and parents of children with sensory difficulties to share this with their child’s school.

Look for Sensory Friendly Events

Some shopping centres, theatres and event hosts will schedule particular times to accommodate sensory and autism needs. These may be quieter with lower lighting and less busy. If you’re planning a trip, call the centre’s customer services in advance to ask about sensory-friendly times, if they have sensory packs to borrow and what their accessibility provisions are to better manage the Christmas sensory challenges. 

For families, there’s a really useful blog, Make Your Child’s Visit to Santa a Success by Sensory Friendly Solutions, which contains lots of practical advice for parents and carers as well as a free social story to download.

Consider activities that suit the individual’s sensory needs, for example, you could walk or drive around the neighbourhood to look at Christmas lights. Or meet with individuals rather than larger groups of people. Just because it’s Christmas, don’t stop doing what works for the individual.

Be Flexible and Be Kind

The National Autistic Society warns about scheduling too many activities during the holiday period, particularly lots of social activities on consecutive days. Allow quiet days after an active day for rest, if needed.

Be flexible, sometimes arrangements will have to be changed. It may be frustrating to leave an event early, particularly if time and money has been spent, but adding pressure to stay when a person is feeling sensory overload isn’t helpful.

If you are meeting with people unfamiliar to the individual, explain in advance who they are and show a photo of them. Recognise that a person with SI difficulties may find it harder to communicate when feeling overwhelmed. Children can often be encouraged to talk to adults they’ve not seen in a while ‘to be polite’ but if this is adding extra pressure, reassure them that it’s okay not to talk or to use their sensory tools or to go to where they feel calm. Emphasise to the individual that they don’t need to mask their feelings, it’s okay to not feel okay and to seek out a self-regulating activity instead.

Presents and Gift Giving

Opening surprise presents, feeling the sensation of different wrapping paper and tape and unexpected textures beneath and dealing with the expectations of how to react can be very overwhelming. The Gina Davies Autism Centre offers some alternative ideas to traditionally wrapped presents and also how to make small changes to the process of unwrapping gifts to make it less daunting to someone with sensory differences. 

This advice includes allowing the individual to open their gifts in private and allowing them more time to process weight they have received. For people who find surprises stressful, you could tell or show them in advance what it is or put a picture of it on the front of the wrapped item. See here for The Gina Davies Autism Centre ideas on alternative wrappings. They also advise offering suggestions on items to friends and family who want to give gifts or to suggest that money towards a favourite activity would be gratefully received.

Christmas Food and Mealtimes

Eating at Christmas comes with a whole host of changes which someone with SI difficulties can find particularly challenging. There are different foods served at home; and shops and restaurants often alter their usual fare to Christmas special versions which can change the  taste, texture and smell and colour of food. Special meals are often served using different crockery and cutlery. And that’s without even considering Christmas crackers!

We asked for some top tips on managing food and eating at Christmas from Laura Osman, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Advanced SI Practitioner, Feeding Therapist and Teacher, and Louisa Hargett, Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist, Advanced SI Practitioner, Feeding Therapist and Teacher. Laura and Louisa are trainers on our highly popular courses for all professionals supporting children with feeding difficulties. Laura and Louisa said:

• Ensure that preferred foods are available throughout the festive period alongside the festive specials.
• Involve the individual in shopping (online or in store) to identify any festival foods that they might want to try.
• Try to avoid labelling foods over the festive period as good / bad / naughty / healthy / unhealthy and avoid speaking about New Year diets!
• Have fun cooking and baking leading up to the festive period to familiarise yourself with different smells, tastes, textures associated with festive food with no pressure to eat. For children with severe and complex needs Laura has a blog article on Mince pies and other pastry. 
• Take food to other people's houses. This might be an individual lunch box of snacks / food to eat or take along a dish of a preferred food to share with others. 
• Take any adapted equipment you usually use that supports feeding. For example a particular plate, cutlery, cup or even chair. 
• Educate others about feeding challenges so that they don't comment on the amount or type of food that is being eaten or about body size and growth. 
• Eat before going to other people's houses if that is going to be a factor which prevents an individual from eating that day. 
• Acknowledge that sharing food at Christmas is just one way to celebrate and find other ways to celebrate too that will be meaningful for the individual. Is taking part in the meal essential or could they join in before or after?
• Engage in activities which are calming for the nervous system - can you take a walk or play in the park before the meal? 
• Consider the individual's sensory needs related to tactile and unfamiliar textures. Do they have to dress up in the itchy festive jumper or can you make sure that the clothes they are wearing are comfortable? Ensure that there is no pressure to try on new gifts or novelty items. 
• Communicate with the host and discuss if you can adapt the environment to ensure that it is low pressure. For example being mindful of the volume of the music and TV, opening windows to ventilate the space.
• Be mindful of the smells that are introduced to the environment, for example prolonged cooking smells / christmas candles / potpourri / flowers / cleaning products / perfumes / aftershaves and ventilate the area that you are eating in.  

And as for Christmas crackers? You can practise with some cheap or leftover ones and warn your child in advance about the noise and items that fall out. Or choose not to have crackers or only use them in a different area where they can’t be heard. Or make your own without any snaps. This is a good reminder that so many Christmas traditions are optional and can be changed to accommodate sensory needs: because it’s the people we care about who matter, not striving for the perfect day.

If you have enjoyed these tips on managing Christmas sensory challenges and want to learn more about sensory integration and sensory processing difficulties, see our suite of short, online courses for parents and carers and professionals.