Rebecca and Isaac's Story

Christmas can bring its challenges for Isaac as he will struggle with the lack of structure and routine, and not knowing what's coming next is really hard for him. But he also loves the magic of Santa and the silly elves, and is counting down the days until Santa arrives. I would encourage families that Christmas really doesn’t look all that different for us even though Isaac is autistic.We include a bit more downtime and aim not to drag him from one thing to the next, and we also enable him to have his normal bedtime and his tablet time and all the things that keep him regulated. He does miss the structure of school during longer times off, so we try and make sure we plan everyday and let him know what to expect.We don’t pressure him into eating anything he doesn’t like just because it’s Christmas, or to constantly be in a room full of people trying so hard to engage and we ask that family members space out present giving in order to give me time to process. Isaac definitely takes the longest to open his gifts - and you can be sure he will tell you if he’s already got it! But he's such a grateful child and anything that's given to him he really gives back to you in terms of love and expression.I think it's important all year round for our communities to be supporting charities like Autism NI. The foundational years of our lives are our early years, and so anything that supports parents and children to navigate the different needs of kids across NI, the better.We are well supported and Isaac will enjoy the company of a whole host of family and friends who know, love, and understand him and his needs and will try their best to recognise those within the season. Not all kids have that support, so it's vital that charities can get involved and help families to meet the needs of their kids.

Rebecca, Parent