The Holidays Continue!

     Christmas was a BIG holiday for Matthew. He talked about Santa Claus a lot through his Preschool and Elementary years. Being literal he would say things to me like "Santa bring the sun Mommy." I can remember him still talking about Santa Claus in February. In fact I came upon an old journal from 2004 and my entry said, "Still talking about Santa mid February!" "Ugh!" It took us a while to transition from Christmas. The Easter Bunny was never as big for him as Santa Claus.
     Around third grade we got Matthew into Children's Hospital Autism Center. We had a Behavior Therapist who we saw once a week. There was a Psychologist in charge of our case who worked closely with the therapist. The therapist would come to our house as needed and work on behavior concerns in the home, and we would regularly go there once a week. There have been times through the years that they offered social skills groups, and during the groups the parents would have discussions and problem solve with a Psychologist. Matthew still goes to the Center every other week and right now he is in a Teen Social Skills group, which has been good for him.
     So when he was younger we had to help him get unstuck about Santa. It could be Spring and still talking about Santa. His Behavior Therapist had me post a large laminated calendar for each month after Christmas. We would highlight the Holidays for each month and remind him that Christmas is over. We also started marking each day off on the calendar as a countdown to his Birthday. Even though his Birthday was not until July it helped him get his mind off of Christmas. There were many years that Christmas and his Birthday were an obsession for him. After his Birthday he would start talking about Christmas. We would remind him that we still had Halloween and Thanksgiving before Christmas.
     This is another example how early intervention is so important for individuals with autism. As Matthew got older he got better handling the Holidays. Christmas and his Birthday our still his favorite to celebrate! :) Lists are prepared but we are not stuck. For that I am very grateful.