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How Can I Include My Child with Autism in Festive Activities like Holiday Meal Prep?
For many families, the holiday season is about spending time together, exchanging gifts, and enjoying delicious food!
However, for families of children and teenagers who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the holiday season can sometimes bring about additional stress, triggers, and behavioral outbursts that can limit the cheer.
Select features of ASD, including difficulty with changes in routines, sensory overload, and anxiety around unfamiliar situations, can make the holiday season feel overwhelming and even scary for some. At times, these traits can also hinder the person’s ability to participate in enriching activities like holiday meal prep.
Although often unintentionally, holiday gatherings and celebrations can exacerbate a loved one’s ASD symptoms, making the season harder to enjoy.
These concerns leave some families beginning their event planning to ask: How can I include my child with autism in festive activities like holiday meal prep?
Fortunately, with some careful planning and strategies based on Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA therapy, you can help your child participate in more holiday events by making them inclusive.
ABA is a modality that helps many with autism develop essential living skills, which can improve their adaptability and enhance positive behaviors like engaging in holiday festivities more seamlessly.
This blog by ABA Centers of Delaware will explore some effective ABA strategies that can help kids with autism manage holiday meal prep while promoting skill-building, improving limiting behaviors, and keeping time in the kitchen splendid.
These ABA tips may enhance this magical season for everyone, so please keep reading!
For more information about ABA Centers of Delaware, click here. To read other blogs about autism, neurodiversity, and ABA, visit us here.
Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Influence on Holiday Celebrations
Autism affects every individual with the condition in different ways.
The CDC reported that 1 in 36 children on the spectrum in 2020 in the United States. This figure is higher than previously recognized. As a result of this growing awareness, more families are seeking to support their child’s healthy development.
Those diagnosed with autism often demonstrate challenges related to communication, behavior, or sensory sensitivities. These criteria and other features of ASD can influence their experience of enjoying holiday traditions.
During holiday meal preparation, for example, children with ASD might avoid certain holiday activities due to:
- A strong dislike of certain textures, smells, or tastes.
- Limited diets or, at times, extremely selective eating habits.
- Become overstimulated in noisy, chaotic environments like a busy kitchen.
Understanding challenges related to autism during food-related activities is the first step to helping your child enjoy holiday meal preparation.
How ABA Therapy Can Help Make Holiday Food Preparation More Manageable!
ABA therapy is a scientific approach to supporting individuals with autism in developing transformative skills and managing behaviors that can hinder their progress throughout life.
ABA practitioners achieve this by determining the role of their client’s behavior alongside how the environment influences it. Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) then modify the client’s behavior through compassionate, playful interventions that offer them better options to meet their needs.
When it comes to holiday meal prep, ABA can help by:
- Encouraging Positive Food Behaviors: Through gradual exposure and reinforcement, ABA can help children become more comfortable with trying new foods or textures.
- Teaching Life Skills: Holiday meal prep provides a platform for teaching practical skills, like following instructions, measuring ingredients, or cleaning up. These are all skills that can aid in long-term independence.
- Managing Sensory Challenges: ABA strategies can help determine sensory triggers and how to address them throughout activities.
These are just a few examples of how ABA therapy can help families throughout the holiday season.
10 ABA Strategies to Help Include Children with Autism in Holiday Meal Prep!
The holidays offer many on the spectrum a chance to learn life skills and create memories. Still, participation in tasks like holiday food preparation requires some thoughtful adjustments from everyone involved.
Here are a few simple steps you can take to help include your loved one with ASD during the holiday meal preparation and ensure they are having a positive experience.
1. Assign Simple Tasks
Start small by giving your child manageable roles, such as washing vegetables, mixing ingredients, or placing cookie cutters on dough.
2. Take Breaks
Recognize when your child needs a break and provide them with a quiet space where they can relax and recharge during the activities. Doing so can help prevent sensory overload or behavioral issues.
3. Incorporate Reinforcement Strategies
During holiday meal prep, find ways to provide reinforcement strategies such as offering verbal praise like “fantastic job!”, delivering small rewards, or using token systems that motivate your child.
4. Use Visual Schedules
Many children with autism respond well to structure and visual learning. Visual aids or written schedules can outline each step in the food preparation process, reducing anxiety and helping them stay focused during the task.
This approach also helps lessen confusion about what comes next by clearly displaying the steps of every process. For example, show your child an image of an apple when it’s the next ingredient necessary for the recipe to set expectations.
5. Offer Choices
Provide opportunities for your loved one with the ability to make small decisions. Options may include choosing between two recipes, the color of sprinkles and frosting.
Doing so helps to foster independence and empower your child to have more confidence in making their own choices.
6. Practice Beforehand
If a particular aspect of your holiday meal prep activity might be challenging or unfamiliar, consider practicing it beforehand to limit frustration.
7. Create a Calm Environment
Keep the kitchen atmosphere relaxing for your child by minimizing loud noises or sudden disruptions. Playing calming music can help balance sensory input if you suspect noise sensitivity may present barriers to completing your holiday meal prep session.
8. Respect Sensory Preferences
Allow your child to use gloves or utensils if they hesitate to touch certain textures. Also, try to introduce strong smells gradually to avoid overloading their senses.
For example, allow them to smell ingredients like cinnamon or nutmeg before encouraging them to use or try them.
9. Turn Food Prep Into A Playful Activity!
Use cookie cutters in silly shapes or decorate your dish to include your child’s interest, like paw patrol or Barbie!
10. Focus on Inclusion, Not Perfection.
Celebrate their effort, regardless of how perfect the result turns out to be!
Ultimately, these simple adjustments can transform holiday meal prep into shared moments of discovery.
Benefits of Holiday Meal Prep for Children with Autism
Beyond the delicious results, University research shows that involving children in holiday food prep has numerous developmental and emotional benefits for those with various disabilities and conditions like autism.
The following describes a few:
Enhanced Social Interaction
Sharing responsibilities and working closely together encourages communication and conversation with others.
Improved Motor Skills
Stirring, pouring, and kneading dough helps some develop fine and gross motor skills.
Growing Confidence
Completing small steps helps to build self-esteem, self-reliance, and a sense of accomplishment over time! It may also spark an interest in your ASD child to try new things!
The Lasting Impact of ABA on Holiday Meal Prep and Holiday Celebrations for Those on the ASD Spectrum!
Holiday meal prep can be a joyful and rewarding experience for you and your child with autism. By applying a few ABA strategies, you can help create an exceptional holiday meal experience with your child while further establishing meaningful family connections.
Ultimately, the benefits of holiday meal prep extend beyond the season, making it a valuable learning experience for children with autism that can help them with future food-related endeavors.
So, let’s embrace this time of learning, growth, and ABA in the kitchen so that everyone can spread cheer this holiday season!
More About Holiday Support for Neurodiverse Families with ABA Centers of Delaware
ABA Centers of Delaware understands that the holiday season can be both exciting and, at times, challenging time for neurodiverse families.
We proudly offer autism therapy services that support the unique needs of youth on the spectrum and their families during the holidays and other phases of life.
Our team of qualified ABA experts uses evidence-based strategies and ABA interventions to help children and teenagers diagnosed with autism develop core skills and manage challenges.
We offer top-tier ABA therapy, autism diagnostic support, and parent coaching in the Greater Wilmington, Delaware, Area.
Contact us via this online link or by calling (844) 855-8517 today to learn more about how we can help make your holiday season and life more manageable.
So, let’s continue being inclusive this holiday season! Happy Holidays from ABA Centers of Delaware!