10. Preparing for a Stress-Free Thanksgiving
It’s the season of Thanksgiving, and along with the excitement can come a feeling of uncertainty if you have a child on the spectrum.
This could be for a variety of reasons such as a change in schedule, new foods, new people, and other variations in the day that could change your child’s regular routine. Tune in as I give my top six tips for navigating and preparing for a stress-free Thanksgiving!
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IN THIS EPISODE
How to navigate trying new foods on Thanksgiving days
Preparing a safe place for your child
Making Thanksgiving about more than food
LINKS
Navigating Thanksgiving with your Child on the Autism Spectrum
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the Nourishing Autism Podcast where you take a deep dive into the research on autism and dietary changes, nutrition supplements, and lifestyle modifications. Every week, we break down nutrition topics and an easy-to-understand way for you to feel less overwhelmed and feel confident on your nutrition journey with autism.
Hello everyone! And welcome to the Nourishing Autism Podcast. I'm your host Brittyn Coleman, the Autism Dietitian. And today we will be speaking about navigating Thanksgiving with a child on the spectrum, and how to create a fun and stress-free holiday for both you and your child. So personally, I love Thanksgiving. It's a great time to take the day off work, to catch up with family and friends, and eat some delicious and nourishing foods. However, for autistic children and adults, it can be a really stressful day and there's a lot of different routines, new food, and unfamiliar people, which can be really overstimulating.
So I want to talk about some things that you can do ahead of time to make the day as enjoyable as possible for both you and your child. So my most important tip is to plan the day out. Do this first by yourself taking into account the travel time, the timing of meals and snacks, we don't want any hangry kiddos and other activities that might be happening throughout the day.
From there it's a great idea to talk the day out with your child if they're old enough so that they know what to expect. And if they use any kind of visual calendar, it would be great to create a schedule for them. And if they don't currently use a visual schedule, I'd recommend talking with one of your child's teachers or therapists to help or give you a copy of theirs because they might use one at school or at therapy.
It's also a great idea to call the host and talk about the day. Talk about your child's preferences, and discuss food as well. If your child is a selective eater and isn't going to eat the foods that are prepared, or if they will eat those foods but they have dietary restrictions, it's a really good idea to talk about that ahead of time to prevent any issues on the day of.
Most hosts are going to be very welcoming to making or adapting a recipe so that your child could eat it. But if you're working with a feeding therapist, or you're working on a specific way of introducing new foods to your child, it's a really good thing to share that as well. To prevent any pressure from others who might not understand you're on your journey, might not understand that your child isn't going to eat those foods, and might put unnecessary pressure on your child or on you. And the more that we can talk about this with either the host or other family members prior to the day, the better you're going to feel on the day of, and the less stress it's going to be. And the less conflict that you also might have with family. Which I think we can all agree, it's best to not have any conflict on holidays and really enjoy that time together
Tip number two is to not put too much pressure on what your child eats. If you put it into context, Thanksgiving is one meal of one day of one week of one year. And if your child doesn't want to eat something that day, because they're overstimulated that's okay. You know, maybe they can be involved in other ways, like prepping the food, and if not, that's okay too. Just try to keep things as positive and create as happy of Thanksgiving memories as you can.
Some of you might be working in feeding therapy to expand the number of foods. If you need to take a break for that meal because you're working on helping keep them calm and this new environment that is completely okay. Talk to your feeding therapist and come up with a plan to if you're having a consistent routine of introducing new foods, or if you have some kind of schedule that you need to work toward. But it's okay to take a day of a break and to just enjoy those happy Thanksgiving memories together.
Tip number three is to try and make Thanksgiving about more than just food. This is a day where there are likely a lot of foods that your child doesn't typically eat, which might be a nightmare for a selective eater, but there are other fun activities and traditions that your child might like, like a Thanksgiving day parade, playing games as a family, playing with their cousins, making crafts or whatever tradition your family and child enjoys.
Tip number four is to try and have as much of your normal routine as possible. Since most of the day is going to not have the structure or routine that they're used to, try to keep other meals and routines similar. For example, eat a balanced breakfast that they love, take all of your typical supplements if you're taking any, pack snacks for their typical snack time, again, refer back to your visual schedule if you're using one, and take into account the schedule that you will be following that day or lack thereof, and try to plan accordingly.
And tip number five is to be prepared and make a plan. Try to think ahead for anything that would set your child up for success, like bringing extra toys or games or something that might help them calm down if they do become overstimulated. It could also be worth asking the host if there's a quiet room that your child could use if they do become overwhelmed or need a quiet place to be alone for a little bit. It's great to have that already sought out before the day even starts so that you know exactly where to go and where to take your child if they do become overstimulated.
Lastly, have fun and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Enjoy the time with your family and friends, and eat to nourish your body and to help yourself and your child feel your best.
Next week, we won't have a typical full episode, but I do have a little surprise for black Friday. So stay tuned, follow me on Instagram, and I will be sharing a little bit more about that next week. And we will have an episode coming, but it will be smaller. Just take the time to enjoy yourself, have a happy Thanksgiving, and just really take the time to be grateful and spend the time with those that you love around you.
And thank you so much for joining me this week as we take the guesswork out of nourishing autism. Please click subscribe so you can be notified when new episodes are published, and I would be so appreciative if you left a five-star review.
This podcast is brought to you by the Autism Nutrition Library, a one-stop hub, and community for all things autism nutrition created to help you explore evidence-based nutrition approaches that have proved to be effective to help individuals with autism feel their best, do their best and be their best.
Join now by clicking Autism Nutrition Library or by stopping by my Instagram @AutismDietitian. See you next week.
Transcribed by Descript
ABOUT Brittyn Coleman, MS, RDN/LD, CLT
I’m a Registered Dietitian, Autism Nutrition Expert, and the Creator of the Autism Nutrition Library.
I work with parents of children with autism to optimize their child’s diet, supplements, and lifestyle based on their unique needs. I help expand accepted foods for picky eaters, improve digestion and gut health, find the root causes of many symptoms, and ultimately help them feel their best so that they can do their best and be their best.
Not only do I relate to families on a professional level, but also on a personal level. I have been a part of the autism community for over 20 years, as my younger brother was diagnosed on the spectrum at a young age.
I look forward to working with you to uncover the root cause of your child’s symptoms and help your child be the best version of themselves!
