Special Needs

At what age will my ASD child "get" Christmas?

he will be 4 in Jan and he just does not seem interested in santa or the tree. What more can I do to help him get?

Re: At what age will my ASD child "get" Christmas?

  • Obviously this is going to vary based on the child, but my older DS was mildly interested last year and REALLY into it this year. 

    We do a ton of christmas stories, an advent calendar, do breakfast with Santa (even if he won't talk or sit with Santa), go together as a family to buy the tree, etc.  I make a giant calendar with pictures of all of the events leading up to the holiday.  We also watch lots of Christmas movies that helped him get the idea.  For some reason the Curious George A Very Monkey Christmas seemed to get the point across the best for him.

    With all of this said, I'm still not expecting too much on Christmas morning.  In the past he's sort of opened 1-2 presents and then wasn't really interested in doing more.  We will see.

  • I don't know how much Sylvie "gets" this year (she's 3), but we're shoving it all down her throat... the tree, Christmas carols, Santa, etc. She has a 4.5 year old sister who has enough natural enthusiasm for the holidays for the both of them, so hopefully she'll also pick up on that a bit... I'm also going to read her tons of books about Christmas, Santa, etc. She seems to grasp concepts a bit more easily when she sees them in print or pictures.
    A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garrett
    image7_0002 A ~ 2.7.06 S ~ 9.2.07
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  • My son really started enjoying it last year...at 4.5 y/o. The year before he was sort of going with the flow, but I knew he was probably like: what the heck is going on? That was at 3.5 y/o. The year before that - forget it...he was afraid of the Christmas lights (he was 2.5 y/o), but at least he opened some presents. See...it shows some "evolution" in the process.

    Every year seems to be much better than the last. This year we're one step further (at 5.5 y/o)....he's already asking about specific gifts, which has never happenned before. Shopping for my boy was pretty much about what I decided that he may like or what I wanted him to have because it would have educational/developmental impact on him. He never wanted anything for himself. This year, it seems to be the way it's suppossed to be....he's asking Santa for gifts that HE wants (an iPad - lol!). I'm actually excited this year and so I will go and buy an insanely expensive iPad just because I'm so thrilled that he's asking for a gift! I know - that's messed up...oh well

  • My son is 4.5 and he's almost there.  He's excited about the tree and stockings.  He knows about Santa and what not, but doesn't care about seeing  him.  He also knows what presents are.  Last year we literallty had the presents wrapped right in our living room next to the tv. and he never ever looked at them.  When we had Christmas at his grandmas all the kids were opening their presents and he just walked away.  So I think by next Christmas he'll totally be there....I hope!
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