Published on 12, July, 2020
As summer is still getting started, it might seem strange to think about wintry activities! But, we are hoping you might be able to help us, as we start to build our communications for November onwards.
This year, we want to ensure we are fully representing what the festive season and Christmas mean to the autistic community and their families. This means reflecting on the good – the different, fun-filled approaches to the winter holidays – and the bad. We know that for many autistic people and their families, this time of year is fraught with upsetting challenges.
We would like to feature a range of stories to capture all these experiences, as part of our work to increase understanding and to change attitudes, whilst also helping to help raise money to fund our important work.
If you would like to share your story, please do get in touch – we would love to hear from you. Share your experience below or by emailing kate.vickers@nas.org.uk.
Christmas for me is about being forced to take part in social activities on other people's terms. Let's be clear I do take part in social activities, or try to. But I like to be free to opt in or out of potentially stressful activities. A couple of examples of the worst...One Christmas my parents decided to visit my sibling in the US. I opted to stay home on my own, pleading straitened financial circumstances. I wasn't (and still am not) diagnosed as autistic, so I felt I had to invent an excuse. I didn't foresee the possibility that my Dad might offer to pay for my flight. In addition to the usual strains of travel, I spent two nightmarish days in a perpetual state of anxiety snow bound in a US airport as connecting flights to all US destinations were cancelled. This was not a good way to spend my holiday; I would have been fine at home on my own. Other people had felt pity for me and drawn me into this hell.On another occasion I wanted to opt out of the work Christmas meal because I hate being forced to sit down shoulder to shoulder with other people in crowded noisy spaces. Again, as I wasn't diagnosed as autistic, I couldn't give a good reason. I was reprimanded by my boss and felt that I had to go. It was torture.Every year, I see Christmas looming and wonder what horrible experiences are in store for me.