November 12, 2014

Reducing Holiday Stress for Families of Children with Autism

With the holidays rapidly approaching, families start to prepare for the onslaught of copious amounts of food, time spent with family, family visitors, shopping, decorating, school vacations, and all the expected hustle and bustle of the holiday session.

Not only do the holidays emphasize good times, Yule tide, and cheer the season also brings along elevated levels of stress for families, this can be especially true for families of children with autism.

Schedule changes, unexpected transitions, unstructured time, and even a break in services can lead to children experiencing increased stress and can lead to their parents and families feeling increased amounts of stress. Here are some tips to help reduce the holiday stress for your child and hopefully yourself as well:

Planning and Preparation – Help your child prepare for the holiday session. Make family trips, school end/start dates, and other important events on a calendar that the child can see. Help count down or review upcoming events so your child will be prepared.

Limit Surprises – Limit unexpected events or visitors, remind your child of what to expect, what behavior is expected, and what will be occurring during the day.

Reinforce Behavior – Establish what the child can earn daily or throughout the day for engaging in appropriate behavior. Explain what is expected and what the child will earn to increase positive behaviors.

Small Changes – If you are anticipating decorating the house, do it in small steps instead of changing the environment all on one day. Perhaps hang lights one day, decorate interior the next, then the tree, and then final trimmings.

Keep a Consistent Schedule - Even if school or services pause over the holidays continue to have the child wake up around the same time, complete the daily dressing routine, follow the same eating schedule, and keep the night routine as consistent as possible.

Practice, Practice, Practice – Create opportunities for learning; social stories, role-play, model what is polite and appropriate behavior when receiving gifts, waiting for others to open gifts, or when visiting another adult’s house.

Relaxation Strategies – Practice calming and relaxation strategies if you or your child is experiencing increased levels of stress or if they are over stimulated.

Be Flexible – Many times things won’t go as planned or simple events like shopping take longer than expected, that is ok, remember to remain calm and go with the flow

Enjoy Your Child – Make time to enjoy your child by sharing a fun activity or just being with your child, remember sometimes things are hard for them but with some forethought and planning you can help to reduce the stress that comes with the holiday session.

View Our Previous Blog Posts

October 7, 2026

The 4 Functions of Behavior in ABA Therapy: Understanding Your Child’s Behavior

In ABA therapy, understanding the functions of behavior helps clinicians (and you) uncover what your child is trying to communicate through their behavior. And once we unlock the “why,” we also reveal the pathway to teaching new ways to communicate that same need (thus reducing challenging behaviors like tantrums, aggression, or throwing things) and setting up your child for success.

October 7, 2026

Differential Reinforcement in ABA: The Most Powerful Tool Behavior Therapists Use

Differential reinforcement is a behavior-support strategy that strengthens one response while reducing another. It has two moving parts: reinforcing the behavior you want to see more of, and reducing reinforcement for the challenging behavior that isn’t meeting your child’s needs in the best way.

September 8, 2026

7 Famous People with Autism Who've Shared Their Diagnosis

An autism diagnosis never determines your success. For many of the most creative, driven, and groundbreaking minds in history, it may have been the very thing that fueled it. An intense focus, pattern recognition, and a willingness to see the world differently are not limitations. They're superpowers. And when a person with autism is given the right support and space to grow, truly incredible things can happen.

September 8, 2026

What Is DRA in ABA Therapy? (Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior)

Every time your child wants to play with a toy, they have big emotions until they get it. At school, when presented with difficult work, they might run away. These are all examples of behaviors your child might exhibit to serve a communicative purpose. They might need something or want your attention. Or maybe they just want access to an opportunity. Whatever the behavior might be—it works, so it continues. Sometimes, we as adults may reinforce these behaviors without realizing it.

September 8, 2026

The 7 Dimensions of ABA Therapy (Baer, Wolf & Risley, 1968)

What guides every intervention in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy?The 7 dimensions of ABA.Think of ABA therapy like a multi-dimensional figure. It has many angles, perspectives, and ways to evaluate it. That is exactly what the dimensions do. They give clinicians and families a complete way to see how well an intervention is working, from every angle.

September 8, 2026

Errorless Learning in ABA: How and Why Behavior Therapists Use It

In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, errorless learning is a way to teach new skills by giving the right amount of support from the very beginning.When your child with autism is learning something new, mistakes are part of the process. But for some kiddos, too many mistakes too quickly can feel uncomfortable, frustrating, or discouraging. The last thing we want is for your child to shut down, guess, avoid the task, or lose confidence before the skill has a chance to grow. That's where errorless learning can help.