Autism and Christmas

Autism and Christmas

The closer we get to Christmas, and the older he gets, the more involved he becomes. He starts asking about when our tree will be up, what colored lights will be on the tree, and how much time off will he get. If we try to skip anything (like outdoor lights for example) he now knows to call us on our slacking.  Autism and Christmas promises to be interesting this year!

More than any other holiday or occasion, my son loves Christmas. He is just like me this way. It is more than just the presents that he loves, there are so many surrounding factors as many of us know.
These days it begins after Halloween when we visit the big box stores. The Christmas decorations are on full display in the blink of an eye and he knows that the time has begun.

This is the beginning of all the sights and sounds that he loves. The beginning of lights, fake snowmen, bells and commercials on TV. After Thanksgiving, things really start to kick in!

This holiday season has run rife with inconsistency and deviations from tradition. We have already changed the routine with Thanksgiving this year. We told the grandparents we would visit them for Christmas so they skipped Thanksgiving at our house for the first time in twelve years.

Now we will be traveling and not spending Christmas in the home. We shall see what happens!

Mark Ferdinand is the writer of the adventure novel "Fortune on the Spectrum".  He lives on the South Texas coast with his wife, daughter and son. Fishing the surf, hunting, gardening, tiki-carving, and repairs occupy his spare time. He has written on the topic of autism spectrum disorder from a father's perspective in parenting articles and in other non-fiction venues. Having limited typical communication skills, his son introduced Mark to new ways of interpreting his needs and aspirations. As his son grew older Mark became fascinated by the story potential within these amazing children. This prompted the creation of a dynamic adventure story focusing on a character with autism.
After completing his first novel, Fortune on the Spectrum, he decided to compile a group of lifetime stories that brought him to the unusual occupation of snake venom extraction called You're Gonna' Get Bit!: Harrowing Tales of Herpetology.

Books by Mark Ferdinand are available here:

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