The 10 tips for autistics to survive bonfire night/July4th

Terrified. Terrified is the best word to use here. Tonight has been horrendous residents have had seizures being set off by the banging  others have head banged endlessly I am one of them ! Tonight has allways been horrible for myself. When I was around 3 years of age some moron shoved a lot small firework through my parents letterbox it bounced around and landed into my older brothers hands I still remeber the screaming. Every year since my parents would tightly take up the letterbox with duckt tape and cardboard. I was terrified, And tonight is no diffrent !

 So tonight to take my mind off the horrid banging I give you my top 10 list for surviving bonfire night / July 4th in the US !


TIP  1 : EAR DEFENDERS ! -

 Ear defenders are a essential to most autistics that fear the noise no matter what there functioning level is at ! You can grab a pair online at eBay or Amazon, or at a diy shop like B&Q OT homebase here is a close up picture of the name of the brand that is my favorite,  most comftable and most discreet  ! They are level L1 it goes up to level L3 depending on the amount of protection you need !

TIP 2: LET THEM STIM -

Stimming is how autistic children and adults alike call and regulate there bodys and the stimuli around them so let them do it ! My personal favorite is water play anything to do with touching ir feeling water a safe clean stim its best to let them do this in a bathroom with supervision (the more severe autistic may want to 'jump' in the shower) which is alright if you have a change of clothes handy which is probably going to be a good idea anyways ! 

TIP 3: CLOSE THOSE CURTAINS !

This one is pretty obious black out curtians are best they keep the flashing overstimualting lights out of sight and mind a bit more easily !

TIP 4: KEEP THE COMUNCATION DEVICE CLOSE BY ! -

*My device*

*me and my device*

For those autistics who or Non verbal partially verbal or find it hard to speak keep there dedicated speech device or prefferd form of comunication close to them this could be PECS a static device a bigbutton or pen and paper its very important to keep devices fully charged in these situations so there allways there for when needed with static devices replace the batteries to be safe ! The last thing you need is a autistic on the verge of meltdown and unable to tell you this !

TIP 5: KEEP THE LIGHTS ON ! -

REMEMBER! ONLY DO THIS STEP IF YOU OR YOUR AUTISTIC CHILD CAN HANDLE ROOM LIGHTS!  this tip serves the purpose of  preventing the nasty flashes from coming through the curtians and causing Futher fears

TIP 6: LET THEM HAVE THE REMOTE ! 

This may be a small price to pay to have a call night with an autistic realitive if they are to low functoning choose what you know they like for them and if they can tolerate it turn it up a bit to drown out the fireworks this may also help them to hear it better if they are wearing ear defenders ! It will prove to be a brilliant distraction if introduced right

TIP 7: LET THEM CHEW STIM  ! -

Allways supervise chewing for safety  as said before stimming is a calming release of exess stimuli and chewing is a oral motor exercise that calls and regulates the sensory system providing relaxation to the autistic on this very stressful night ! 

Worried about chewing fingers or clothing ? 

Look no further 

These are a great example of a chewing aid that is completely safe and non toxic and only about £12 Google chewigem or chewigem USA for more products including this one or for the chance of winning one of there products Facebook search the same title for a chance to enter one of there weekly competitions to win a free chewigem ! 

TIP 8: KEEP A FAVORITE TOY/ STIM YOU NEARBY ! - 

*one of my favorite toys*

*one of my favorite stim toys*

These are increadably good at providing a visual and tactile distraction 

TIP 9: KEEP PREFFERD SNACK AND DRINK CLOSE ! - 

This will provide a sense of comfort and grounding to you the autistic or the autistic child and most importantly keep them hydrated during this time of stress ! 

TIP 10: SENSORY LIGHTS ! - 

These are a go to for most autisic individuals so if your autistic or have a autistic realitive your most likely to own at least one form of sensory light if not I highly recommend it you can get them pretty much everwhere if you look out for it ! They are both visualy stimulating and calming perfect distraction for this holiday.

Well thats my list

Hopefully with this list you can not fail these holiday seasons

Got any more tips ? Post a comment below !! : )

~AUTISTICNINTENDOFAN~