How much to Decorate?

Holiday decorations can present many challenges for autistic people, both in putting them up and dealing with their presence. And then when you should be taking them down is another question.

Decorations can be simple or they can be ornate. It is really a matter of taste. If you have a lot of decorations - like garlands, lights, tinsel, popcorn on strings, and a variety of ornaments - the logistics of getting them all out, putting them up around your house, or on a tree, can be a real executive function challenge. And once they are up, having all of the blinking lights, the different colors, the variety and sometimes moving parts, can add to sensory distress.

Dealing with all of this can take some planning.

Deciding when this will happen includes spending the time when you are planning through when you were taking them down. For some of us, it can be an extended decision process.

The demands of this are really quite individual, so think about how you personally are impacted by this sort of planning.

Your coping skills are also very individual, so think about how you do with regard to all of that decorating - or maybe no decorating at all.