Bizarrely, the topic of Christmas and adverts came up just now. Apparently the business class in the local academy are focussed on this at the moment. At the start of September 🤷
Which reminds of one of our favourite tracks:
War on Christmas by Epic Beard Men
But also what we wrote last year:
Some of us do not like Christmas.
It’s not to spoil it for others.
It is hard for us.
Christmas tends to bring large amounts of unfamiliar sensory input and clutter. Too much unwanted noise, visual decorations etc…
On top of that, it tends to bring enforced social obligations/interactions. Fixed timings, that do not allow for capability at the time, and so on.
Ramping it up months out is not helpful.
Trying to get us involved by thinking of lots of ways to keep dragging us in is worse. Guilt tripping.
Telling us that we should enjoy something, questioning why we wouldn’t, is never going to suddenly change things. Guess what, if it worked, and we could suddenly cope with something and hence derive enjoyment from it, just because someone says so… Well that would be fantastic.
But it doesn’t work, and we find it hard to believe people do not understand that. It is like repeatedly feeding someone a food they dislike, whilst telling them they are wrong for their taste.
So when approaching Christmas (or similar events/celebrations) pause and consider that others might find the thing you enjoy traumatic.
Neurotypical may be the majority, the normal, by it’s very definition.
But, the neurodiverse are here.
Not always easy to spot, some are VERY good at masking. Which comes at a huge load, unseen by the neurotypical.
Indeed, society trains the neurodiverse, to hide.
So, if someone is not into it, give them a break.
Heck, they may just join when they can.