Nancy Flanders knows Thanksgiving will be here in a few short weeks. So she’s back today with 6 Thanksgiving survival tips about how to make the day a success for kids with a variety of special needs. Once again her ideas are practical and simple things you can implement before the big day arrives on November 24.

6 Thanksgiving Survival Tips for Special Needs Families

Thanksgiving dinner is perhaps the biggest meal of the year in the United States. We spend most of the day eating, and then we continue to eat the leftovers for weeks. For families of children with special needs, big concerns come to the surface on Thanksgiving. It isn’t just about making the best turkey or pumpkin pie, but keeping our children comfortable, healthy and safe.

Over-Stimulation

For children who are easily over-stimulated, having a plan is the best way to keep the situation from getting out of control. Plan ahead with your child. If you are going to a home he hasn’t been to very often, show him pictures of the home and of the people that will be there. Talk about what the party will be like and what he can expect. Include in your plan, a way for you and your child to escape if a meltdown occurs. Talk to your host about a space in the home where your child can go if he feels overwhelmed. Bring a bag of his favorite things to have on hand during this downtime.

The Child Who Can’t Eat

For people with Prader-Willi Syndrome, overeating can be deadly and Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of overeating. If you are the parent of a child with PWS, you may feel isolated, especially around the holidays. You can go to the family get-together, but you have to have a plan and be vigilant. Make sure your child plays in a different room than where the food is, but try to position yourself so that the food is in your line of sight. Make sure you are the one who makes a plate of food for your child, and have her sit at a table where there isn’t any other food. You can find more tips for your child, your host, or your guest with PWS at the association website.

The Child Who Must Eat

Children with cystic fibrosis must eat up to 150% more calories than their peers every day. So Thanksgiving is a great day for these families, unless of course, your child with CF is too distracted to eat. There’s so much going on that your child may not be able to focus on her food and may just want to get down from the table to play. Try to entice her with her favorite foods. One trick that has worked for my daughter with CF is to put whipped cream on everything. She seems to dive right in. You can also remove her from the distractions to a quieter area of the home where the two of you can sit and eat together.

The Child with a Feeding Tube

For the child who is fed exclusively by feeding tube, a big family dinner can be tough. If relatives are comfortable having your child tube fed at the table while everyone else eats, there are some Thanksgiving tube feeding recipes you can try. You can also feed your child ahead of time, or if your child is uncomfortable with these options, you can wait to attend the party until after dinner has been served.

The Child with Tics or Outbursts

For children with Tourette Syndrome or non-verbal children who make sudden load noises, Thanksgiving dinner can make some relatives uncomfortable. And when they stare at your child or make comments, it hurts your child. Talk to the host and other party guests ahead of time to explain the situation and remind them that your child faces stares and rude comments every day, and you and she are both excited to be at dinner with understanding family members. Offer them your best advice for having patience with stuttering and not reacting when a child has an outburst. Give them the knowledge you have gained so that they can handle the situation and your child can feel comfortable.

The Child Who Can’t Get Sick

My family’s biggest issue during Thanksgiving is germs. It’s cold and flu season and people with cystic fibrosis need to avoid respiratory germs. This is a tough topic to bring up when planning a Thanksgiving dinner. Whether the party is at your house, or a relative’s house, you need to make sure everyone understands that they should stay home if they are sick. Inevitably, someone will show up saying he just has a cold. When this happens, you have two choices. You can turn around and leave, which will probably upset your child, or you can stay. If you stay, there are rules you can follow to reduce your child’s chances of getting ill. Keep at least 3 feet away from the person who is sick and the rest of their immediate family. Wash your hands or use hand-sanitizing wipes like Sani-Wipes often. If it is a child who is sick, this makes life a bit tougher. When my daughter was younger, we simply put up a baby gate and kept her in it with a bunch of clean toys. Now that she’s a bit older, we are extra careful to wash her hands and keep certain toys away from the sick child.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that should be celebrated, no matter what special need your child has. Don’t deprive her of family time if you don’t have to. With a little planning and a lot of attention to detail, you and your child can enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving.

Share Your Thanksgiving Survival Tips

Nancy had some great tips. Maybe you have some other tips about specials need not mentioned in this post or simple things that have made a positive difference in the past. Please, we’d love to hear them, so share them in the comment box if you like.

Nancy Flanders is a wife and mother of two girls, one with cystic fibrosis. After her daughter’s diagnosis at just 6 days old, she altered her career path to focus on writing about raising a child with a special health need. She spends any free moment she can find fundraising for a cure for her daughter and volunteering for her hospital’s cystic fibrosis advisory group. Visit Nancy at www.chronicadmissions.blogspot.com and www.parentingsquad.com.

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