This article is part of an ongoing series about helping your autistic twins adjust to different seasons. It’s important to talk about the changes that the seasons bring, as change can be difficult to manage, especially when it is unexpected. Get tips for helping your autistic twins, triplets or quadruplets to be happy and settled through spring, summer, fall and winter. In the Northern Hemisphere, winter is December, January and February. Winter is a time for slowing down, staying indoors and enjoying the beauty of nature around us.
Sensory challenges in the winter
Winter brings its own challenges with sensory regulation and interoception. One of the most important aspects is helping your autistic triplets understand interoception. This means understanding and interpreting your body signals, such as hunger, thirst, toilet and cold.
Some autistic people may not feel the cold and will be happy going out in just shorts. You may need to talk about appropriate clothing choices and what we wear during the winter. Social stories can help as well, here you can find an example social story for getting dressed in the winter for boys or girls.
In winter, you may have to add lots of layers for protection. This can be difficult, as your autistic twins may find this stressful, different from normal, takes too long or leads to being overheated. Some autistic twins prefer tight fitting clothing such as Lycra sports tops or leggings to wear under jeans or sweaters. Tight clothing provide pressure, which is calming for some. Have your twins help pick out coats, hats, scarves and boots to wear that are comfortable for them and in fabrics they can tolerate.
To protect from frostbite, be sure to add gloves or mittens. However, some autistic triplets may find this difficult, due to fine motor skill challenges gloves or mittens can be difficult to put on and also interfere with the ability to play. Try different fabrics such as wool, cotton or fleece to find what your autistic twins are most comfortable with. You may also need to add sunglasses or ski goggles to protect their eyes from the sun’s glare.
Changes to routine
Depending on where you live, winter may mean you are no longer able to get outdoors to do some activities. You may also find that school or therapy appointments are cancelled due to snow or icy conditions. While some autistic twins may be excited to stay home, others can find a change in routine difficult. You can try a social story about school closures to help out, or make your own.
If school is closed, you can find lots of ways to stay busy indoors. It’s also easy to adapt activities to meet your autistic twins therapy goals. For example, if you are working on fine motor skills, try to do activities that allow your autistic twins to practice their pinching, grasping, threading or tying skills. If you are working on speech, find activities that allow you to talk about winter themes like what clothing we wear in the snow or what animals we might see on a winter walk. Get in some sensory play by doing winter themed sensory bins or painting with finger paints or shaving cream.
Keeping busy
The winter months can bring a surge of new toys and gifts. While exciting for children, this influx can quickly lead to overwhelming clutter, especially if everyone is spending more time inside. To help reduce this, consider rotating toys. This means storing away a portion of your autistic triplets toys and swapping them out with a different set every few weeks. This keeps toys fresh and exciting, preventing boredom and overstimulation. Not only does this reduce clutter, but it also helps children appreciate their toys more, as they are not constantly bombarded with too many choices.
In our house, we love the Farmers Almanac, where you can learn about plants, animals, weather, planets, phases of the moon, and more. Each month there are different themes to explore. It’s a great book to introduce with your autistic twins in January, as it will provide activities and conversation starters to last throughout the year. For example, you can go for a winter walk and look for fungus that is visible in January, or talk about what animals hibernate in winter and why, or what constellations you can see.
Depending on where you live, you can also set up a winter window watch. Get a bird feeder and set up a feeding station, or leave fruits or other treats in the backyard. Keep watch using binoculars or if you are more high tech, you can even get a night vision camera or motion activated camera. You can keep a diary to track what animals or birds are seen, and also take the opportunity to research unfamiliar birds, animals or tracks left in the snow. We’ve also had fun in the past listening for bird sounds and identifying them using a website or an app.
Adjusting to less daylight
We live in Northern England, meaning in winter our shortest day is only 7 hours of daylight. While this can be a challenge for autistic twins to wake up and go back to bed in the dark, this also presents the opportunity for fun dark activities, such as games with flashlights. For example, you can play I spy, charades, tag, or just read books with flashlights. Shine a light on an object in the room and ask your autistic twins to name it. It’s also a great opportunity to play with items that have LED lights. And Next Comes L shares some great ideas on her blog.
Shadow games are another fun way to play indoors. Again you can use flashlights and create finger puppets, or ask your autistic triplets to identify an object based on its shadow. You can also do some fun shadow tracing of people or objects by putting the shadow on the paper and tracing around it.
My son is really into science and space, specifically. In the winter we enjoy looking at the stars and trying to find constellations. We are also lucky to live in an area where the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are visible. Use an aurora tracker to help identify when it will be close to you for viewing, or you can even book a trip to stay somewhere northern where you have a better chance of viewing! For a different way to enjoy space, try listening to different sounds from our galaxy!
Seasonal affect disorder (SAD)
You may find that you or your autistic twins are affected by the “January gloom” or seasonal affective disorder. It’s easy to feel this way after the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and being inside more doesn’t help! Try getting some sunshine and fresh air if you can, even small amounts of Vitamin D from the sun can help you feel better. If you can’t access the real thing, you can always buy a special lamp called a SAD lamp or sunlight lamp.
Staying healthy
It’s important to help your autistic twins stay healthy, no matter the season. In the winter, illnesses like the common cold, flu, Covid, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and norovirus (stomach flu), conjunctivitis (pink eye) and strep throat can all be found. One of the most important ways to combat these illnesses is to get your autistic twins into a good handwashing routine. Again, social stories or special songs can help them remember what to do. Also be sure they are getting plenty of water and plenty of rest. You might find it difficult to encourage your autistic triplets to take medication. Due to sensory reasons such as taste or texture, they might not want to take medications or struggle with taking pills.
An important part of staying healthy is keeping clothes and bedding clean. You may need to do laundry more often in the winter if clothes are wet or get damp from sweat. You may also find that you need to take extra steps to protect your home from excess moisture in the winter as this can lead to mold, which is especially problematic if your autistic twins have asthma or other health difficulties. You can keep windows open a crack or try to dry bulky wet items like coats and boots away from where the family is spending time to keep the air fresh and circulating. Also some plants love moisture and can help keep condensation levels low indoors.
What are your top tips to help autistic twins this winter? Share in the comments below. Be sure to subscribe for the latest news and updates!
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