Nutrition and Sensory Tips for a Smooth Thanksgiving
by FAU CARD | Tuesday, Nov 01, 2022
If you are planning on visiting family, friends or having a special time at home for Thanksgiving, below are a few tips to think about or plan into your holiday routine. Sometimes a lot of the smells, volume of food, variety of foods, changes in schedules or routines and many conversations with other family members can be overwhelming for some individuals. Below are a few tips you might find helpful in preparing for this special day.• Consider bringing or offering to bring comfort, fall back type foods that they like to eat. This way even if they do not
enjoy eating traditional foods, they can still participate in the dinner and family experience.
• Consider planning the meal at a time that you usually have a meal. Maintaining routines and structure at these
times can be helpful.
• Consider having the food available on a table separate, from where you are eating. Having people make up their
plates first then going over to the dining table can be less confusing and overwhelming.
• Consider making up a plate with foods they like to eat, if there are too many choices and smells.
• Consider having everyone else already prepared with their food and sitting down prior to you sitting down, this
would allow for less down time and waiting.
• Consider the speaking volume of everyone at the table and throughout the day. Sometimes individuals can be
sensitive to loud noises and can be distracted with multiple conversations.
• Consider having one conversation at the table with only one person talking at a time. Sometimes when there are
multiple people talking it can be distracting and difficult to know who to listen to.
• Consider having a quiet area with comfort toys or activities, that an individual could retreat to if feeling
overwhelmed or distracted.
• Consider having some social stories prepared regarding the day and what types of things to expect, such as eating at
the table, and playing/talking with friends/relatives. It would be good to include ways to ask for help, toys they can
play with or a quiet area they could go to, if needed. Prepping someone in advance is also a good practice, so there
are little to no surprises.
• Consider having visual pictures available to use for conversation and communication.
• Consider organizing time to be spent with other family members and building in some social engagement.
• Consider bringing some comfortable clothes to change into or have on hand, this could help alleviate any potential
sensory distractions.