IT'S hard to believe, but this time next month, Santa will be loading up his sleigh and getting ready to depart from the North Pole.
We'll have the Christmas trees twinkling, the carols ringing out, parties to attend and an array of relatives visiting.
For most of our kids this will be a magical, exciting time to look forward to, but for children with Autism, Christmas – with its upset of routine, noise, crowds and sensory overload – can be extremely stressful and confusing.
We visited the Titanic Centre's Magical Christmas Experience at the weekend. Aware that Christmas can often be a difficult time for families impacted by Autism, the team at the centre have worked alongside Autism NI to make the experience of visiting Father Christmas a truly magical one.
While there, I spoke with Carrickfergus mum, Kelly Milligan, whose three boys are on the Autism spectrum.
Her youngest lad, Joel (7) is the most severely affected with a diagnosis of 'Classic Autism'. She says Christmas can be difficult.
"Christmas can be particularly challenging because of the disruption to normal routines, lack of stimulation that school provides, changes to the home and visitors arriving," she said.
"Preparing for Christmas can be stressful for anyone and for a child with autism, the anxiety caused by the unpredictability of the festive season becomes more evident in their behaviours such as meltdowns or 'stimming' to self-regulate their emotions.
"Crowds, their unexpected noise and other sensory triggers can be very unsettling for Joel. The hum from fluorescent strip lighting or a drop in temperature around freezers in the supermarket can cause upset for him.
"Joel 'doesn't do queuing' and experiences meltdowns in busy public places which regularly results in negative judgements or 'the look' from strangers who are not aware of his 'invisible disability' at first glance.
"I don't really know how much Joel understands about Santa. He was less fearful last year and a little more interested. He enjoys the personalised Portable North Pole videos. "He knows that Santa "brings presents" but I don't go into any great detail about how Santa gets into the house at night in case it frightens him.
"I also have concerns that he may still believe as an adult if we overplay Santa's role."
Sarah Jayne Cassells, from Autism NI says Christmas for those with Autism can be very different and for some, quite difficult.
"Christmas for individuals within the Autism community can be very different," she said.
"Some kids will love Christmas and others will absolutely hate it. When this is the case Christmas is often a very stressful time for the individual and the family.
"As most of us embrace the festive spirit with the decorations, gifts and visiting Santa Claus and the like, all these elements can be disruptive and anxiety provoking for someone with Autism, because of the changes in routine.
"Things happen at Christmas that wouldn't normally take place at other times of the year like different foods, decorations, family visiting and gift giving to name a few.
"Even the idea of Santa Claus can be very distressing for a child with autism. That element of a man in a red suit coming down your chimney in the middle of the night can be very alarming.
"A lot of children on the autistic spectrum take this literally and don't have the ability to think in the abstract.
"All families will cope with Autism at Christmas in their own way, but it is good to be aware that Christmas isn't always a magical time for everyone."
Autism NI's families were invited to the Titanic's Magical Christmas Experience, which opened last Friday and the younger members of the O'Neill family joined them and other families from all over Northern Ireland for a beautifully festive event.
We were able to step back in time, join Father Christmas and explore Titanic Belfast's traditional Christmas street scene.
We visited Ye Olde Picture House, peeked through the toy shop window at the toys from a bygone era and checked out the Post Office where Father Christmas has his elves hard at work.
Instead of standing in a queue waiting to see Santa, kids were able to run around, explore, make Christmas decorations, write letters to Santa, watch a Christmas film in a quiet room, play games, hear a classic Christmas tale or visit the old fashioned wardrobe and find the perfect outfit to transport them back in time.
When Santa was ready to see the children, their names were called and they presented themselves at the 'Naughty or Nice' step where they were given the verdict by a delightful Mrs Claus and covered in snow in celebration of their niceness.
Santa himself was truly magical. My kids had a wonderful time. It was great to see so many Autism NI families having a lovely time and enjoying the festive season too.
:: The Magical Christmas Experience is open now. Tickets, priced at £15 for children and £4 for adults are available via Titanicbelfast.com.
