To Children With Autism, From a Santa With Autism

To all the children with autism around the world,

Hi kids, Santa here and I’m writing to you from the North Pole to tell you how excited we are that Christmas is coming! My elves are hard at work making toys, and the reindeer have been preparing for our long trip around the world. I’ve noticed my naughty list is much lighter this year, so I’m sure you have earned a spot on my nice list.

The elves and I are writing to you today to let you know we understand how the holidays can be tough sometimes, especially when it comes to meeting me. Malls can be loud, the crowds can be pushy and it can be an overwhelming experience. How do I know so much about this? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret…

I have autism, just like you.

When I was younger, the wind blowing in to bring snow for my sleigh to land on made my head spin. The elves practiced carols and sang out to spread Christmas joy, but the loud volume and pitches of their voice made me want to hide under Mrs. Claus’s apron. Whenever the reindeer played their reindeer games, all of the hustle, bustle and excitement overwhelmed me, and I would need to lie down and relax. Even when I would go to malls to see other lovely children, like you, I would feel out of place during the holiday season and never really know why.

As I got older, with the help of my elf family, reindeer friends and of course Mrs. Claus, I became more and more comfortable in all of these situations. Sometimes I still have a hard time with these things — and that is OK!

Thanks to all of the support we’ve had through the years, the elves and I have decided we are prepared to bring a little bit of our North Pole Christmas cheer directly to you! You see, because of my younger days, I’m now going to help host an autism-friendly day for you all to enjoy! My elves will teach you all the songs they practiced, on the quieter side just for your ears. The elves are also going to show you how they do arts and crafts, North Pole-style. And finally (and this is my favorite part), you and I will take a picture together so we can both remember how much fun we had celebrating Christmas.

The elves and I are so excited to meet all of you in person. I can only hope we will be able to host more autism-friendly events for all the children with autism around the world. Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays,

Santa

You can learn more about our Autism-Friendly Day at Santa’s Elf Factory in Jersey City, New Jersey here.

A version of this post originally appeared on Kerrymagro.com.

The Mighty is asking the following: What’s one thing people might not know about your experience with disability, disease or illness during the holiday season, and what would you say to teach them? If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Share Your Story page for more about our submission guidelines.