Gift Ideas for Autistic People

it may seem hard to buy gifts for autistic people to others we can appear fussy ungrateful or maybe even downright uninterested in the social traditions involving gift-giving never fear today I'm going to be showering yes showering you with gift ideas for small medium and large gifts that will make us very very happy indeed so stay tuned [Music] hi everyone if you're new to my channel I am Sam I was recently diagnosed with autism as an adult and I now make videos about autism on YouTube every single week if you think you might like that sort of thing don't forget to hit subscribe to stay up to date with all of my videos the holidays are a special and stressful time of year where social obligations peak and autistic people have to navigate not just the Trixie world of present buying and giving but also the world of present receiving now wait a minute I hear you say is present receiving the fun part well it can be sure but it can also be really difficult for autistic people not knowing the right thing to say or how to respond can make it really stressful and worrying about saying the wrong thing can make us appear silent and ungrateful and of course as some of us have unique interests and sensory needs it can make some presence totally unsuitable for us and we might not be able to stop our disappointments shining through which can make for a very awkward gift receiving experience I'm here to help you understand all of our present related neuroses and how you can give your artistic loved ones a very happy holiday season coming up in a few weeks I will be doing a whole video on the gift receiving and giving process and delving into the psyche of the holiday artist so stick around for that one if you're interested just remember that not all autistic people like Christmas or Hanukkah and please don't expect a certain reaction from us because we may not react how you want us to but seriously it's always better to check with the person before spending money especially a large amount of money now I have used my powers of observing intuition and systemising to create this guide but I am NOT and have never been queen of the autists so these are just ideas please calm down also I would definitely not suggest getting someone a present and saying sort of like I got you this present because you're autistic and this lady on the internet said you like it I really don't need an angry mob after me not after last time so let's talk about the sensory aspects of Christmas and Chanukah just I'm going to say Christmas so let's talk about the sensory aspects of Christmas you might have heard of the terms sensory seeker and sensory avoider autistic people can be one the other all both yeah it's confusing so I would really recommend you find out which one you're lovely autistic person is before you even think about buying them a gift for the sensory seeker Christmas can be really magical so you can easily capitalize on that knowledge for the sensory avoider it can be a constant onslaught of music glitter and fanfare that drives us underground and into our caves for hibernation and what if they're both well for example I'm a visual seeker and an auditory avoider and I can be a taste touch and smell seeker or avoider depending on the second senses so for example I love scented candles but I am really really particular about the kind of smells that I like and I think smells are one of those things well we are really sensitive in particular about it in general so for example I would love anything with lavender fig or citrus scents but don't get me anything with jasmine or lily so if sensory seekers might enjoy tactile things like this sequined cushion these have exploded in popularity recently they are incredibly nice to caress and you can get them in a variety of designs like this personalized one that my husband bought me last year for my birthday now I don't know exactly what you call them but these sort of oozy timers I guess are very relaxing and soothing I'm a really big visual stimulus Rhys partly twinkly things all that kind of stuff I absolutely love but these ones are a little bit more contained than something that is just exploding with glitter right and these particular ones have a really nice little two-tone sort of effect sensory and fidget toys are also really popular among autistic people and they're also great for stocking stuffers because they're relatively inexpensive I was a bit skeptical actually when I ordered as a little selection for this video but one of the things I picked up was this rainbow fidget spinner and the reason I really like this one is because it's metal so it's nice and heavy and to be honest I have not really put this down in the last week this one is actually really really great because you can rearrange the the order of the colors and you can remove all of the balls so you can make it wobble as it spins so I really really like this one I literally never thought I could love a tiny little thing this much that's what she said now the other toy that I got was this fidget cube it's kind of reminiscent of a rubik's cube but infinitely more vegetable I'm one of those people that actually finds it really hard to sit and just watch TV sometimes I usually I'm watching telly and on my phone at the same time and sometimes I even have my laptop open as well it's pathological I'm sorry but with this thing I can actually find myself just watching telly because my hands have something to do it's also it small enough to put in your pocket and the fact that it's black and kind of sleek makes it very suitable for important business meetings and the like it's great now you haven't yet fidget toys very very cheaply and you compare a little bit more the ones I picked we're a little bit more expensive because I do think that it's nice to get higher quality items and high quality fidget toys still aren't exactly expensive so they are a great gift for this time of year so for sensory avoiders especially people with very sensitive hearing there are a few ear themed gifts I guess that you could consider now I personally use these Talton --ax nose cancelling headphones these are a decent price level and they work really well for my needs that they're wireless bluetooth and they also have the active noise canceling on them if you're feeling especially flush you can obviously go up and up and up in price and get the fancy bozos so any one's but I've found these ones work really well because you know the more money you spend the more you love the person right now vibes earplugs are also a rather stylish new option on the market they are reusable and filter sound better than the foam earplugs you can get they are designed for concert goers but I've actually found that these kind of earplugs are much much better when you're in a noisy environment and want to also contribute to the conversation and hear what people are saying now speaking of sensory avoiders and versions some autistic people have a real trouble with their food touching and if you know somebody like this you can get silicon food dividers that you put on plates and you can each section of food in a different spot so you don't have to deal with like sauce going into or contaminating another thing and I know that eight year old me would have definitely approved of this invention so if you know someone who hates their foods touching definitely think about this one now if the person is a massive sensory avoider and frequently experiences sensory overload it might be a really nice idea to get them a voucher for one of these sensory isolation tanks you can normally find them in big cities or even maybe smallish cities the one I've linked below is based in London I have time to scour the internet for a sensory isolation tank in your city but they exist and you know they're probably around 4050 pounds for a session so the next category of things to think about is soft things why do you what has take people likes of things so much it's a mystery but we do ashtag not all autistics I would recommend that asking them if they have any preference for materials personally I really like soft natural fibers like bamboo or wool but some people really like micro fleece and absolutely can't stand wool so even if you ask them about their material preferences you can still keep the actual gift a surprise socks are a classic holiday gift in general I think I don't think you need someone on the Internet to tell you to buy socks for Christmas but seamless bamboo socks can be really great for people who are very itchy with seams and sort of that or just funky patent socks in general my favorite socks come from a brand called thought clothing and they just have a variety of really fun patterns socks these ones have unicorns on them and they're super super soft and bamboo so it's sustainable that kind of thing other warm and soft things that we might appreciate would be like snuggly blankets cozy onesies or dressing gowns but obviously all of that depends on your price point and their preferences for specific materials so the next category is therapeutic things many autistic people have comorbid health conditions which means that while autism might be a neurological condition we often have a lot more things going on with our bodies if you know someone who loves deep pressure and would love to get a massage every week if they could afford it really consider this robot massage slave what's it called she has a natural the messenger electric back massage if you need additional muscles hang relaxing Karthus geez no wonder I couldn't remember but honestly there's not many things that have changed my life but this thing has been life-changing I get frequent knots in my back and like back cramps and aches and pains during my period and stuff like this and you can just position it anywhere you can you can use it on your neck like this you can use it on your your nuts here you can use it on your back you can put it on your feet oh my gosh I have used this thing so much I got it about six months ago and I have recommended it to so many people it's just amazing I literally tell everybody I know to get one of these another therapeutic style item that you might get if you really really love the person is a weighted blanket now these are extremely sought after by autistic people and for a good reason because they're typically too expensive for us to just buy outright ourselves luckily there are cheaper versions are out there now there is a company called chilly gems who has just released a version starting from 40 pounds and there's obviously handmade versions and fancy versions and they go up and up in price you can you can buy a way to blanket for 500 pounds if you really want to I want this for Christmas I want it really badly they are supposed to add relaxation and help with anxiety and just promote a general feeling of well-being the pressure from the weight actually activates the parasympathetic nervous system so it sounds a bit hokey and woo but it is actually really nice apparently the general guide for what weight to buy is ten percent plus one or two pounds or half to one kilo I mean until I get a weighted blanket I do have two cats that weigh seven kilos in total so I just need to convince them to lie on me all spread out I guess the therapeutic effect would be the same so next category is practical things now autistic people probably like practical things way more than the average person I think and being practical can be very hard for us so any help with that is actually quite welcome now I have been using a sort of bullet journal ish style system for the last year but they stopped doing the the model that I wanted and it's all to do a bullet journal system on a weekly basis so while looking for planners for people with ADHD and executive functioning issues I came across this planner which is called the clever Fox planner this is this comes off does it it does this is a dateless planner which means that you fill it in as you go along which is great for me because sometimes I'm not gonna lie I miss a couple of weeks if I have a bad few weeks and then I feel annoyed that I have these blank pages and it's a waste so you can just fill these in as you go along every single week I really like that it has clear sections for your goals your monthly plan and your weekly plan it also has a little bit on gratitudes your priority is building up habits and skills I just find it a really clear thoughtful planner and it's really nice quality so I'm gonna be using this for 2020 now I know a lot of people don't like giving money as gifts but a lot of autistic people really want things exactly their way and so if you think that you've got somebody who just never likes presents that you give money is obviously a very safe option if you really want to wrap it up or fancy you can give them Amazon vouchers they come in a variety of cute little tins so it's like you're still giving them something and that way they can also choose fun things for themselves that they wouldn't necessarily justify buying for themselves and I don't want to get too somber about this but autistic people are hugely underemployed and so money and vouchers can be really helpful this time of year if you do like giving more intangible gifts because you don't want to clutter up their house or you concerns about the environment consider other kinds of vouchers like credits for babysitting or help with cooking or cleaning a subscription to a meal plan club or maybe even just a homemade voucher that allows the person to redeem it and everyone will go away and leave them alone for a day I think I'll just experience tough like this and because we're not typically motivated by showing off the status of our gifts we truly appreciate these gifts for what they are now the last category of gifts that I want to suggest is something related to our special interests autistic special interests have a reputation for being you know pathological and mostly to do with trains or whatever but autistic people can get passionate about any topic whatsoever my special interests have reign from TV shows like Buffy to dressmaking to nutrition science and psychology I even went through a phase where I was obsessed with making my own cosmetics this is definitely an area where you need to be up to date with what their current special interests so you definitely need to talk to them before you get anything on this one but like text don't call now actually a lot of autistic people do have autism as a special interest I guess that's me as well and there are more and more books out there that are pretty decent and actually written by autistic people or by people who really understand it I can really recommend neuro tribe's by steve Silverman this is not a light read it is extremely dense but it is very good it's basically an in-depth look of how our understanding of what autism has evolved a little bit about the history and basically if you've got someone who really enjoys diving into a topic deeply this this book is great and if you're looking for a book from a female autistic perspective this book here is called the electricity of every living thing and it is sort of like more of a memoir style it's by Kathryn May so I haven't actually finished reading this one yet but I have started it and it is good now I definitely do want to do more book reviews on this channel in general I need to read some books so I guess I will see you in 2025 by the time I've actually had time to read any of these books now if your artistic loved one is a reader and they do have a Kindle you might want to consider something like a Kindle unlimited membership you do get a month or so free trial when you sign up and for a small monthly fee you can get unlimited amounts of books so if you know someone who's really into reading that would be a perfect present and if you know someone who really has a lot of creative special interest they enjoy doing crafty things then why not look into getting them a Skillshare membership Skillshare has a huge amount of resources for learning creative things even in lifestyle and business related things but basically you look for a course on something it's gonna be on Skillshare there are resources for almost every creative outlet you can imagine doing like drawing or writing crafting photography that sort of thing so if you know someone who really enjoys new creative hobbies then this will be a really great present to get them and you can get two months free membership to try it out if you sign up with a link down below speaking of crafts a lot of autistic people do like crafts because I guess a lot of the muscle of like fidget things something to do with your hands but they can obviously be very expensive hobbies so for example if you know a knitter they might appreciate really high quality yarn for knitting projects or anything else that they wouldn't typically treat themselves to on a regular basis something that it's quite universal and quite a nice little stocking stuffer are these glitter pens which are extremely stimmy they are so glittery and the paint just goes on paper really really nicely and of course if you get them a planner you can get them some nice gel or paint pens to go with that and that's a really nice way of kind of like being crafty and decorating that I personally have been using these in my planner and I absolutely love them but I have already promised to give them to somebody else because I didn't think I'd love them this much so by now just to reiterate EE on on what I mentioned at the beginning some autistic people really don't like getting presents they don't see the point in it that's just like some neurotypical people and if they say they don't want anything really really trust them on this you know I'm sure everyone would appreciate a handmade card or something like that you don't have to spend money I know I've given you a whole bunch of ideas you don't have to spend any money if you are really insistent that you want to get them something obviously gift vouchers are the safest thing and they're less likely to be thrown back in your face honestly I hope you enjoyed the selection of gift ideas I hope I didn't offend anyone with my festive jollity and proclamations about autistic people you can't make everybody happy and I hope that this just makes shopping at this time of year a teensy bit more bearable to do it all online these days and just get it all sent out and then we can hide in our little caves with our twinkly lights wrapped in our soft blankets and make it through until 2020 if you are autistic yourself and you feel that this speaks to you on some sort of deep and meaningful level please feel free to share this with your family and friends send them an annotated copy or whatever and many thanks to Helen for lending me this beautiful jumper take care everyone and see you next time

Channel: Yo Samdy Sam

Views: 82,012

Keywords: gift ideas for autistic people, gift ideas for autistic adults, gift ideas for adults with autism, fathering autism gifts, sensory toys autism, what do autistic people like

Id: sPQ9h3-ZMbQ

Length: 17min 59sec (1079 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 29 2019