With the holiday season here, we here at The Selectively Silent Child strive to make your celebrations successful, not stressful. Here are five quick tips to help your child stay calm at holiday parties.
1. Talk to your child ahead of time about the event and let her know who will be in attendance. Endeavor to have a child of similar temperament for her to play with. Anticipation is often the worst part of social anxiety, so if your child has some idea what to expect, she will be less anxious.
2. Discuss coping strategies such as deep breathing and visualization if she finds herself becoming overwhelmed.
3. Have a code word in case she needs to find quiet space with you.
4. Let her choose a small discreet toy, that she can have in her pocket to ground her if she becomes anxious. The beauty of this tip is, no one need know but you and she.
5. Finally, it's a good idea to have her eat something before you go to the celebration in case she is a reluctant eater in front of others. This is very common for children with Selective Mutism and other anxiety disorders.
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