Christmas Presents for Autistic child

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Hi,
I'm new here, Im just wondering if anyone else is having the same problems I am having?! My son is 7 years old and has been diagnosed with autism for over 1 year now. I am really struggling with things to buy him for Christmas, he plays with the same things over and over again, and to be honest he has had most toys out there that I can think of that would interest him, he is obsessed with darts and playing darts (we got him a portable darts stand and real dart board and darts last christmas, and he has played with it all year long) and has an obsession with numbers. We have tried "normal" boys toys with him, and he is just not interested, and trying to get him to tell us what he wants is like getting blood out of a stone! Any ideas????

My son loves numbers, and math in general, and we have been getting him math manipulatives. Traditional toys have not worked for us since he outgrew the educational toys for toddlers. We are trying to figure out the same issue as yet again he has said he wants math toys but they are increasingly not available for his age and lack of motor skills.

if your son's motor skills are good and he is not apt to break things, Zone Tool might be a good thing if your son also likes shapes. It is for 3-D shape modeling, and we would have loved to have made it work but he kept busting the pieces when trying to put the things together and taking them apart.

Edited for syntax

Numbers, eh? Introduce him to a new game called "tax forms" that only adults get to play. If he does well with that, there are other games called lotto and keno. Don't forget card counting. Hehe, just kidding.

Seriously, he would probably like archery if he already likes darts. I bet there is an archery set up that would fit him for the next few years. Or, maybe an airsoft/paintball/laser rifle that he could use at a nearby indoor range. There are all kinds of safe foam targets he could practice on before advancing to the Olympics.

Does he have to get Christmas presents if he doesn't want them?

Perhaps you could come up with another Christmas tradition that would be meaningful to him?

^^^ This is what I was wondering, does he really want presents? If it is just about opening things, get creative with fun surprises and variations of things he likes.

My son is nine, and nevers asks for anything specific for Christmas. He like Legos and video games, so I just pick out some of those, and some clothes, and a few random things I think he might like.
Since your son likes math, maybe he would enjoy some math workbooks or Sudoku, or maybe a multiplication chart poster for his wall. Dollar stores, craft stores, and teacher supply stores have a lot of outside-the-box options. ThinkGeek.com has a lot of things that DS likes, too. He has always enjoyed educational toys; last year we got him a set of encyclopedias that came with one of those talking pens, and he loves it.

If he likes opening presents (some kids don't), you can wrap up random stuff just to have the joy of unwrapping. When I was little, my mom was the queen of this -- socks, boxes of pennies, candy, random things from the dollar store, etc.

This may sound crappy, but often we used presents as an opportunity to move DS tangentially away from his obsessions. (DS does like presents and expects them - we had to read Harry Potter in order to get him to stop equating # of presents with love like Dudley)

So, when he was obsessed with superheroes, we found this great series by DK readers that use superheroes to teach about careers, mythology, physics, science, ecology, etc. (We started with the Batman's Guide to Crime and Detection)

Or during his long obsession with gatling guns, we got him a book on the history of the gun (which turns out to be a fascinating turning point in both engineering and history.)

Or when he was a bit older and wanted to play M-rated games or see R-rated movies (like his friends, sigh) we instead bought him the novelizations and got him to read at an adult level.

Granted, DS's obsessions were more in the world of NT interests you can find something about, but there are ways to use presents to draw them out a bit while still respecting where they are. Maybe some books like these? http://www.richardevanschwartz.com/ (see under "popular," the "You Can Count on Monsters" is a good one) or the Sir Cumference books or just the app 2048

Or, with darts (it kind of depends on which aspect of darts interests him) a book (The Darts Bible by David Norton?) or try a different style of darts, like Lawn Darts or Archery (as AspieUtah mentioned) or velcro darts, or a make-your-own dartboard or darts kit - anything that widens the interest just a little bit, especially if it's something you can do together.

My son had to grow to like it, but we thought it was a good thing to promote b/c at the time he had no interest in any holidays and it was an exercise in cultural knowledge. He is not materialistic, so after a couple of years of being disappointed in him not liking toys, we embraced manipulatives and other educational items.

Even if he is not interested in toys per se, I think if I child likes to play with anything, it is a good segue into culture and holidays. They teach that concept in social studies and sometimes presents. treats and food can become one way of understanding this on some level.

Hi There,

I am also new to this forum and have been reading through a number of the Christmas present related discussions. My brother-in-law has a 6yr old boy who has autism and I am wondering if anyone has thoughts on what are some small things that may be good to get him for Christmas. He is still mostly non-verbal and the only things I have ever really noticed him be interested in are clocks and being able to jump ! Thanks for your thoughts!

If he's interested in clocks, why not one he can take apart? http://www.amazon.com/Fascinations-Firs ... nkc5171-20

They also have electronic math games on amazon
Do they have to be just toys
what about favorite snack foods, books, kids cooking books, art supplies?
There also science toys like a toy volcano on amazon
Cooperative board games might be interesting

Hey Everyone,

Thank you so much for all of those great ideas! I hope you all have a very happy holiday season with your families!