Dear Readers of "My Articles" of "verajoffe.com" Website.

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday, and a Wonderful New Year, 2011.

Depending on where you live in the U.S., or in any other part of the world, the Winter Vacation (Summer for some) may be only 10 days, or, in some places, 2 months (such as in Brazil, where I am from). However, no matter how long your vacation will be this time, it would be helpful to keep in mind some of the preventive measures that one may want to take to help your children with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Anxiety Disorders (including Selective Mutism).

1. If you were lucky enough (and firm enough) to have a limited number of minutes (or hour) that your child spent in playing games on the computer or by using any other electronic devise, it would be a good idea to keep the same routine during vacation time. It is really easy and sometimes convenient for parents to allow their children to spend more time playing electronic games during vacation to keep their children happier and occupied during such long unstructured times during the vacation. I would suggest that parents think about other activities that their children may become involved in doing during the vacation break that would bring them a new experience, and maybe a new interest as well. There have been several new studies indicating that the more a child is involved in playing electronic games, the less time this child spends in actually learning about social skills, and becoming involved with such activities.

2. Routine with bed time, meals, learning to help in the house, and other family activities. During this Vacation break, it would be helpful for parents to be aware of their children's routines, such as bed time, and meals. Of course, there is more flexibility for bed time, but I would advise parents to start going back to the "school schedule" a few days before school starts to allow children to go back to their bed time schedules again. In addition, this would be a good opportunity to help children learn about helping in the house, having chores, and helping others in the community during the Holidays. If your children watch you volunteering, and giving your time and dedication to community volunteer work, they will learn a lot about altruism, empathy, and to appreciate what they have in life as well.

3. Finally, I would like to recommend that parents spend time doing activities with their children that do not involve "teaching", or "did you do your homework yet?" interactions that are so frequent during school time. It is nice to enjoy family time with activities that are not judged, where there is no competition, but there is just... fun and enjoyment of sharing something as a family without having to meet a deadline, or a "grade".

4.  Parents of children with anxiety may want to plan their activities in a way to help their children be exposed to new situations. At the same time, it is important to realize that children with anxiety cannot be exposed to a lot of new situations and to new people in a short period of time. Thus, if you are taking your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder to a trip to Disney World, make sure to be prepared to have a short day at Disney if your child cannot take too much stimulation. In addition, you may wish to obtain a "Pass" at the front desk of each park for a child with disability so that your family does not have to wait and stand in line to go to rides.

Happy Holidays, and please, write to the Website if you have any comments or questions, Sincerely, Vera Joffe, Ph.D.