Navigating the Holiday Season: Tips

Photo of big family sit feast meals table around blessing roasted turkey eldest grandfather making slices hungry relatives waiting excited in living room indoors

The holiday season brings a lot of fun and opportunities to connect with families. However, it may also bring challenges due to schedule change, sensory overload, need to travel, and social engagement expectations.

Here is a list of resources to help you successfully navigate this holiday season!

Novel Coronavirus Resources

Every day there is new information coming out about the novel (new) coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Some of this information is science-based and factual, while some is rumor or fiction. When looking for information, it is best to be careful and to check your sources. The following is a list of reputable sources for information on a local, national, and global level.

Share this page with your colleagues, friends and family as it will continue to be updated with new highlights as they become available.

Indiana

The IN.gov Coronavirus Hub contains links to current press releases from Governor Holcomb, as well as a dashboard containing a county-level breakdown of the number of cases, deaths, and tests being counted in Indiana.

  • from IN.gov: “General questions from the public or healthcare provider inquiries about COVID-19 may be directed to the ISDH COVID-19 Call Center at the toll-free number: 877-826-0011 (8 a.m. to midnight, daily)” 

Be Well Indiana: “This site is an initiative of the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA). All external links have been provided by and vetted by DMHA leadership.Information on this website is up to date and subject to change.”

Be Well Crisis Hotline (Indiana 2-1-1): “Counselors and resources now available 24/7 at Indiana 211 – The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration today announced the launch of the Be Well Crisis Helpline, a confidential resource available through Indiana 211 that will allow Hoosiers to call and speak with a trained counselor 24/7. The free Be Well Crisis Helpline was established by FSSA’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction in direct response to the elevated levels of stress and anxiety Hoosiers are experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

United States

The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has a Coronavirus page which branches out into guidance for different situations and answers questions about staying safe and healthy.

The World

The World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic page is compiling information about the disease from across the globe to better understand the situation.

Medical Journals & Articles

Resources for Individuals with ASD and More

Seniors with ASD

What information is available on how to support seniors with ASD?

Currently, not much information is available on how to support seniors with ASD. However, we know that age and severity of autism are tightly linked, where the severity of autism tends to grow with age across such situations as social communication, coping with change or generating new ideas or solutions (Charlton, 2016). But here are some resources: