Dear Santa,
We hope you are well at the North Pole, and that the reindeer are warm and happy. We decided to write you one letter together from kids who are autistic, just like us. We know you can bring toys and games and twinkling lights, but this year, we really hope you might bring something even bigger: understanding.
Sometimes people believe things about us that aren’t true. We don’t always have the right words to explain it ourselves, but maybe, with your help, they might finally hear us.
Santa, here’s what we wish people understood:
We DO have feelings. Some of us don’t show them in ways others expect, but we feel joy, sadness, love, excitement, and frustration deeply. We wish people wouldn’t think we lack empathy just because our faces or bodies express things differently.
We communicate; we just don’t all use the same way of talking. Some of us speak with words. Some of us type. Some use devices. Some communicate through gestures or behavior. We aren’t silent, we just speak in languages you need to learn to hear.
Not everyone who is autistic is good at math or computers. Some of us love dinosaurs or drawing or dance or baking cookies or trains or fashion. We’re not mini-Einsteins. We’re individuals with our own passions.
We can make friends, even if it looks different. We may need time, space, or shared interests to feel safe. Friendship doesn’t have only one shape, and ours may grow slowly – but it’s just as real.
We don’t all avoid eye contact because we’re rude or unkind. Sometimes eye contact is loud or intense. We listen better when we look away. We want to connect. We just do it differently.
We’re not “just picky” or dramatic about sounds, textures, or foods. Our senses are turned up high or low, and the world can feel sharp or overwhelming. We wish people understood it’s not behavior, it’s our nervous system trying to feel safe.
We aren’t broken. We don’t need to be fixed. We wish people would see our strengths, not only our challenges. We are not tragedies. We are humans who are growing, learning, and becoming ourselves.
We do understand jokes, we just might not catch them right away. Sometimes we need things explained, not because we lack humor, but because we process language differently. Let us laugh with you, not at us.
Autism isn’t something we will “outgrow.” We’ll grow with it, not out of it. Some things will get easier, some harder. We need support, not waiting for us to become someone else.
We don’t all look the same, act the same, or need the same things. Autism is a spectrum, not a single picture. We each shine in our own ways, like the lights on a tree: bright, colorful, unique.
Santa, if you can bring only one gift this year, please make it this:
Let people see us for who we are, not who they assume we must be.
Let them meet us with patience. With curiosity. With belief.
Let them understand that we are not less. We are different. Beautifully different.
And maybe, if there’s room in your sleigh, bring a world where we feel welcome. A world that listens. A world where being ourselves is enough.
Thank you for reading our letter. We’ll leave out cookies (some of us prefer plain, some chocolate chip, and one of us likes pretzels better than cookies but that’s okay too). Please give the reindeer an extra carrot for us.
With hope,
A whole bunch of autistic kids who believe in magic – especially the kind made from understanding.
Merry Christmas!