WORCESTER —  The holiday season is a time of bright colors, Christmas songs, parties and shopping in crowds. It can cause many people anxiety. For those who are autistic, the anxiety can be overwhelming. while the holiday season can be a time of great joy for them, it can also be a time of great stress. Autism is a neurological disorder characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. People with autism and those who care for them indicate that holiday activities can overwhelm the senses of people who can’t successfully filter out all the sounds, sights and smells bombarding them. Sonya a. Esber is executive director of Archway in Leicester, where 25 people with autism spectrum disorder live, go to school and work at day programs. she said the holidays are a time of increased activities. she said when parties that can feature Christmas music are held, those attending are given ample opportunity to go to their rooms if they are feeling overwhelmed. “we know what each individual’s different space is,” she said. “we have to plan things carefully.” Webster resident Cassy Gentile, 24, who works closely with her 27-year old brother, Richard Gentile of Worcester, said there have been Christmas seasons through the years when her brother has experienced tremendous anxiety. As he gets older, he is adapting more to the hectic happenings of the holiday season, she said. “He’s been doing pretty good. he usually doesn’t get too overwhelmed,” Ms. Gentile said recently. “The biggest thing that we have to watch out for is that he doesn’t overeat.” Ms. Gentile said her brother loves chicken and candy, and if he isn’t watched closely he could eat enough to make himself sick. Susan J. Loring, director of the Horace Mann Educational Association’s Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts in West Boylston, said younger autistic people, especially those who have profound symptoms of the disorder, can be affected more dramatically by the sensory overload of the holiday season. like Richard Gentile, some autistic people learn what to do to lessen their anxiety as they get older, she added. Mrs. Loring’s son, Eddie, is 26 and autistic, and even though he can’t tell people exactly what he is experiencing during the holiday season she knows it can be stressful for him. Through the years, efforts have been made to lower her son’s stress level. “The holiday season for my son is fairly enjoyable, “Mrs. Loring said. “We’ve scaled back the activities of the holiday season. we celebrate Christmas in a calm way.” One of Eddie’s favorite activities is looking at the Christmas lights and decorations. “Eddie likes the visual aspect of Christmas,” Mrs. Loring said. so does Jason T. White, 31, who lives on West Street in Southbridge, where he has his own apartment. “I like the decorations at Christmas. I like the pretty colors of the lights all lit up on the Christmas tree,” said Mr. White, who is autistic. “I like putting presents under the tree and I like hearing Christmas carols.” Mr. White works two days a week at Angel Guard Products on Goddard Drive, where he assembles items such as brushes people use to clear snow from their cars, and three days a week at Yankee Spirits in Sturbridge, where he is a custodian. “Jason is a really good, hard worker,” said Angel Guard Products owner Frederick P. Cormier. while he finds the holiday season exciting, Mr. White acknowledges he can get overwhelmed at times. when he does, ““I’ll go to my room and play Nintendo by myself,” he said. going outside and walking around is Timothy Heard’s strategy for dealing with the stress that come with the holidays. “I just walk away, that’s all. I just walk away,” he said during a recent interview at his home on Fink Road in Millbury, where he lives with his father, John, and mother, Toni. Mr. Heard, 24, works every Thursday bagging groceries at Goretti’s Supermarket in Millbury and he plans to get an associate’s degree in the spring from Quinsigamond Community College. Mr. Heard, who has taken writing courses at the college, blogs under the heading The Voice of Heard on the website of Worcester cable access television station WCCA. he also made a one-minute movie called “The Routine Entrapment” through the Soundscapes program at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. Mr. Heard, who has Asperger’s syndrome and ends many statements with the words “that’s my view, anyway,” said he has noticed that people shopping at Goretti’s are more excited during the holiday season. “There’s a lot of side talk,” he said. “Christmas can be stressful.” Fink Road in Millbury is a dead-end street where birds dart in and out of bird feeders that can be seen through the kitchen windows, and it is a perfect place for Mr. Heard to go outside and walk around, his mother and father said. a recent visit to see his brother Matt, 26, in busy Allston featured surroundings that were much different. he said he didn’t mind the sights and sounds that day, although there were more people there than he would have liked. Elizabeth Keirns, 43, a file clerk for a Worcester accounting firm, lives on Addison Drive with her cat, Brent. she is autistic and is looking forward to a quiet Christmas. “he came to me during the Advent season,” Ms. Keirns said of the cat. “For me, the Christmas season actually isn’t that bad,” she said. “There are certain parts of Christmas that I enjoy, like the reason for Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus. I like the pretty lights of Christmas, and there are some things I like on television.” Ms. Keirns, who said she is looking forward to relaxing at home on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, acknowledged the holiday season can be stressful for everybody. “Certain things are more accentuated about it,” she said. “I think autistic people are more easily affected if something goes wrong.” Most Read Stories