Parenting Sensory Kids + The Holidays (Chronic Illness Edition)
Your cup is already full—and the holidays just keep pouring.
Saturday, December 6th, 2025
12:00 pm-1:00 pm EST / 10-11:00 am MT
About This Workshop
Be honest: are you already dreading the holiday season? Parenting a sensory-sensitive child while managing chronic illness means your cup is never empty—and the holidays just add more to it. The routine changes, the family gatherings, the sensory overload of lights, sounds, and expectations. You're trying to create magic for your kid while your own body is screaming for rest.
You've tried to push through before. You've felt the guilt when your child melts down at the family dinner, or when you have to leave early because you're completely depleted. You know that if you don't plan rest, your chronic illness will make a rest day for you. The same goes for your sensory kid.
If you're tired of choosing between your child's needs and your own capacity, it's time for a different approach.
What if you could stop fighting the overwhelm and start working with your family's actual needs instead?
Join Rachael Lopez, OTR/L and Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC for a conversation about building holiday strategies that work with your chronic illness experience—and how to create a sensory-inclusive approach to the season that supports your actual family, not some idealized version of it.
Location: Zoom
What We'll Cover:
Understanding Your Sensory Cup: Learn the concept of the sensory cup and how daily life, parenting demands, and holiday chaos fill it up. Explore how chronic illness already takes up space in your cup before the holidays even begin, and why understanding this matters for your whole family.
Your Family's Sensory Profile: Identify the 8 sensory systems (visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory, vestibular, proprioceptive, interoception) and how each family member processes input differently. Discover what overwhelms your child versus what regulates them—and the same for you.
The P.R.E.S.E.N.T. Framework: Build a holiday plan using Priority (what actually matters), Rest (scheduling recovery before your body forces it), Expectations (getting honest about what's realistic), Simple (what can be simplified), Everyone (making it collaborative), Needs (meeting basic human needs), and Together (connection over perfection).
Holiday Priority Planning: Sort activities into "want to do," "must do," "nice to do," and "maybe or skip." Rate each event by sensory overwhelm level. Learn to recognize what will drain you versus what will fill you, and give yourself permission to adjust.
Scheduling Sensory Breaks: Understand when to schedule breaks—regularly, at every transition, and as needed. Discover practical strategies like dance parties, animal walks, search-and-find activities, and exit strategies that meet your child's needs without depleting your energy.
Managing Expectations: Get honest about what's expected from you, your partner, your children, and extended family. Learn why behavior expectations live at the top of the developmental pyramid—and why sensory needs must be met first. Reframe "holiday behavior" as unmet sensory needs rather than character flaws.
Practical Daily Strategies: Check basic needs (food, water, comfort/safety, love, rest) before expecting regulation from yourself or your child. Remember: if you're dysregulated, they will be too. Plan rest days before and after big events, because if you don't plan rest, your chronic illness will make one for you.
This Workshop Is For You If:
You're parenting a sensory-sensitive child while managing chronic illness
You're already feeling overwhelmed thinking about holiday expectations
You want practical strategies that work with your limited energy, not against it
You're tired of choosing between your child's needs and your own capacity
You need permission to do the holidays differently this year
You want to create meaningful memories without the burnout
About Rachael:
Rachael Lopez, OTR/L is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Pineapple Wellness Therapy Services who specializes in the intersection of chronic illness, neurodivergence, and sensory processing. With both personal and professional experience navigating chronic conditions, Rachael understands how parenting a sensory-sensitive child while managing your own health can feel like an impossible balancing act—and how overwhelming it becomes when holiday expectations collide with your family's real-world capacity.
Rachael's approach is client-centered, meeting you where you're at that day and using a mix of therapeutic modalities based on your individual needs—including sensory integration, reflex integration, trauma-informed care, and ADL training. Whether you're trying to navigate your child's sensory meltdowns, support your family through routine changes, set boundaries with extended family, or create holiday traditions that actually work for your household, Rachael is here to walk alongside you.
In this workshop, she'll share practical strategies for building a holiday survival plan that acknowledges your real-world constraints while helping you create meaningful memories—one sensory break at a time.
Learn more about Rachael's work at Pineapple Wellness Therapy Services.
What's Included:
Recorded workshop with Rachael Lopez, OTR/L & Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC, and host of The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast
Permission Slip Included: You know you and your child better than anyone.
Replay available for 90 Days
We don’t believe in exclusivity or false strategies to make you buy a workshop (like “limited spots” blah blah). All are welcome. Please join us and invite your friends and loved ones!
Cost $27 USD
If you're part of our Welcome To The Waiting Room community - this workshop comes free with your membership!
Email destiny@destinywinters.com if you have any issues!
Accessibility Notes:
Live captions provided
Workshop recordings include transcripts
FAQs:
-
Rachael Lopez is a licensed Occupational Therapist (OTR/L) and founder of Pineapple Wellness Therapy Services, specializing in sensory processing, chronic conditions, neurodivergence, and trauma-informed care. She works with kids 0-21 years old and adults, bringing both professional expertise and personal lived experience with chronic illness to her practice.
-
No, this workshop is not therapy or a prescription of any kind. While Rachael and Destiny are both licensed and certified professionals, this educational webinar is designed to provide practical information about financial wellness for chronic medical conditions. It offers general information to support your wellbeing, but it is not a substitute for personalized mental health treatment or medical care. If you're seeking therapy or individual support, we're happy to connect you with referral resources.
-
Just bring something to take notes with :) No equipment is needed for this workshop!
-
Yes! The recording will be available for 90 days after the workshop, unless you're in the Welcome To The Waiting Room monthly membership, in which case you can access the recording for as long as you're a member.
Please consider your privacy comfort levels when attending. While we love authentic and genuine engagement/conversation with participants, we want you to feel respected. Feel free to turn your cameras off and change your name before entering. This recording will be available to the public and for sale in the future.
-
The workshop runs for 60 minutes. We encourage you to take as many breaks as you need or to listen while doing another task. We honor your need to step away when needed.
-
While this workshop was designed with chronic illness in mind, it's also valuable for anyone parenting a sensory-sensitive child or seeking a more compassionate and sustainable approach to holiday planning. The tools and strategies we share can benefit anyone who feels overwhelmed by holiday expectations, experiences guilt or shame around setting boundaries, wants to understand their child's sensory needs more effectively, or is looking to build family practices that actually support everyone's well-being and align with their values.
Questions?
See our FAQs with more info here!
We're here to help make this experience accessible and valuable for you. Contact us at destiny@destinywinters.com with any questions or accommodation requests.
Your sustainable path to managing your health is one step at a time.
*A note about recordings: While the live session offers the best opportunity for interaction and community support, we understand that health can be unpredictable. Your registration includes access to the recording for 90 days post-workshop.*