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TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - The Fourth of July holiday means hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on the grill, family gatherings and the fireworks lighting up the skies. The holiday also brings some anxiousness with the loud popping of fireworks and overwhelming sensations of crowded spaces.

Board Certified Behavior Analyst Margret Hawkins with Monarch Prep works with children on the spectrum, saying the holiday brings with it a stressful environment with different sounds and sights.

“Typical triggers tend to be a change in schedule, so if they have a routine schedule that’s being changed due to the fact that there’s a holiday that’s coming in, that could increase behaviors - as well as the sounds of fireworks, the lights of fireworks to many people in a crowd, the sound of people,” Hawkins said.

The responses to the different environments can trigger an episode or have different symptoms depending on the child.

“We would see - could be pacing, tantrum behaviors, melting down, flopping to the floor or even eloping which could be very dangerous,” Hawkins said.

Some ways to prepare the kiddos for the holiday including planning how they could communicate their comfort level or procedures.

“If they are used to a schedule depending on your child some children need days’ notice,” Hawkins said. “Some people need the day of but priming them which is laying out what they’re going to be doing for that day and even showing them what a firework might look like through video.”

Although the sounds and sights of fireworks could be unavoidable depending on where the family lives, Hawkins recommends having a sensory-friendly kit ready that could help.

“You can be prepared by having a sensory kit which could have noise cancelling headphones, or for the older kids, earbuds that plug into preset playlists that can just drown out the noise,” Hawkins said.

Along with a sensory kit, Hawkins also suggest having what is known as a saferoom for people who need a space away from the festivities. These rooms can have items like blackout curtains and sensory friendly lights to help create calmer lighting sensation, bean bags and weighted blankets to creating somewhat of a makeshift hug, and ear buds or headphones playing white noise or calming sounds.

“Its basically noise cancelling, noise deprivation, any light deprivation trying to really eliminate that to get them back to where they could be calm and collected,” Hawkins said.

Mother and Founder of Neurodivergent Advocates of East Texas Casey McCoy has created a space like this for her own daughter.

“My daughter, who is on the spectrum, she has black out curtains in her bedroom and she also has options for lighting so that way it’s not direct,” McCoy said.

However, for kids that want to get in on the fireworks fun, there are alternatives to the tradition without getting close to them.

“They like those glow in the dark bracelets and fun stuff like that,” McCoy said. “Even on a smaller scale, like sparklers, not them holding them but them being able to be close to them, cause they don’t make a lot of noise.”

Overall, Hawkins is encouraging families to embrace the fun festivities in a way that is comfortable for their family members.

“They want to experience the holidays like everyone else. It might look a little different for them but it’s just as fun for them,” Hawkins said.