Paddy McGuinness' wife Christine has revealed that they won't be going all out with their Christmas decorations this year.

Paddy and Christine, who have been married for six years, are parents to four-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, who were diagnosed with autism last November.

Christine, 29, revealed on her Instagram account that Christmas last year was "devastating" for the family as they had just been told of the twins' diagnosis.

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She opened up about how last year, the twins had been really affected and quite distressed by the amount of change that Christmas brought with it.

Uploading a video of five Christmas stockings with each of the family's initials printed on, she wrote: "I think this is enough for our Christmas decorations.

"I’m nervous about putting a tree up, I don’t think I’m going to. Last year was the most upsetting Christmas we’ve had, we had just been told our twins had autism and we felt very out of our depth.

"Christmas massively affects the twins behaviour. They were extremely anxious and unsettled. The Christmas lights, trees, decorations and music... it was all too much."

Christine went on to say that the whole thing was "very over-stimulating" for the children, adding that it was "frightening" for Leo and Penelope, who she says were non-verbal at that time.

She added: "They had no understanding of what was going on. They both just walked past their presents on Christmas Day. I was devastated that they didn’t get up and run down the stairs really excited 'like other kids'."

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However, the mum-of-three then went on to say that in the past year, her knowledge of autism has grown immensely, writing: "I knew nothing about autism then.

"Now I’m fuelled with knowledge on their condition and I’m really looking forward to preparing them in advance to help them understand the magic of Christmas! I’m feeling confident we will have a happy Christmas this year... With a lot less decorations!

"Less is more for our children, they wouldn’t care if they got one present or 10 and that is a quality you can’t buy."

She added the hashtag #AutismAwareness, something she quite often writes about on her social media posts.

The post was flooded with supportive comments from other parents, many of whom also have children with autism.

One wrote: "Less is definitely more when it comes to an auty Christmas, it's been like that in our house since our daughters diagnosis! It gets better you just have to learn to have Christmas your own auty way that's what we've done!"

Another wrote: "Your patience, love and understanding of Leo and Penelope's needs and feelings are the best gifts any parent could give their children. They are so lucky to have you as their Mum, and raising awareness of autism must be helping many other families."

One parent added: "Exactly right... you learn to work around the hurdles and what works for you and your family. My little boy was the same for years. No decorations no lights. We couldn't even wrap presents. Just toys in boxes on the floor for everyone not just him! Now though he lives for Christmas all year round... Things change and they adapt as they grow."

**Do you or a loved one have a child with autism? How do you do your Christmases? Let us know over on **Facebook and Twitter.

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