Tips for Halloween Celebrations

• Take a practice walk around your neighborhood before the big day arrives to prepare your child for the evening.
• Have your child pick out a light, glowstick or glowwear (necklaces, bracelets etc.) that he or she would like to carry and feels comfortable with if you will be trick-or-treating after dark.
• Make sure that the costume your child chooses for school or for trick-or-treating is one that is comfortable, has no itchy fabrics or other sensory issues and that your child likes and feels confident wearing.
• Talk about Halloween and scary things and provide ample reassurance: ghosts and goblins are a seasonal tradition but they aren't real and can't hurt your child. Autistic children may hook onto the scary factor and not be able to let it go, leading to a month or more of increased anxiety and nightmares, preparation and framing of the holiday can go a long way towards avoiding those types of difficulties.
• Limit TV to shows without commercials or DVDs during the period leading up to Halloween and immediately after. Advertisers tend to show a lot of ads for scary movies, TV shows, costumes and other Halloween-oriented events and items during this time and these can trigger immediate anxiety and meltdowns in some autistic children, or build up over the course of the month, leading to a stretch of increased anxiousness and more frequent meltdowns for some time after the season has passed.
• Consider alternatives to trick-or-treating including the Variety Club's Safe Trick or Treat at the Variety Club Camp in Worcester PA, just north of Norristown on October 24th, 2009, or the Count's Halloween Extravaganza at Sesame Place, on November 1st, 2009 at 10:00am also sponsored by the Variety Club. Register online for the Extravaganza on the Variety Club website.
• Consider putting together a small Halloween party and group trick-or-treat or organize a planned house-to-house with friends a few days before or after Halloween to avoid crowds. Contact your family and friends and wiling neighbors to set up an ASD-friendly trick-or-treating circuit and set a date to go out and about without some of the added scare-factor of Halloween night itself.

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Related Articles

 

• Celebrating Children's Halloween Tips

• Bella Online's Halloween Tips

• Associated Content's Ten Halloween Tricks

• Books for Halloween from the Birmingham Autism & Parenting Examiner

• Costumes for Children with Special Needs from the Early Childhood Parenting Examiner