Preparing Your Child with Autism for Halloween

Halloween is full of noisy trick or treaters, high volume traffic, darkness, and scary masks. As if it wasn't scary enough trying to keep your special needs child calm on a regular quiet day. There are many things you can do to prepare a child with autism for Halloween, but there are no guarantees and trick or treating may have to be cut short. The important thing is you attempt to share this yearly tradition. Here are a few things you can do that might help.

1. Street Safety - If your child has a tendency to dart off once in awhile in the malls, parking lots, or even out the front door, I highly suggest you use a harness for them for this chaotic evening. Make sure that you use reflective tape on the harness or somewhere throughout the costume if you are not using a harness. If you have a child in a wheel chair, stroller, or even crutches, put reflective tape on these items as well. This will help ensure that a car will see your child.

2. Candy Safety - Most children with autism will automatically want to unwrap given treats right away and gobble them down. Even most children without any special needs have this problem. Try to visit only homes of people that you know. If by chance, you are new to a neighborhood but still want the traditional experience for your child, you can do what I did when we first moved to a new place. I bought several bags of my children's' favorite candies and stuffed a good variety in my pockets. I also carried my own trick or treat bucket. When people would put the candies in the bucket we'd say thank you, walk away, and I'd switch the candies out, taking the given candies and putting them in my bucket then swapping it for a candy in my pocket. When I got home I would just throw the contents of my bucket away. You could probably just inspect the candy, but I just didn't want to chance it.

3. Costume Comfort and Safety - Most children with autism are not comfortable with masks. Some don't even like hats or anything on their head. You would know if this is a problem with your child. Keep that in mind before purchasing a costume. Some parents get so involved in how cute their child will look or feeling smug that they found their child's favorite character that they tend to forget this small factor. Children with autism are also very sensitive to textures so make sure that the costume isn't scratchy or uncomfortable in anyway for your child. Check tags and little accessories to make sure that nothing is poking them. Make sure to check for loose buttons and other small pieces that may be on the costume. Some children with autism also have PICA problems, which means they will chew on anything and everything goes into their mouths. Some will just chew and spit it out. Others will actually swallow the objects. It's best to make sure that everything on the costume is sewn or glued securely because as you probably already know, most costumes are very cheaply made. Another thing for your child's comfort is to make sure that the costume is temperature friendly. If it's freezing cold or snowing then a warmer costume would be suitable, but if the temperature only requires a light jacket, then don't buy one of those thicker than blankets costumes. If your child is hot, they will get cranky. If they are itchy, they will get cranky. If you keep replacing a hat or mask that your child keeps taking off, they will get cranky. Keeping these things in mind when purchasing a costume will help your child's mood for Halloween evening. Keep in mind, that the costume isn't the only thing that might set them off though.

4. Sensitive Ears - Many children with autism are very sensitive when it comes to loud noises. I personally don't have this problem with my son who has autism. However, there are times when the other siblings are getting really loud with their screaming whether playing or fighting, that my son will get upset. If I was to have this problem in large gatherings, high traffic, or anything that might set my son off in his Halloween evening, I would use noise reduction headphones. Specifically, I would use his IPod and let him listen to his favorite music while trick or treating, maybe even sneaking in some fun Halloween tunes. Where my son won't wear a hat for very long, he will wear headphones as long as his music is playing.

5. Siblings - You will have to prepare brothers and sisters for this day as well. You will have to explain that trick or treating could be cut short. It is best if you have another responsible adult to help out so that the siblings could continue their trick or treating if the child with autism needed to go home. However, we don't always have help. What I do is take the children with me when I go to buy candies to give out to the trick or treaters. They pick out all their favorites. We go trick or treating early, usually around five or six in the evening, but only after all of their dinner is eaten. You have to fill them up with nutritious foods before they go out into candy heaven. We trick or treat until someone gets tired or cranky. We go home and the children who were not tired pass out the candies to trick or treaters that come to our house. My kids usually enjoy sharing their favorite treats and seeing all the great costumes. They also like to go through their buckets and give away all the treats that they don't care for.

I hope these tips help other families who have children with autism. I kind of had to learn as I went, am still learning, and have lots more to learn. However, I do like to share what I've learned because every child and situation are different. It's a long, hard, scary road in itself. Make sure to look for my article "Halloween Games and Activities for Children with Autism".