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Making Halloween Fun for Special Needs Kids

What is fun and exciting for most may be too much for your quirky kid. How to modify things so everyone enjoys themselves.

Candy, brisk air, running around after dark, the inversion of the usual rules: what's not to love about Halloween?

For kids with autism and sensory issues, there's little to love about Halloween. Costumes? Scratchy, too tight, too loose, too warm, too cold--just wrong. Masks? Don't even try. Parties with kids in scary costumes? Screaming is socially awkward, let me tell you.

Kathy Aluia, of Medford Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) shared these tips for making Halloween more fun.

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  • A child may prefer to stay home and give out treats.
  • Help make passing out candy less scary by playing a game where you guess what costumes will be coming next to the door.
  • If trick-or-treating seems scary to your child, offer to take your child to neighbors he/she knows. Use their names. It may be one neighbor, but he/she may be happy with that.
  • Costumes are fun, but not required. Putting on a hat makes the costume. (In my house we favor the skeleton shirt with the tags cut out.)
  • Invite a friend or friends over for a day-time Halloween party.

is fun for throngs of children, but maybe not yours. It's incredibly crowded and the noise and costumes can be overwhelming. Consider instead being the house to go to after the Square. Invite friends and parents to drop in for some hot cider or pumpkin decorating when trick-or-treating is done. This is also a great option for children with food allergies and sensitivities.

Autism blogger Lisa Jo Rudy has these Halloween suggestions that boil down to PREPARE.

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  • Keep it simple. Knowing your child, what's reasonable to expect? If he can handle just one house, that's fine. Know that, even when you see other kids running up and down the street, it may not be the right choice for your child.
  • Create a social picture story. Use digital photos, images from the web, or other sources to show and tell exactly what your child will do. Include all the steps, not forgetting that he must knock at the door, say "Trick or Treat!" and "Thank You!"
  • Read the social story together, not once but as often as possible. From
    time to time, toss in a clinker: ask - "what if no one is home?" Help her understand that it's ok to skip a house, to take a piece of candy from a basket (if that's ok with you), and so forth.

Social stories depict typical scenarios, in this case trick-or-treating. With a combination of pictures and text, they show a child what to expect in a situation. I liked this social story for trick-or-treating.

For me, I feel the most stress when I allow other people's expectations of an event overrule mine. Remember that it's about fun, and if it's not fun for you kid, don't push it.

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