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Dear Melissa,
I have a 6-year-old son with Autism. He LOVES the idea of Halloween, but it often ends in a disaster! He doesn’t like knocking on doors, he won’t say “thank you” after he gets candy, and the costume is always a complete disaster. He likes to pick out a big, expensive outfit at the store, but then he refuses to wear it for more than 5 minutes on Halloween, and we end the evening in a complete meltdown! How do we make Halloween a more enjoyable experience?
Halloween can be a fantastic evening of craziness and fun for most children. However, kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders can have particular trouble enjoying Halloween. With the changes of routine, sensory processing demands and social demands, it can easily cause more trickiness than treats. Here are a few tips to help your child with ASD enjoy a fun evening on Halloween:
Skip the Store-bought Costume
They are usually very expensive and can be made of cheap, ill-fitting, scratchy material. Just about any costume, from a princess, to a dinosaur, to a super hero can be created with a little hand stitching and some fabric paint. Simply start with the comfy base of a sweat suit, t-shirt, or leggings and let your imagination run wild! I like this Pinterest site which offers ideas for sensory friendly Halloween costumes.
Accessories are Optional
Most children with ASD or sensory processing disorder have tactile defensiveness towards masks and face paint. If you really want a head accessory, try a bow for girls or a decorated baseball hat for boys. But even these may not be tolerated.
The Dress Rehearsal
You may want to have your child practice wearing the costume around the house before the big day. Once the costume is more familiar, it won’t be such a change when the big day arrives. For safety, make sure to incorporate glow sticks, lights, or reflective tape in the costume if your child will be trick-or-treating door to door.
Meeting Social Demands
There are a lot of social demands associated with trick-or-treating. Allow the child to “practice” with family members, going from bedroom to bedroom, knocking on the door, and saying “trick-or-treat” and “thank you.” For children who are nonverbal or especially shy, you can also make a special Halloween sign that says “trick or treat” on the front and “thank you” on the back. Also, consider going to a limited number of friendly, well-known neighbors and repeating these houses over and over. This will help decrease social anxiety. As always, social stories and reading various books on trick-or-treating can decrease social anxiety and help children to understand expectations.
Discuss “Tricks”
Many children on the Autism Spectrum are very discrete, black-and-white thinkers, and Halloween is a day for fantasy and imagination. It helps to prepare your child ahead of time for the scary masks and haunted houses with books and movies about Halloween. It may also help to take them to the costume aisle at your local store several times before the big day. This way, they can see that it is just a plastic mask or a dress-up costume, and REAL monsters will not be knocking on their door!
Discuss “The Rules”
Again, children with ASD tend to be very black-and-white thinkers, and we suddenly change the rules on Halloween. My own son kept saying “Wait, we don’t know those people! We can’t just go knock on their door!” Determine the “special Halloween rules” ahead of time. Discuss them head of time with your child and make sure that he knows that “The rule is…these new rules ONLY apply to Halloween!”
Prepare for dietary issues
If your child is on a special diet, consider providing stickers or pencils to the houses where you know you will be trick-or-treating so that your child will have an appropriate treat. If you don’t want the candy in the house, some dentist offices will buy the candy back and send it to our troops serving overseas (you can locate these programs online). If your child is allowed to eat candy, only allow 1-2 pieces on Halloween night. In addition, make sure to have a healthy meal before you head out for the door-to-door candy gorge. This will help ensure that their tummies are full of good food, and your kids will be less likely to nibble on mass quantities of candy along the way.
Keep it short
Trick-or-treating occurs at the end of the day, around bedtime for most children. Understand that your child may be too tired at the end of the day and unable to endure a trick-or-treating marathon.This, combined with a sugar rush, is a certain recipe for a meltdown! As much as possible, try to keep a normal bedtime routine on Halloween night, and don’t delay bedtime by more than 30-60 minutes. This will make everyone’s life more enjoyable on Halloween night…and the next day as well!
What tips does your family have to create a fun and safe Halloween?
Please share your ideas!
Also, if you have a question you would like me to address in my Weekly Blog,
send it to share@ChildrensTherapyTEAM.com
Halloween Tips for Sensory Kids, American Occupational Therapy Association:
Preparing a Child with Sensory Issues for Halloween, Washington Post, 2011