Halloween: Celebrate What Your Family Can Do

Today can be one of those days that can cause parents of children with special needs to take pause. To lose their breath for a second. To take notice of differences. To feel slighted. To wish it could be easier. To give up for a second. To skip it all. Halloween. For me, in those early years post diagnosis, I took comfort living in our own comfortable bubble. But days like Halloween, pulled us out. And pushed us away at the same time. We were not like the other families.…

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Halloween and Autism

When it comes to Halloween and autism….whew, there is a lot of advice out there. And have you noticed a lot of it is really intense? Like almost intimidating. A lot of it makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong as a parent. Blue buckets. Signs. Saying trick-or-treat. Everyone should get candy. Do this. Not that. What I find the most interesting about all the preachy advice is that the ones giving it aren’t walking with our family on Halloween. They don’t know what works for us and what…

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Open Hearts for Halloween

It’s that time of the year again, friends. And I’ve got a lot of feelings. This Halloween, please acknowledge and keep in mind that not all individuals will “look the part” that you’ve dreamt up, fall under the imaginary age bar that you’ve set, or ask verbally for their treat. They’re not lazy. They’re not ”spoiled”. They’re not ”ungrateful. They may be overstimulated. They may have sensory issues. They may not communicate with words. Eye contact may turn them inside out. They may be learning how this holiday will look…

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Trick or Treating – Age is Just a Number

With Halloween coming up there has been a lot of debate about trick or treating. I have seen a lot of really positive posts making people aware of all different styles of communication and different expectations for trick or treaters.  There have also been a lot of negative posts regarding age. I just want to point out how difficult these special occasions are for children with special needs and their parents.  It doesn’t matter where you fall on the spectrum or whether there are other types of special needs. There…

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The Great Blue Pumpkin Debate

As Halloween quickly approaches and you prepare for trick-or-treating with your children, there is one staple item you need for the night — something for them to collect all of the candy! If you are like me, you have taken the quick and easy option: the standard $1 orange pumpkin pail from a big box store. But have you noticed these traditional Halloween pails are now available in some new colors? These colors are the center of great debate in the disability community. You see, each new color supports a…

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3 Halloween Safety tips for Kids with Autism

Picture it: It is October 31st. Your neighborhood is alive with the buzz of kids trick-or-treating from house-to-house. You are walking hand-in-hand with your child, who is looking cuter than ever in their over-the-top costume. But instead of excitement as a parent, you feel something quite different: Fear. Anxiety. Worry. Why? Because as a parent of a child with autism, trick-or-treating brings with it much more than fun. It brings with it the need to protect your child at all costs. Protect them from overstimulation. From people who misunderstand their…

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The Autism Bomb

Halloween brings back memories… A lesson in labeling our children with special needs. I believe this was just four years ago when peanut was eleven years old and her brother nine. This year it was just us four celebrating the holiday and the kids and I were trick or treating only a few houses down from where I am sitting as I write these words. I was not physically far from them, because I physically do not leave her side for very long, even back then. Always keeping an eye…

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The Side I Don’t Share

This is a mom on the verge. A mom completely out of patience, and it’s nowhere near noon, on Halloween, in a pandemic…so the magic is up to me – a mom who does NOT have the energy needed to make today memorable. I’ll somehow muster little sparks, because I always do, because I have to, because if I don’t, the darkness will swallow me whole.  I’m not allowed to say how freaking hard it is to be a mother to an autistic 4 year old. Because it’s up to…

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Adaptive Costumes are Changing Halloween for the Special Needs Community

“And what does Whitman want to be this year for Halloween?!” I usually roll my eyes as the words hang in the air. In his almost seven years of life my son Whitman has never really cared for Halloween.  It isn’t from a lack of trying on our part. Every year we get numerous costumes. We attempt. We battle. What should be this amazingly fun time in your childhood is just stress and tears, more from me than anyone. I have tried to throw expectation out the window but I’m…

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The Six Foot Trick-or-Treater

Hello! My name is Eileen and I blog over at Autism with a Side of Fries. This is my 16 year old autistic son. He still very much likes to Trick Or Treat.  He plans on once again being a Hot Dog for Halloween. (With the addition of a mask, of course.) Locals know to expect this Hot Dog (Three years running! We’re really getting our money’s worth from this costume.) to come flappy happy up the driveway.  There is no age limit on enjoying a holiday. There is no age…

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