Halloween

Halloween,  that magical time of the year when a child can be anything their imagination allows them to be.
For an Autistic child or a child on the spectrum Halloween isn't always a magical time.  It can be a time of high anxiety, sensory overload and fear.
Halloween has always been hit or miss with Sammy.  Some years he does just fine and other years it's just hard for him to process it all so he shuts down.  Last year for example,  he couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating.  Him and his sister got all dressed up and we hit the neighborhood.  The first house he did okay,  the second house he didn't do so well and by the 3rd house he had gone into sensory overload and Joe had to pick him up and carry him back home.  It wasn't a fear of the other children in their costumes that bothered Sammy but it was the newness of it and the unknown.  Even though we talked about it for days with him to prepare him, he didn't get the full affect of it until he actually went door to door.  It was the new faces and the lack of control that he had over the situation that bothered him.  It was just to much for his mind to process so he shut down.
He went to my parents house where he was quite content passing out candy to the other children.

This year went off without a hitch.  Sammy wanted to be a dragon and Mandy was a cute little pirate.  First we went to my parents house to show off their costumes and from there we hit the festival in our neighborhood park.  I didn't know how Sammy would react at the festival because again those types of activities are hit or miss with him.  He LOVED it.  He showed off his costume and even won some candy playing a bean bag toss game.  Both kids really enjoyed it and had a great time.  From there we met my in-laws at our house and proceeded to make our rounds through the neighborhood trick-or-treating.  Again Sammy did really well.
When people would open the door,  Sammy would say, "Hi how are you" before ever saying, "trick-or-treat".  He did very good in remembering to use his manners because manners are something we work very hard to instill in both of our children.  Even Mandy knows how to say, "please" and "thank-you".  It was a great night and I'm so glad that Sammy was able to enjoy it without incident.  

There are so many things that people take for granted with their children that are HUGE mile stones to a family with a special needs child.  Each holiday, celebration or outing is approached with great caution and preparedness because you never know what might send a child into sensory overload or cause them to shut down.

                                                                    Our Family