Halloween is a fun tradition. It rolls in with autumn and holiday décor, clever-themed parties, crafts, and colorful treats. When that special night comes, kids dress up and roam the neighborhood in scary, humorous, or cute costumes and masks. They go trick-or-treating, or to carnivals, haunted mansions, or other Halloween-themed events.
For most children, October 31st represents an exciting night of make believe and going door-to-door asking for candy. But for a child with autism, Halloween tradition and the imaginary play that goes along with it can bring confusion, anxiety, sensory dysfunction, and even meltdowns. For the parents of autistic children, the holiday season brings a strong need to include their child in the events and activities, but for many autistic children, that might not be the best choice.
While a few autistic kids do get excited about picking out a costume and look forward to Halloween night, most children with autism do not understand what holidays are all about.
Who Benefits From Halloween Traditions Like Trick-or-Treat?
Holiday traditions represent structure and sameness. They bring familiarity, a chance to spend time with friends and family, and a type of emotional attachment that’s rare during other times of the year. Traditions produce loving memories, something to hang onto when life gets rough. So most parents get satisfaction from passing on to their children the favorite customs they enjoyed as a child.
When autism touches a family, traditionalism suddenly becomes an obstacle. Not only do parents of autistic children still feel a great need to share time-honored activities like trick-or-treating, they also feel incomplete if any of their children do not participate in cherished family activities. In addition, many parents also feel they’re missing out on the typical childhood reactions of joy that accompany Halloween festivities.
Halloween is a great time to teach an autistic child social skills in a real life environment. But if a child has no understanding of what’s going on, no interest in dressing up, and is unable to perform the steps required to get from sidewalk to candy, even with modeling and prompting, perhaps the parent is getting more benefit from the activity than the child.
Active holidays, like Halloween, should be special and fun for everyone who participates – including a child with autism. It should not be a time for a child to find himself bombarded with a number of things he doesn’t understand or can’t deal with. So if an autistic child is resisting Halloween, take a moment to ask: “Who is actually benefiting from his participation?”
Halloween and Sensory Processing Disorders
From stiff plastic costumes to flashing strobe lights and high-pitched screams, Halloween night promises extra opportunities for sensory dysfunction. Since sensory issues can differ from day to day, or even hour to hour, there’s no way of knowing which sensory system might act up that night.
It’s a good idea for parents to take an active stance. Create super soft costumes, bring a wagon and blanket so the child can cover himself up, if needed, or prompt him to close his eyes or cover his ears if the house lights are too bright, or the lawn décor is screaming at him. However, for a hypersensitive child, the risk of taking him into that environment is shut-down, or a complete melt-down.
Traditional Halloween activities can affect any of the seven basic sensory systems. While most parents are familiar with the five basic senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, the vestibular and proprioceptive systems can create additional havoc for an autistic child – especially when the basic senses get overloaded.
When the vestibular system shuts down, the child may suffer from vertigo (a strong spinning sensation inside his head that causes the world to spin at the same time), have trouble balancing himself, or experience the world tipping sideways. It may feel like he is falling out of the wagon, even though he’s sitting just fine, which can also stimulate him to start screaming out of fear. If the proprioceptive system dysfunctions, the child may have trouble carrying his bag of candy and drop it for no apparent reason. He may wobble when trying to walk, or fall and hurt himself when his legs crumble beneath him.
Almost all autistic children experience some type of sensory integration problem, and Halloween is full of sensory triggers. While those who constantly seek after additional sensory experiences will do well in such an active environment, don’t ignore the possible dangers. Bad sensory experiences often cause resistance the next time around, resistance a child might not be able to overcome. So consider possible issues carefully before making holiday choices.
When Choosing Holiday Traditions Follow an Autistic Child’s Lead
Wanting to include an autistic child in exciting Halloween activities like parties, carnivals, or trick-or-treating is a normal parental response to the coming holiday season. However, with all of the sensory issues, the rainy or cold weather, the dressing up, the make believe, and other abstract ideas that Halloween brings, involvement should never be a miserable event. Child comfort, rather than what a parent thinks is cute, lots of preparation for the changes, and paying attention to the child’s interest or resistance is essential for a successful evening.
While some children are particularly attracted to Halloween events, and respond well to costumes, going house-to-house for candy, and love the extra sensory stimulation, other children find Halloween frightening, confusing, and of no interest. While sometimes resistance comes from the discrepancy between the autistic child’s mental and chronological age, (mentally, he might still be too young to understand what’s going on, even when taught), getting him involved in holiday customs may take time.
Introducing an autistic child to costumes, letting him pass out candy, and teaching him the social skills necessary to go trick-or-treating or have fun at a party are all possible – but maybe, not all at once. Autistic children don’t do well with change, so for many, change can only come one small step at a time. Mastering a trick-or-treat program, like the one described in this How to Teach an Autistic Child to Trick-or-Treat article can take years. However, there is no guarantee that even with baby steps, a child with autism will ever be interested in Halloween. The best choice is always to let the child decide if he should be included, and how much.
For more information on sensory processing disorders, the article Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder discusses the seven sensory systems that can malfunction and includes links to additional articles that deal each sense in detail.
Source
Kranowitz, Carol Stock. The Out-of-sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder. Perigee Trade, April 2006.
Vickie Ewell - Vickie has worked with autistic individuals for 9 years. She has celiac disease and specializes in gfcf living.
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