Trick or Treat for Children with Disabilities
By Dr. Scott Barkin, Block Institute
October 2008
Do's and don'ts about trick or treating with a child with disabilities
1. Know your child. If you child tends to have difficulty dealing with crowds or a lot of noise, consider going earlier in the day when there are fewer people trick-or-treating.
2. If your child does not deal well with new people/places/situations, be sure to stick to familiar people and places.
3. Consider taking your child out to the stores and around the neighborhood before Halloween to see the decorations and costumes.
4. Talk about what to expect; watching/reading children's Halloween movies and books.
5. Children should not be forced to trick or treat or to wear costumes.
6. Let your child help you give out candy at home.
7. Have a small age appropriate party or watch age appropriate movies.
8. Look in your local paper for Halloween activities that the child may be interested in or create one within your own home (e.g., Halloween movie night, Pumpkin Carving Contest, create your own Halloween treat, etc.).
What should parents do with all the candy collected from trick or treating?
Children do better when they know what to expect in terms of "rules." Telling a child with a bagful of candy that they can't eat it now, is setting up a confrontation for most young children. Set limits on how much candy will be permitted to stay in the home for the child and how any excess might be distributed. This should be addressed prior to beginning and collection of treats.
Keep in mind that Halloween should be fun and the activities should be age appropriate and consistent with what your child likes to do.
Block Institute, located in Brooklyn, provides educational services to children (primarily 3-5 years old) with special needs such as: cerebral palsy, global developmental delays, cognitive delays, traumatic brain injury, medically fragile and/or medically involved. Children diagnosed as Autistic, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder are also well served. The staff; which consists of New York State Certified Special Education/Early Childhood teachers, Occupational, Physical and Speech therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, a Therapeutic Feeding Specialist, a Consulting Dietician and Medical Staff; offer individualized attention and help each child with their individual goals. This can be especially helpful to parents in stressful times such as the holiday season, which kicks off with Halloween. Visit BlockInstitute.org for more information.
