Halloween is here! This is the time when every child dresses up and heads towards their neighborhood in hope of a treat.However, this festive time poses a great challenge to the parents who have kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most of the autistic children do not like things which are out of ordinary, like dressing up for school parties in an odd manner, and trick-or-treating. How should parents handle this situation? Let’s try to find a perfect solution to address this issue.
Psychiatrists and Autism experts have suggested that families having members with autism should try to make their home more accessible and the Halloween celebration more inclusive to the children. A couple of tips are listed below that can help parents.
- Parents should always avoid bright lights and loud noise in their Halloween celebration because these are things that irritate autistic children the most.
- Sometimes, autistic kids take a bit longer time to revert verbally, even they might not be responding at all. Therefore, trick-or-treat might be a difficult task for them. Parents and other family members should give them more time to respond and keep patience.
- If the children find it uncomfortable outside their home, parents should not force them to go outside. They should keep their children at home and provide them candies and cookies to make the children feel the essence of the Halloween.
- In most of the cases, autistic children like the company of other kids having the same disorder. They often feel uncomfortable in an environment where they are treated like exceptional beings. Such an environment in Halloween parties can be scary for them. Therefore, to avoid any unexpected incident, parents should take the children in a place where they can celebrate the festival with other autistic kids in an environment familiar to them.
Hopefully, this article will help the parents make this Halloween a memorable one for their kids. To get more information on autism, keep an eye on the upcoming articles. Celebrate Halloween safely with your family and friends!