Halloween for Disabled Kids
Tonight we’ll be taking my nephews trick-or-treating with us. Their father is overseas on a private security contract, and their mother has to work that night, and we didn’t want them to have to miss out on Halloween.
My main source of experience with kids is from a job working in child care when I was younger, and one year we had a kid with a physical disability in the classroom. We always had to be sure the tables were spaced out enough so that a wheelchair could get between them, and other accessibility precautions like that. So this time of year I can’t help but wonder how kids with disabilities do the other things kids do — such as trick-or-treating.
Think about it. There are no stairlifts or wheelchair ramps on most people’s houses. And some costumes obviously won’t work with some disabilities.
While I was searching for information online, I found this article, about finding appropriate costumes for kids with special needs. The article comments about ensuring the costume is safe — obviously, if the child has severe vision problems you won’t want to make it worse with a mask that limits his field of vision or prohibits him from wearing his glasses. Likewise, if a child has a physical disability you need to make sure the costume won’t restrict his movement too much.
Next you may need to find somewhere else to trick-or-treat. Either find a neighborhood where the houses don’t have lots of stairs in front, or look for a trick-or-treating event someplace else, such as in your local mall. You may also be able to find Halloween parties specifically for kids with disabilities — check with your local support organizations for more information.
Happy Halloween!
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