Now is the time to practice!! Many of our kids have a hard time with all of the disruptions of routine and sensory disruptions surrounding the Halloween tradition.  Here are just a few ways you might try to help your ASD child get through this challenging time. 

 

 

Tips for Trick or Treating

 

Spotlight the Routine:  Where possible, make an attempt to maintain your typical nightly schedule to help appease your child’s need for familiarity.  School, homework, dinner or whatever your family does on a typical weekday. You might want to begin right after dinner before it’s too dark and before the bedtime rituals are due.

Control the Treats: For kids with special dietary needs you might consider dropping off some appropriate treats ahead of time to those neighbors who are willing to help distribute them to your child.  Let them know how your child will be dressed and what time you expect to come by.

Preview the Activity: Role playing the experience ahead of time can go a long way towards setting expectations for your child.  Use dolls to role play out the upcoming event, or allow your child to play ‘dress up’ in the weeks leading up to Halloween.  Tell them how many homes you will visit, how long it should take .  If you are familiar with your neighbors, ask to do a practice run earlier in the day.  This also presents a good opportunity to practice saying “thank you”.

Map It Out: Make an activity out of mapping out your trick-or-treat route together ahead of time.  Print out or draw your own map of the neighborhood and preview the evenings travels, spotlighting those houses whose residents are familiar to your child.  During the walk have your child cross off what houses they have visited and plan for the next one.

Travel with Friends: If possible trick-or-treat with other children that your child knows and loves.  The sense of belonging with children they are familiar with willl put them at ease.  Children (siblings in particular) always make the best therapists because they don’t feel any need to protect their special needs from anything,  they just do what comes naturally!  Your child will feel better about enduring this whole experience with a familiar friend.