Let’s aim for a happy (and accessible) Halloween for all
Like any eight-year-old, Jack Couper loves Halloween. Unfortunately, Jack also suffers from serious anxiety. The flashing lights and creepy noises from festively decorated homes, scary costumes springing suddenly from the darkness, it’s all too much.
Last year, Jack managed just one short street of trick-ortreating before he had a massive panic attack.
Jack isn’t alone. For children on the autism spectrum, or with anxiety disorders, the sights and sounds of Halloween can be a traumatic sensory overload. But they still want and deserve to join in. That’s why, this year, Jack’s dad, Chris Couper, is organizing a special Halloween event in their community of Arnprior, Ont., for kids with special needs.
Recent years have seen increased public awareness about the issue of cultural sensitivity and Halloween costumes. But lurking unnoticed like a ghost is another Halloween problem: accessibility barriers for kids with physical or mental challenges. Fortunately, there are easy things you can do to make Halloween more accessible and inclusive, so all the kids in your neighbourhood can enjoy the spooky fun.
Anrprior is a great example. On the Sunday afternoon before Halloween, participating homes — marked on a customized Google map — will put out their candy bowls early. They’ll keep the loud festive décor to a minimum — no amplified shrieks or animatronic zombies that leap out from the bushes. Instead of having to pass on trick-or-treating, special-needs children can don their costumes and go door-todoor in the daylight, filling their loot bags without the mockscariness of Halloween turning into real terror. And when Halloween eve arrives, the real spookiness can begin for the rest of the kids.
Halloween can also be disappointing for children with severe food sensitivities. They might go trick-or-treating, but after, all they can do is stare at their bag of loot with longing. Give them a happy Halloween by joining the Teal Pumpkin Project. Alongside your candy, have a bowl of fun non-food items such as stickers or glow sticks for all the little ghouls who can’t handle the sweet stuff. Mark your house with a teal-painted pumpkin or a poster in the window.
Now imagine you’re a child with mobility challenges. You and your parents spend days turning your wheelchair into the Batmobile. You roll up to a house to trick-or-treat, and the door is atop a flight of stairs. Don’t leave mobility-impaired superheroes out in the cold. If your door is hard to access, set up your candy bowl at ground level.
Even the way you greet children at your door can make a difference. Be welcoming with everyone who rings your doorbell — even kids who turn up without a costume or don’t shout “Trick or Treat!” Some children on the autism spectrum are non-verbal. Others have difficulty coping with wearing a costume. The feeling of unfamiliar garments or a mask on their face, can trigger them. They’re just wearing their Halloween spirit on the inside, that’s all.
Halloween is one of the most wonderful days of the year for children, second only to Christmas. Every pint-sized Black Panther and Wonder Woman deserves to be included in the fun. Craig and Marc Kielburger are the co-founders of the WE movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day. For more dispatches from WE, check out WE Stories.