How to Avoid the Dreaded 'Costume Battle' this Halloween
On October 31st, what are the chances of this happening...?
Parent: It’s time to go trick-or-treating! Let’s put on your costume!
Child: NO!
Ok, this is actually a big fear for parents of neurodivergent children. Especially kids with sensory differences. They will talk about Halloween for the whole month. They will put up Halloween decorations all around the house. They will carve pumpkins. They will talk about how AWESOME their child’s costume is going to be. Then Halloween comes. And their child won’t go anywhere near his costume.
How can we help to avoid this situation and get our kids excited about Halloween and wearing their costumes?
A great way to prepare kids for Halloween is by trying on their costume early, or having them bring their costume to their ST or OT session for a test-run.
We know how our little ones can feel about those pesky little tags and seams. If a child has never tried on his Halloween costume, and we wait until the day of to put it on him, chances are high there is going to be a bit of a struggle because of possible sensory aversions. Doing a costume test-run is a great way to ensure that the child is comfortable in his costume, and excited about putting it on.
And rather than trying to force the child to put on his costume, we can offer choices to help with the transition.
Instead of:
Do you want to put it on?
Ask:
Who’s going to put it on?
Instead of:
Can you put it on and show me your cool Batman costume?
Ask:
What costume are you wearing?
Instead of:
Can you just put it on for a minute?
Ask:
How many minutes do you want to wear it?
For kids who are not yet answering open-ended questions, try choice questions and mix in some fill-in-the-blanks.
Instead of:
Do you want to put it on?
Ask:
Who’s going to put it on? You or me?
Instead of:
Can you put it on and show me your cool Batman costume?
Ask:
What costume are you wearing? You’re going to wear ______!
Instead of:
Can you just put it on for a minute?
Ask:
How many minutes do you want to wear it? Two minutes or five minutes?
When the child is in his costume, talk to him about how it feels. See if adjustments can be made to the costume to make him more comfortable. Maybe that means taking out the tags. Maybe that means ditching the mask. Maybe that means CUTTING OFF the sleeves (yes, I’ve done this).
Think outside the box in order to make the child comfortable.
And if you have a child or work with children who could benefit from AAC on Halloween, make sure to check out this free download from SLP Mary Katherine Dally of AAC for ALL. She created an AAC bracelet that can be worn while trick-or-treating!
Happy Halloween!
