Halloween-n-dreams

I wish I could plan something in our community for the special needs kids at Halloween. This holiday can be the toughest of them all for our children. There are numerous issues that can impact a special child's ability to enjoy this day:

• sensory issues (not able to wear a costume)
• non-verbal (can't say trick-or-treat or say it well)
• motor planning issues (can't get their hand into a bowl)
• fine motor skills (can't pick up the piece of candy)
• wheelchair bound (can't even go door to door to participate)
• vision impairment (self explanatory)

Just one of these things can seriously impact a child's enjoyment of this holiday let alone having more than one thing on that list (which is by no means exhaustive).

Liam has several of the issues on that list that prevent him from enjoying Halloween. We try to make the best of it, but there is not a neighborhood anywhere around where he can go from door to door in his wheelchair and participate in trick-or-treating (narrow paths, steps, uneven walkways, etc. not to mention Halloween decor that he will grab and take with him). And everything is so dark he can't see what's going on very well either.

If I were able to plan a Halloween for our kids I would love to have trick-or-treating take place in the mall. It's bright, open, wheelchair accessible, and could give many special needs kids a safe place to trick-or-treat. There could be numerous ways in which to give kids a chance to go 'door to door' inside a mall (have booths set up, tables, refrigerator boxes for houses, etc) and let them experience Halloween in an environment better suited to their needs. How cool would that be for them...

We took Liam to our church's fall festival this year instead of going with his older siblings trick-or-treating. He wasn't having much fun though and had been coughing, getting progressively worse as the evening progressed. By 7:15 he was conked out and running a fever. So much for showing him how much fun Halloween can be by getting gobs of candy and sharing it with his mom...

He's the Doctor.

Doctor Who?

A witch, the 11th Doctor, the Tardis, zombie, & a hobbit.

The Doctor is out.

Special needs kids truly have unique, different needs that can be misunderstood and overlooked. In the midst of the chaos of trick or treaters, costumes, and candy, are a large minority of kids who just want to participate but can't.

Hooo Hoooo

Since I wrote mom's post last year on Halloween she thought I should follow tradition and do it again this year too!

 

Can't you tell what I am?

I'm an OWL!

Mom made it for me.

I heard her say it took her less than 10 minutes and only $10 to do. 

I guess that's good, right?

 

I do know I loved wearing my hat!

 

It was fun to grab it and pull it down over my face! And I loved just holding onto it.

 

And every time mommy made those silly owl sounds I would laugh.

I can not keep a straight face when they get all silly like that!

We live outside of town so we had to drive into some neighborhoods to go trick or treating. 

I did get bored after a while though. 

Since I can't go up on everyone's porch in my chair, I decided I'd rather stay in the car with mom and dad while my brother and sisters went door to door. 

That was fun. 

I got to sit in the front seat!

 

I was really happy that Rylie went with us this year. 

 

She looked so pretty.

 

She thinks she's getting too old but I was glad to have her with me. 

 

I think she loves me a lot. Look at that kiss she gave me!

 

I really love her too.

I don't know what Ian and Aidan were. 

Luckily I don't get scared about stuff like that. 

And Ian kept taking his mask off so I could see him under there.

They did get a lot of candy! 

I'm not sure what all the excitement was though. 

I'm still of the mindset that food isn't very much fun. 

But, maybe one day I'll check out what that chocolate stuff is.

My mom says it's amazing and helps her get through the day...whatever that means.

I still think food is over rated. 

Mom says I'm in the minority. 

And I don't know what that means either.  

Oh well. 

I hope you all had a great Halloween like I did! 

And that you got lots of that chocolate stuff too! 

I sure know it makes my mommy happy.

Halloween

My mom says I smile a lot.

But she smiles a lot too. Usually.
Unless I throw up. I don't think she likes that very much.
She usually doesn't smile after I do that.
I'm pretty sure she knows I don't mean to do it though!

Anyway...
I got into the spirit of Halloween early and wore my skeleton jammies all day!

See? They even glow in the dark!

This is the rest of my family.
I don't know why they went with freaky masks this year.
It's kind of weird.
And funny.
I couldn't quit laughing in this picture!
I chose to go as a unicorn!
Very non-scary, cute and cuddly.
I know the grass monster costume was the people's choice....
but, since my grass monster costume felt like wearing carpet, my mom thought it would be best to wear the unicorn since it was 80 degrees outside!

Here's my dad pushing me in my stroller.

Here I am laughing and smiling again.
This smile is because my momma asked me what a horsey says.
And I crack up when she makes that funny noise!

Here I am looking hot!
No, really!
See, my costume is unzipped?
It was in the 80's...that's way too hot for me!
I hate the heat!

Here I am just laughing again at my momma. I have no idea what she was doing. Oh yeah! She was trying to take my picture and I kept looking the other way when she took it. So, she started jumping up and down and saying my name, which always gets me giggling.
And then she finally got the shot she wanted.
I thought it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself!
And I had a really good time for my first Halloween wearing a costume.

But momma says I shouldn't get used to all the attention. Something about it going to my head and it's a good thing we don't dress as cuddly animals all the time?

I'm not sure what she means.

Oh well. I'm off to bed. I just wanted to update everyone on my Halloween!
I better get my rest because I have my first dive tomorrow!

I heard momma saying she'll keep everyone updated.

Wish me luck!