Age-appropriate behavior at Halloween by my disabled teenager

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 | Disability Awareness and Sensitivity

Quincy is fourteen and this year marked the first time that she simply wasn’t interested in Halloween. There was a noticeable change in my other children, too. What I had this year as a teenager who was generally annoyed by the constant ringing of the doorbell and two other children who had moved on from being a fairy princess and a super hero to a gruesome vampire and Jason from Friday the 13th. It’s another reminder that my children are growing up.

Halloween in most of Alaska is always marked by full-blown winter weather and this year was no exception. What we were lacking in snow we made up for in cold temperatures and strong winds. It was bitterly cold…one of the toughest Halloween’s yet. We actually had to give up on walking through the neighborhood and use the warmth of the truck to go door-to-door (aren’t heated seats the greatest invention ever?!).

Quincy was unimpressed from the start. I think she was looking forward to a quiet night in front of the fire watching a movie. Instead, her evening was constantly disrupted by the overall madness of Halloween. Somehow I think that was more about her being fourteen and completely bored with the silliness of her younger siblings than about her disabilities. The only time she got happy was when she was in her room, door closed, listening to her music away from all the chaos.

Sometimes it’s good to be reminded that locked within their disabled bodies exist people who have some very age-appropriate characteristics. I have written about this before, about how I feel bad for Quincy when people speak loudly to her or, even worse, do baby-talk. Sometimes people give her things that are more appropriate for a toddler than a teenager and I wonder what Quincy would say if she could use her voice. I have no doubt she would borrow a phrase or two from her brother, who has picked up some impressive bad language habits in middle school, to express herself. And you know what, I would give her a big high-five and then remind her that profanity is not acceptable by teenagers (or middle schoolers) in our home.

1 Comment to Age-appropriate behavior at Halloween by my disabled teenager

Kathy Toner
November 3, 2009

With Jenna it is kind of the opposite. She is growing up physically, but she is still so excited about Halloween. I wonder how long (if ever) before she doesn’t want to dress up anymore. We were coming back from my mom’s house in Arizona last summer, and we stopped to use the restroom at a rest area. I automatically went into the same stall as Jenna and only later did I realize how this must look to outsiders. She’s 11 years old! lol There is no way I would leave her outside by herself, so I’m not sure how I am going to approach this in the future. I can stand outside her stall while she goes, but then what about when it’s my turn? Fun, fun, fun… lol :o)

Hope you all had a great Halloween in spite of the freezing weather.