Making Halloween fun for the disabled

Friday, October 31st, 2008 | Caregivers and providers

Happy Halloween! Today is a very fun day for kids of all ages. It’s a little bit of a challenge for us to find a way to make the day fun for Quincy as well as our other children but we do our best. Usually what happens is Rob and I have to split up and divide our duties. Mostly this is our own fault…we’ve chosen to live in Alaska which is just a tough environment for Halloween no matter what your physical ability. I can remember growing up in the Interior of Alaska and trying to trick-or-treat in sub-zero temperatures and a bit of the thrill was lost. Being a fairy princess loses it’s overall effect when the costume is buried underneath layers of jackets, gloves, hats and boots. But, we made the best of it. Thankfully it looks like today is going to be relatively warm…in the mid-20’s which is jacketless weather for Alaskan kids. So, Quincy’s brother and sister will be able to go around the neighborhood and show off their costumes (Indiana Jones and Daphne from Scooby-doo, to be exact) without much discomfort. Quincy loves Halloween, but we’ve stopped doing the dress-up thing since she’s become a teenager. She loves to hang out at the door and help hand out candy. The wonderful costumes delight her. This year our porch is pretty well-decorated with cobwebs, blue lights, pumpkins and a flashing red danger sign and she loves the visual stimulation. We live an a pretty suburban little neighborhood, which is rather rare for Alaska, and so we will see no less than 300 trick-or-treaters come through in a few short hours. Quincy will get as much visual stimulation as she can take. After a while it will get to be a bit of an overload for both her and her cat and they will snuggle in a quiet room away from all the madness. So, except for the fact that Rob and I have to decide who will stay home and hand out candy and who will escort the kids around the neighborhood, we handle Halloween pretty well. I hope you all have a fun day with your kids and sneak as much chocolate from their goodie bags as you can!!

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