Having a happy Halloween may be especially difficult if you have a special needs child. K. Sayford-Wilson writes about the problems her child has.

Our youngest child has sensory integration problems with developmental delays and also a speech disorder called developmental apraxia. These challenges limit her ability to process information, so the way in which she understands information is different from the way other children would understand information. Telling a typical child that a scary, angry-looking skeleton half-buried in the ground is only plastic might work. Telling a special needs child with sensory integration problems and a speech disorder that it is plastic and will not hurt her – may not make any sense to her. The child may not be able to handle the sensory overload and may just run away (ours did).

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On Halloween, we avoided all houses with any scary decorations or music – and avoided all people in scary costumes. When our child started whining about “go home,” we honored her request.

If you are thinking of putting up a scary display, please remember that your scary Halloween display can be extra scary for young kids or children with special needs.  

I do not want to tell anyone not to have a fun Halloween, including having a scary Halloween.  There are ways to balance family friendly and scary.

Several of my neighbors handle this by having a “haunted” garage or back yard.  Younger children can trick-or-treat at the front door while older kids can opt-in for the scarier sights and sounds.  

Halloween “tricky” for Phila mom with special needs child.