Sensory Friendly Halloween Guide


I know it is a little early for Halloween -- but trust me, regardless of whether or not you are thinking of it, your kids are.  And, my blog is going to be dedicated to the 30 SPD Stories in 30 Days for the entire month of October, so now is the time to post this! 

Halloween is another one of those holidays that requires special planning when it comes to having a kiddo with SPD. Technically, I can’t think of many holidays that don’t require some kind of planning on my part…maybe Veteran’s Day? (Actually, that is a NO, because my father served in Vietnam and my boys are concerned that we honor him appropriately, so I don’t even get to take that holiday off. Ugh.)

All of that aside, my kids love Halloween. Which has made me start to like it too. : )  So much so, that we already have their costumes for this year -- they are in the box still right here in my office, just DYING to be tried on.  But, I say it is too early to take the chance they will ruin them (I am mean like that), so I am forced to use a photo from last Halloween.  I am SHOCKED at how much older they look!  I know, kids grow up, but in the chaos of my life, I must have missed it. 

But, my kiddos really do LOVE Halloween!  I don’t think it is just the candy (especially since we don’t eat it, but I’ll get to that in a minute), I think it is being up past bedtime, running around with their friends in the dark while pretending to be, this year, a Clone (from Star Wars, Nick), an Army Solider (Gabriel) and...well...Matt says he is wearing Lightning McQueen again, but we'll see.

This guide is aimed at those of us who actually want to have a Halloween, similar (not exactly) to the one we grew up loving. There are obviously better ways to handle sensory overload if your child can't do this (example being go to a friend's house so out of the way no one will ring their doorbell).

That said, here is what we do to make sure that Halloween is a success for everyone at our house.
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