Halloween is always tricky for autism families. The holiday brings a unique set of challenges – uncomfortable costumes, unknown situations, explaining why your child may not be able to say “trick or treat” or “thank you”, receiving treats that your child may not be able to or even want to eat. All of that said, there is still a certain magic of getting out into your neighborhood, and being silly and spooky.

But here we are in 2021, still living in the COVID-19 era. While the CDC has given the green light to tiptoe back into a more traditional Halloween setting, there are still concerns. Young children, peak trick or treating age, are still not authorized to be vaccinated. When it comes to indoor events, masks and social distancing should still be the norm, if masks can be tolerated by your child. Outdoor activities are still the safest.

So what does Halloween have to do about universal design, and exactly what is that? Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.  Universal Design solutions were developed during pandemic, if by accident.

Let us take a minute to remind you about what last year looked like in a lot of neighborhoods. Neighbors set up inventive ways to safely distribute candy.  People had fun “curbside” setups at the end of their driveways,  shoots were fashioned out of chutes to get candy down steps quickly. People really went above and beyond to make the night fun and safe for kid during a time when nothing seemed fun or safe. What this actually did was make Halloween accessible for all. Children with low mobility or in wheelchairs didn’t have to navigate stairs or narrow walkways. Those who are a anxious were able to go more at their own pace, and had limited face to face contact, which can sometimes make them nervous. Pandemic Halloween changes ended up being universally helpful for lots of people, for lots of reasons.

While we all want to return to what was fun and “normal” before, keep in mind that last Halloween wasn’t all that bad for a lot of kids. There’s a way to incorporate traditions with a lot of the new things we’ve learned since March 2020!

For our blog from Halloween 2019 click here

For Halloween 2020, check out the blog here