Halloween and Autism....

[SammyeGail]

One of my twins has mild autism, but I look at children with autism like snowflakes, each one is individual, one of a kind.

Jonas uses words sometimes, but communicates alot with pointing, touching yes or no, etc. He talks more at school, I guess he knows we know what he wants, he's pretty easy going.

I had gotten 2 groupons for costumehub.com (getting DH to use the 2nd and shipping to work). Our town is small, there is 'trick or treating' at the few blocks of stores in the 'downtown' area and they have entertainment, booths set up, etc. We have gone before and stayed a little while, but this year I really wanted to dress them up, we never had before.

Noah had a huge Scooby-Doo obsession over the summer, its kicked back up again so I ordered him a Scooby costume. It arrived yesterday, really cute!!

I know Jonas likes Thomas the Train, the costume just fits over his clothes, he won't wear a hat unless its freezing outside, I was going to get this one:

http://www.costumehub.com/products/c...costume/wt4920

I was ready to order last week, now I'm confused. I showed him, he pointed to yes, then no. I show him a few more costumes that don't have hoods or need a hat, he points to yes, then no. We on the main page of the site, he sees the Scooby-Doo 'Icon', I click on it for him, and he points to the Scooby-Doo costume. He gives it a big YES. I'm left undecided because I know he won't wear the hood and its expensive.

http://www.costumehub.com/products/c...ostume/iy89332

I forgot to show it to him last night, so I think to show it to him this AM. He screams, runs downstairs and sits in his favorite chair with a book and wouldn't move.

I feel terrible. DH says he's not really a morning person (DH takes him to school). I hope he doesn't think I skinned poor Scooby-Doo. I didn't realize how it looked on a hanger. He wan't scared, he seemed aggravated.

I just want him to have a costume he will be happy with. I just want him to enjoy himself. Maybe this afternoon I can get Noah to put it on, maybe J will get a thrill out of seeing N in the costume, I don't know.....

I just had to get this 'out', kiwm? He has fat curly hair, I had thought of dressing him like Shaggy so they would match, then I've gotten hung up on him feeling like he picked out his own costume, kwim? Plus his hair had gotten too long, was starting to get in his eyes so I had to cut it last week, no more Shaggy hair.

You face so many little challenges with autism, I don't know if this is more of a battle with myself. Then DH says we can get a Thomas the Train at Wal-Mart for $15, so I don't know what to use my other $30 groupon on, sigh...

Just needed to vent....

[sunshineandme]

you are such a thoughtful mama

[crl]

Ah man. Why do the simplest things always end up being so complicated? Can you sell your group on? I see them listed in the classified section of my local moms group sometimes.

Catherine

[Canna]

Hugs - I can see you are really putting a lot of thought into this. One thing that I have found - I have a 5.5 year-old and a 2 year-old that are typical kids but my 5 y.o. is definitely the spirited and sensitive side of temprament - not laid back: The Halloween Costume Thing is Unpredictable. There have been 2 separate years now where she has said she wants to be one thing, then changed her mind at the last minute and ended up putting something together from existing dress-up clothes. This year my 2 y.o. went wild over a pink butterfly costume at Old Navy. It was on sale for $17. Great. Bought it. She told people for weeks that she was going to be a butterfly. All of a sudden this week she is telling people she is going to be a giraffe (we do have an old giraffe costume that was DD#1's but it has been heavily played with over the years and is not in perfect shape).

One thing that I am keeping in mind is if she doesn't wear the butterfly for Halloween - I will just keep it in our dress up box and I know it will get a lot of play, probably for a couple of years. So if you think your son might gradually warm up to the Scooby costume, even if he rejects it on Halloween, he might enjoy having it and playing with it in the future. We have a very VERY old hand-me-down-to-us Clifford costume that has been worn for YEARS at our house for all kinds of imaginative play.

[nov04]

Even if Jonas won't wear the costume, he'll see how much effort his Mom & Dad put into making sure he could celebrate Halloween. It's tough when you're never sure how they're going to do something until the time comes!

dd1 wore a costume when she was 2 and has refused ever since. As a result, dd2 won't do it either (she loves her big sister!). dd1 is terrified of being outside on Halloween. So we've set up their lawn chairs in the front hall and they give out candy. This is their second year doing this and they're thrilled.

We're going to try and TorT at the local mall during the day. Not expecting to, but making sure that opportunity is there.

Enjoy the day!

[jse107]

Well, not any advice here, but I just wanted to let you know that costume buying was totally difficult with two typically developing kids!

[Uno-Mom]

Random thoughts on autism: I've found a lot of variation on how the folks I know percieve things like cartoons and costumes. They have their unique, unusual way of identifying "people" (ie humans ) and it's pretty freaky for them to see someone dressed in a costume. Maybe Jonah didn't realize the picture was of a person dressed up - he may have assumed it was a cartoon. It would more resemble a cartoon than a kid to him. KWIM? Then it would be very confusing to see the costume IRL.

Sending serious empathy your way - I know from working with parents how important it is for you to give your boy all those typical experiences and make it special to him. It feels so emotional and important! I understand the stress. Poor you.

I've helped some folks figure out their own costumes before (adults w/autism) and we've had great fun adapting their regular clothes into something fabulous. Like attaching a tail to their most comfy pair of sweats, taping spots on their soft t-shirt, attaching ears to the baseball cap they already like. We've gotten some spectacular results and they were WAY more comfy!

It's so important to feel comfortable in your skin on a night when the world is kind of out of whack, from your perspective.

I'm not diagnosed w/autism but I'm pretty sensitive to sensory stuff. I find standard halloween costumes very uncomfortable -usually too hot or too cold, don't breath, scratchy fabrics, scratchy lining, sweaty hoods. All that. So I empathize with my folks who need to improvise instead.

[Uno-Mom]

Sorry, just realized I got your boy's name wrong.

[MamaKath]

Can I just say you are awesome!!! I don't get even seem to wrap my brain around a costume until about 2 days before and you have one bought, ordered and delivered. WTG Mama!!!

[SammyeGail]

Thank you ALL so much!! I didn't even expect to get a reply! Thanks for all the kind and supportive comments , they all helped so much!!

I did have Noah try on the Scooby-Doo costume, Jo was upstairs in their room, his reaction was sort of: 'hmmmm, ok....' he kept looking at Noah's face. It helped me realize Jo would get a kick out seeing someone in the costume but never wear it himself. Phew! I would have been fine with 2 boys dressed like Scooby-Doo, , but I think I'll do Jonas in a Shaggy look so they will 'match', I think it will be cute!--maybe get a Thomas the Train on the side.

I may use the groupon to get some accessories. Noah asked for a hat like this for his b'day after seeing one on Curious George, I was shocked when I ran across it!:

http://www.costumehub.com/products/c...-cap/qs85425xs

An actual propeller hat! I've thrown in an adult 'Cat in the Hat' in my cart, the boys love the show that comes on PBS, I could wear that. I looked at adult costumes, I haven't dressed up since I was a kid, but they seem too expensive. I could get the whole 'Cat in the Hat' costume, its 34.95, do you think my kids would get a kick out of me wearing it?

http://www.costumehub.com/products/a...ostume/iy83140