Question: Does Hawaii do the “blue bucket” thing on Halloween? If so, please spread the word.
Answer: No, not universally. Some families may choose to have their child carry a blue jack-o’-lantern bucket to signal that the child has autism, hoping that awareness prompts kindness. But others prefer not to single out children who “just want to have fun and be treated like everybody else. It depends on the kid and it depends on the parent. It’s not something that everybody does,” said Dennis C. Maher, board president of the Autism Society of Hawaii.
Your question refers to a Louisiana mother’s Facebook post last October, in which she explained that her 21-year-old son has autism and loves trick-or-treating. Worried that some would turn him away as “too big” for the tradition, she posted a picture of the blue, plastic jack-o’-lantern bucket he would be carrying and asked folks to share a piece of candy to “help us keep his spirit alive & happy.” The post went viral, generating nationwide publicity.
“Most of this publicity glossed over that a significant aspect of the original idea was not just to alert neighbors to the presence of an autistic person on Halloween, but to inform them not to be put off by an adult trick-or-treater,” says the fact-checking website Snopes.com, which rates as “mostly false” the claim that a blue bucket signifies a trick-or-treater has ASD, or autism spectrum disorder (808ne.ws/bluebucket).
Nevertheless, your question aims to help people on the spectrum enjoy the holiday; the neurological condition can make them sensitive to common Halloween sights and sounds and contribute to sensory overload. We’re happy to raise awareness. About 1 in 59 children live on the spectrum, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Halloween strategies for them are good for other kids too.
Here are a few tips, from Maher and others:
>> Be kind to every trick-or-treater. Don’t comment that someone seems too old to trick-or-treat, or insist that every child utter “trick-or-treat” to get a piece of candy (verbal communication, especially with strangers, is difficult for some with ASD), or disparage a costume (sensory issues, including to touch, are not uncommon for ASD kids, whose parents are wise to choose costumes for comfort).
>> Hand a piece of candy to a trick-or-treater who doesn’t help themselves on command, and be gentle with a kid who scoops up a bunch without permission. “They might honestly not know what to do. Social communication is a common challenge,” Maher said.
>> Strobe lights, fog machines and loud and garish decorations are exciting, but can be overwhelming for ASD kids. They may engage in repetitive behavior to comfort themselves, known as “stimming” (hand-flapping is an example), or “melt down” in what looks like a temper tantrum to outsiders but what their families know to be an expression of sensory overload.
Maher described the continuous balancing act of parents striving to comfortably include their children in community activities. “If you see a kid out there on Halloween who is maybe a little bit quirky, just please bear with us. Be patient. A lot of these kids want to be out there having fun too. With a little extra care they can have a fun, safe night.”
The Autism Society of Hawaii (autismsocietyof hawaii.org/) organizes events for people on the spectrum and their families, such as movie outings where the theater isn’t completely dark, and the volume is lower than usual. One scheduled for Oct. 26 at 9:30 a.m. at Ward Stadium Theaters fits the Halloween theme with a showing of “The Addams Family.” Find details on the group’s Facebook page.
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