Halloween & Children with Disabilities
Fun Costumes and Simple Safety Rules Make This Holiday Fun for All
Oct 7, 2009
Halloween can be a fantastic time of year for kids of all ages. If your child is in a wheelchair, Halloween can be just as much fun for him as it is for his peers.
Wheelchair-Friendly Costumes
The perfect costume is the most important part of Halloween for some people.
There are several websites that advertise costumes for disabled children. This distinction may make some children self-conscious, however. As long as parents know how to adapt a store-bought costume to fit their child’s needs, though, any costume the child is comfortable wearing will work for a child with a disability. Some kids with a disability might like to hide their wheelchair or incorporate it into their costume. If that’s the case, homemade is the way to go.
Here are some creative ideas for wheelchair-friendly costumes for your kids. Parents, it is up to you to decide if these costumes would be appropriate for trick-or-treating. They are ideal, though, for costume parties or parades at school, church, etc. All you need is some paint, some cardboard and a little creativity.
A monkey. Paint a jungle scene - trees, animals - on poster board or cardboard. Once your child is dressed in his costume and settled in his chair, attach the cardboard all around his chair. In an instant, he’ll be transformed into a monkey swinging through the jungle.
The Lincoln Memorial. Buy a suit from Goodwill or some other resale shop and some white spray paint. Fashion a stovepipe hat from cardboard. Dress your child in the spray painted suit and white shoes, paint his face white and affix the cardboard to three sides of the chair. Voila! A moving monument.
Royalty on the throne. Drape your child’s wheelchair in gold or silver fabric. Adorn the fabric in garland and “jewels.” Buy a crown and scepter. Dress your child in a regal-looking outfit and start referring to him as Your Majesty.
Drummer. Attach containers (ice cream buckets, empty paint cans) to a wheelchair with duct tape. Use a hula-hoop covered with cardboard or material pulled taut to make the bass drum to go on the front of the chair, over the child’s lap. Glue “drumsticks” to the top of the bass drum. Dress your child in attire appropriate for the style of music to be played – rock, 60’s, etc. – and get ready to rock Halloween.
Some other creative and unique ideas for wheelchair-concealing Halloween costumes include pilot, astronaut complete with spaceship, television set, chess/checker board and the classic pumpkin. With a little creativity, though, you can come up with your own idea for your child’s costume.
Trick Or Treating Safety
If you are taking your child trick or treating this year, follow the guidelines set forth by your child safety advocates and local police. Some of these include staying on well-lit streets, only visiting houses with lights on and going out with a large group. Any other guidelines are personal choices and plain common sense.
If your child is in a wheelchair, there are some extra steps you can take to make the Halloween rite of trick or treating more enjoyable.
- Affix strips of reflective tape to your child’s wheelchair.
- Use face paint instead of a store-bought mask. A mask can make it difficult to see, thus making it difficult to navigate a wheelchair.
- Only visit houses that are ground level or almost ground level. If your child has to wait on the sidewalk while the rest of his friends go up on the porch, he will feel isolated and left out.
Remember to take all the necessary safety precautions and your child’s Halloween can be as ghoulishly fun as all his peers.
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