Halloween 2013

Halloween is always stressful at our house. Nick is totally into it and Noah usually goes along with it. Nate, however, has always been the issue. He doesn't like to dress up and he really doesn't understand trick or treating. If you open your front door for Nate, he's going to walk in your house. So, I the past, Nate has been the problem at Halloween. This Halloween, was very different.

Tim had a football game on Halloween. So, we were already down one adult. I took Nick to a friend's house and he trick or treated with them. This left me at home to hand out candy and Nate and Noah with their staff.

Both boys put on their costumes with no problem...even Nate. This was encouraging. Since the weather was so bad, they decided to go trick or treating at the mall. I thought this would be better for Nate, since this eliminated the whole going in people's houses. It was so crowded at the mall that staff decided to take the boys to Krispy Kreme for their free donuts and then home to see the neighbors.

When Noah goes to the mall, he wants to ride the escalator and go to the play place. Well, neither of those things happened on Halloween. It was so crowded that they just turned around to leave. Noah was not having any of that. He dropped to the ground and started screaming. For Noah's staff member, it was her first experience with a Noah fit.  I am really glad that she was not with him alone. Nate's staff member had plenty of experience with a Noah fit apparently, this one lasted 25 minutes. They said they were surprised that mall security did not get involved.

When he quieted down, they were able to get him in the car. They still stopped at Krispy Kreme. Nate went in and got his donut and Noah sat in the car. He was not going to get a treat to reinforce his behavior at the mall. When they got home, Nate went trick or treating at the neighbor's houses.  He said "trick or treat" and did not try to enter their homes. While Nate did this, Noah took a bath and went straight to bed. He was exhausted after his meltdown. Nate proudly showed me his candy and had another donut.

If you had told me that Nate would have a great Halloween, I would have bet against you. It just shows that in an autism house, nothing is a sure thing.