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My daughter has always loved Halloween; for all of her many fears, Halloween and all that goes with it was never one of them.
We finally had to retire her this year because judgmental people think teens should not be dressing up and going door-to-door.
It's a sad Halloween in our house this year.
That's not what this is about, though.
What this is about is kids that are a little different.
The worst times we had trick-or-treating were when people would hold their candy hostage until she said those magic words.
Well, not every kid is verbal.
I spent more Halloweens telling people, “She doesn't talk,” than anything.
You would think in these enlightened times that people wouldn't be jerks.
I mean, for goodness’ sake, it's just a piece of candy; it's not the Holy Grail.
Put the candy in the bag already.
I'm all for manners, but there comes a point when a child is looking at you without opening their mouth that something has to click in your little head.
Like, oh, I don't know maybe the child isn't verbal.!
So in memory of my daughter's many years of trick-or-treating, if a child comes to your door and doesn't say those magic little words, don't spend 15 minutes trying to force them to say it while the parent is sweating bullets.
They are praying for just one night that they don't have to explain that their child is a little bit different and isn't going to say those words ever.
Just drop the candy in the bag, please.
And for my daughter's cousin, who is on a different level of the spectrum and can't stand costumes but still loves Halloween, if a child comes to you dressed in sweats and not totally in a costume, don't give them a dirty look and mutter under your breath about kids not dressing up.
He's trying his best; he just can't stand costumes.
As special needs parents, we know our kids are different; that is crammed down our throats every single day of our lives.
Give us one day that our kids can go out and be like the other kids.
Don't force us to explain that our child is nonverbal; don't force us to explain that our child has severe sensory issues.
Just drop the candy in the bag and let us move on.
