Trick or Treating Tips for Sensory Kids

This cowboy hat lasted 10 minutes

“I want to be a raptor!” These were the words that started the Halloween anxiety for me this year. Like every sensory processing disorder family- every holiday is tough to navigate.

Halloween just adds an extra level of stress because of costumes. SPD kids are VERY sensitive about what they wear, and sometimes they have big dreams for what they want to be, but their costume only lasts about one minute on Halloween.

My son hates masks. He went as Hulk one year and after ten minutes became Bruce Banner in the process of changing into the Hulk, with a Hulk body and a regular human head.
So this year when he wanted to be “Blue,” the raptor from Jurassic World, I groaned inwardly.

We had seen the raptor masks at Comic Fest and on Youtube. They make real screeching velociraptor sounds! They also weigh, a lot. I knew we would probably end up with a half human/half raptor hybrid on Halloween, and that’s okay.

But then when we were in Target – we saw it. A “Blue” onsie pajama with a hood. And that hood was a raptor head, teeth included. “Momma? Can you wear pajamas as a Halloween costume?”

Heck yes you can!

And now my son can be what he wants and be comfortable, which is a rare treat.
I know a lot of other SPD families will be hitting the streets for some trick-or-treating this week, so I thought I would share a few tips on making it as easy on your kiddo as possible.

Hooded onsies are our friends.

1. Try on your costume ahead of time and have a backup. You don’t want to wait until the day of Halloween to find out a costume is too itchy, or too loose, or too tight, or whatever their sensory issue is with it. We usually spend a couple of hours in costume the weekend before to get comfortable in it and make any changes if needed. Also, on the day of they may decide they don’t like wearing it, so we have back up options available.  With the amount of cute hooded onsie pajamas and hooded sweatshirts on hand, I have plenty of alternatives that could pass as costumes but not bother people who are judgmental toward kids not in costume and are completely oblivious to special needs. (That’s a whole different rant)
2. You don’t need to coordinate their costume all the way down to their shoes and socks – let them war their comfy favorites. They will walk much farther if you do. 
3. Bring a back up adult. I know this one is tough on single parents. My husband worked the night shift for several years and I’ve done a lot of solo Halloweens. But I always have asked a family member or close friend (who is not there with their own kids), to come with if possible in case my sensory guy needs a break or more time between houses. That way his siblings can still trick or treat without having to stop. 
4. Pack a flashlight and noise cancelling headphones. Dark spaces and loud noises – oh my! It’s best to have the tools to combat those situations on hand. I also usually bring his favorite stuffy or sweatshirt as a comfort item if needed. 
5. Have a game plan. We don’t just walk around willy-nilly. I lay out exactly what streets we are going down. If we are feeling good and can do more, great, but if we need to stop, it doesn’t feel like a failure if we’ve hit our plan. 
6. Bring a back up candy carrier. One year the handle on the pumpkin bucket dug into my son’s skin uncomfortably. Another year, he was flinging it around while sensory seeking and it broke. I usually keep a couple of plastic bags in my purse, just in case. 
7. There will be candy they don’t like – so you need to warn them of that ahead of time, so you can prevent comments of disgust to the nice people handing it out! He is old enough now that he knows that he can trade or give away, but it was a little dicey at the beginning. Sensory kiddos are so finicky sometimes, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to Halloween candy. 

I’m sure there are plenty more tips, but these are just a few based on what we’ve experienced. In our world, talking about what to expect as much as possible with our son before going trick-or-treating makes all the difference.

Have a fun and happy Halloween!

2 Days at Disneyland

We just got back from our quick two-day trip to Disneyland over Fall Break – and we had a blast.  

For the first time, we used a travel agency, Get Away Today, to book our trip. This took a lot of the planning details off my shoulders, and we got some discounts. And the coolest feature was that we could put our vacation on layaway a few months prior and make payments. This was a great way to budget out our trip.

We opted to stay in the Fairfield Inn across the street from Disneyland, which is the closest we’ve ever been. Through the deal with the travel agency, our parking fees were covered, and the Pizza Hut offered buy one adult meal, get a kid’s meal for 99 cents!

Another benefit was that there was a McDonalds and Panera Bread on the walk to Disneyland, which considerably cut down our meal costs.

The first night there we spent time in Downtown Disney and had dinner at the Goofy’s Kitchen buffet, so the kids could meet some characters. I didn’t expect the boys (age 7 and 9) to be into it as much as our 6yo, but they were just as excited as her to see the characters. Pluto was their favorite. The food on the buffet was amazing, and really the only negative thing I could say about this restaurant is that the restrooms are outside of it in the Disneyland Hotel, so make sure your little ones go before you are seated. We had to make several trips and it took a lot of time. I was always worried they were going to miss a character they were waiting for.

The next morning, we tackled Disneyland. We only had two day passes that were one park per day, not park hoppers, so we had to pack a lot in each day. The first thing we did was stop by City Hall and pick up a Disability Access Pass for Boo. This allows him to wait for rides the same as everyone else, just not in line.  So if the line for Haunted Mansion was 30 minutes long, we got his card checked in and watched the ducks in Rivers of America until our time was up. I will probably do a later blog post about this program, but I wanted to say how wonderful it was. It taught him that he doesn’t get instant gratification to ride things because of his disability, but it made things more accessible to him, so we didn’t have meltdowns in crowded lines. And it was all tied to his ticket now, so on most rides it just looked like he was using a fast pass. 

I would like it known that I climbed Tarzan's Treehouse with my kids, and my legs may never recover.

Speaking of Fast Pass, we opted to pay the extra $10 per ticket for the MaxPass, which meant we could schedule fast passes on the app. And included in that cost was a digital copy of all the photo opp pictures we took (yay for mom actually being in vacation pictures), even our terrified ride photos. The combination of the two features made it worth the cost, in our opinion.

We also used the app to do the mobile ordering feature for lunch, which really cut down the wait time for food. This was a godsend for a family with a kiddo that has special needs.

We rode plenty of rides – and our kids spent a little of their gift cards we had given them in the Star Wars store. Boo was picked to be the rebel spy on Star Tours and he yelled “this is all my fault” for the entire rest of the ride. And of course, we had some churros.

The highlight of the day was riding Big Thunder Mountain, because my two littlest were way to short last time to ride it and they had been waiting for years. They loved it so much.

We took a break at our hotel for some rest and pizza before heading back to the park at night to ride a few more things, including the “fast train” again.

The next morning, we started our journey in California Adventure. We had a fast pass for Radiator Springs Racers, another first for the two littlest, so we waited in line for the two smaller rides in Cars Land first.

Then we hit up Pixar Pier. My oldest was too nervous to ride the Incredicoaster, so we waited for our pass to ride Toy Story Mania to be ready. We had some ice cream and then we got to meet Woody! Then we rode on the giant ferris wheel – which will now be referred to as the “wheel of doom.” My kids begged to go on the swinging one, and because of my husband’s weight it swung like crazy and we all thought we were going to die! The kids were screaming so bad, the ride staff let us out after only one rotation. Next time we will going for a non-swinging one.

We ate some lunch (again with the mobile ordering app) at my husband’s favorite – The Corndog Castle, and then took a break for a couple of hours at the hotel.

We came back for Soarin' (which the kis thought was the best ride ever), some dinner in Cars Land, and one more ride on Radiator Springs Racers. This was the only real meltdown Boo had on the trip, because he was tired, and the park was packed with people. He had enough at that point and just dropped to the ground. Not safe because he could get trampled, so I picked him up and did a guided walk with him. We found a quiet corner in Flo’s Diner and he was able to calm down while I did mobile ordering. In this instance, that app feature was so valuable because I could make sure my whole family got fed, but Boo could sit in a quiet place and not have to stand in the loud line.

After dinner, he was back to his happy self and ready to ride his favorite ride. Because of Boo’s sensory issues, fast rides are really soothing to him.

We spent the rest of our gift card money, bought some Halloween cake pops at the bakery, and said goodbye to California Adventure. We were all exhausted by the time our head hit our pillows that night.

It was a great trip, as we hadn’t gone in four years and we were going through Disney withdrawals. But we did learn that we need more time and flexibility – a few more days and park hopper options – to make it a better trip for Boo. Cramming all that into two days was really tough on his system. The other kids were exhausted too and were sad they didn’t get more time in the pool because we were focused on Disneyland. 

But it was all worth it. Boo's excitement to meet his best pal Woody for the first time. Our 6yo Tink holding her daddy's hand and skipping excitedly to the Disney music as we entered the park. Superboy, age 9, discovering the excitement of thrill rides and asking what was the next one after getting off Space Mountain. These are memories we will keep forever.

We’re already planning for a longer trip back next fall break! I can almost smell the churros already! 

Packing for your special kiddo

We are going to Disneyland! It’s been four years since our last trip and we are beyond excited to take a couple of days this month to go back.

The packing process is tough for anyone with kids but having a neuro-divergent munchkin adds a little bit more planning to the mix. Any kind of trip throws a wrench in his routine, so we try to bring as many comforts from home as possible to make things a bit easier. He loves Disneyland and we want him and his brother and sister to have as much fun as possible on this trip.

Here are some things to think about when packing for a theme park vacation with a special kiddo:

Comfy clothes 

My son has sensory processing disorder, so there are certain clothes he will not wear, some he tolerates, and some are his favorites. Because he is going into an overly-stimulating environment, I’m going to pack all his favorite, comfortable clothes. And of course, his best Jurassic World underwear. You can’t go anywhere without that.

Medications

We have a whole regime of meds we must keep track of for both the adults and one of the kids, so we need to make sure all the prescriptions are filled before we go, and that I have them sorted by morning, noon and night. And I need to  to keep some in my purse for that lunchtime dose since we will probably be eating in the theme park.

Bedtime routine items 

I know by age 7 most kids can use alternate blankets and don’t need their stuffed animals, but neuro-divergent kids cling to their routine. So, I need to pack those key items, so we can all get some sleep.

White noise machine 

Hotels are loud places and having a white noise machine helps drown out some of the loud footsteps and late-night chatter that can keep sensitive ears awake.

Noise cancelling headphones 

Speaking of sensitive ears, it’s great to have some noise canceling headphones on hand for fireworks, parades, and any other times of day when the noise gets to be just too much.

Food and drinks 

I pack my purse with a few granola bars and other snacks I know my son will eat in case we have some food struggles in the food park. It’s also good to have some of their favorite comfort food items in the hotel room for wake-up and bedtimes to help calm things down if you cannot get to a restaurant for a while. I also bring plenty of bottles of water for bedtime drinks. You'd be surprised how comforting some water in your favorite cup can be at bedtime after a long sensory overloaded day.

What about you? What are some of the things you absolutely cannot leave behind for your kiddos when traveling to Disneyland or on other vacations?

Name change

Quick update, this blog's name changed from When Nerd Met Geek to azgeekymom. This is just because I'm trying to keep all my social media stuff together!

You can follow me @azgeekymom on twitter, instagram and now I have a Facebook business page under the same name. Come find me and give me a like!

Iron Fist

Not a lot of time to write a whole blog about the newest season of Iron Fist right now, but I want to point out at least two things.

• Season 2 was way better than Season 1
• I want a show about Colleen and Misty fighting crime

My current rankings of Marvel Netflix shows are:

1. Jessica Jones
2. Luke Cage
3. The Punisher
4. Defenders
5. Iron Fist
6. Daredevil

Yes, I'm controversial in putting Daredevil last. I will still enjoy watching it with my husband, but it is my least favorite and my opinion cannot be changed. For some reason, I cannot bring myself to like Matt Murdock.