(Part Two of Four)
Choosing an inflatable purple Teletubbies costume was very unexpected.
Halloween costumes can be tricky for people with sensory issues like our son Thomas.
Let’s talk about Thomas’s Autism timeline of costumes.
Five years of being a pirate.
One year of being a moose.
It was a hat with a moose head. End of costume.
A few years of a superhero tee shirt
One year of the Minion onesie pajamas.
A few more years of a superhero tee shirt
One year as Popeye
The year Mom got the brilliant idea for the whole family to be matchy-matchy costumes and be M&M’s by wearing…wait for it…tee shirts.
Do you see the common thread? Tee shirts.
As a parent, autism or otherwise, I wanted the kids to have a choice as to their costume. With Thomas? A little more nudging.
Even as I look at that list now, there is growth. It’s slow growth but
Slow growth is still growth.
Can any other Autism mamas relate?
Then last year,
he chose an inflatable purple Teletubbies costume.
On the sensory scale, this felt like going from riding a tricycle to driving a NASCAR.
Here was my 18-year-old son on the spectrum with major sensory issues who only wears tee shirts and shorts, even in winter, wanting to buy a costume that:
Was made of hot, funny-sounding when-you-walk nylon
Had a fan that made a buzzing sound
That went over and covered his whole head! Thomas doesn’t even like to wear a hat!
And it was $89!!!!!!!
The inevitable list of questions screams through my autism mama mind.
Do I let Thomas choose something that was clearly out of his sensory comfort zone?
Will he even put it on?
If he puts it on, will it cause a meltdown?
If he puts it on will he wear out of the house?
How will people respond to a 6-foot-tall purple Tellietubbie?
Am I setting him up for failure?
IT IS EXPENSIVE!!!!
Once a gain, it’s a lesson in setting aside my expectations and knowing GOD is in control.
Because I would have missed hearing my 6-foot son on the spectrum repeatedly saying,
“Wow...wow...wow,”
as he looked at himself in the mirror wearing his inflatable purple Teletubbies costume.
Slow growth is still growth.
And I’m not talking about Thomas.
It’s a jungle out there. Shine Bright 💡
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