US – A mother in hopes to spread awareness created a new way to express a condition that made it difficult for her child to celebrate Halloween, Autism. That idea became nationally recognized and now is helping kids with Autism and parents be more comfortable while Trick-or-Treating and less stressful for the parents.
Blue pumpkins have been informally adopted by some families across the country as a vehicle to raise awareness after this special mom shared her story and the struggle she faced while taking her nonverbal autistic child out to get some candy.
Here is what she had to say in her Facebook post.
“My son is 3 years old and has autism. He is nonverbal. Last year houses will wait for him to say TRICK OR TREAT in order for him to get a piece of candy and there I go explaining the situation for the next 5 blocks. This year we will be trying the BLUE BUCKET to signify he has autism. Please allow him(or anyone with a BLUE BUCKET) to enjoy this day and don’t worry I’ll still say TRICK OR TREAT for him, ill get my mom’s candy tax later. This holiday is hard enough without any added stress. Thank you in advance.
I have made this post public in hopes you will share and get the BLUE BUCKET message out there for Autism Awareness and acceptance this Halloween”
Thats exactly what happened the post went viral and The Blue Pumpkin Project was created. The project was launched as an information campaign to identify kids who struggled with Autism during Halloween, raise needed awareness, and helped parents not have to explain to everyone why.
Blue pumpkins won’t be the only special pumpkins out there this Halloween.
A teal pumpkin displayed at a home means that the residence offers non-candy treats for those children with food allergies.
Most stores now stock the blue Halloween bucket.
