I don’t know about ya’ll, but in my personal opinion the best time of the year is right around the corner. I love fall for the weather, foliage changes and my favorite holiday, Halloween. The very first day of September I get excited thinking about all the Halloween festivities that are around the corner.
Halloween is an ancient holiday. It was a pre-Christian Celtic 
festival of the dead. This festival observed what was called Samhain, which is a festival that marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It was celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st. During this period souls of the dead were thought to revisit their homes. Feasts were held beckoning the dead kin to visit by placing a table setting for them during the feast. During this festival, people would go door-to-door in costume reciting verses in exchange for food.
With the rise 
of Christianity, Samhain was deemed pagan and The Feast of All Saints was created and assigned to November 1st. This day was to honor every Christian saint particularly the ones that did not have a specific day already devoted to them. The feast was meant to be a substitute for Samhain.
When people continued to celebrate traditions of Samhain, November 2nd was then deemed as All Soul’s Day. This was a day where the living prayed for the souls of the dead. People continued to celebrate All Saint’s Day, which is also known as All Hallows, with ancient Celtic 
traditions. The evening before was the most intense activity of this celebration. They celebrated All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead. So, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which eventually merged into our modern Halloween.
Halloween as we know it has evolved and is now associated with children
dressing in costume and going door-to-door for candy. The traditions of current Halloween can be traced back to similar Celtic celebrations such as going door to door for food, wearing costumes and things that are associated with a harvest period that have become modern traditions such as carving pumpkins, bobbing for apples 
and dressing in costumes as fairies, witches, or demons that Celtics once thought roamed the night with the dead souls.
Over the years the popularity of Halloween has increased particularly for adults for whom it has become a masquerade type of celebration with costume parties, bonfires, hayrides, and haunted houses. 
Halloween is celebrated in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and seems to be spreading to other countries by media exposure of the celebration. It’s estimated that American’s now spend up to $6 billion each year on Halloween.
If you are like myself and do have Halloween on your mind, have you ever considered some of the challenges that someone with a 
disability may face in celebrating the holiday and ways to make this holiday inclusive?
A big part of the Halloween celebration is dressing in costume and this may present some challenges with someone using a mobility device. If someone uses a wheelchair, walker, cane or any other 
type of mobility device they may face some challenges in finding a Halloween costume idea that can work with their device. Many people get creative at Halloween and forego the store-bought costume for a much more creative and interesting homemade costume and this is a great way to create costumes that can incorporate and/or work well with the mobility device.
If you or a loved one is using a mobility device such as a wheelchair, 
think about turning a wheelchair into part of the costume. There are a lot of good ideas online to turn the wheelchair into things like a drum set, a coffin, a car, a tractor. You could turn crutches into skies or an oxygen tank into scuba tank, fire extinguisher, or rocket or a walker into hot air balloon basket.
Take a look at very own Social Media Content Specialist, Laura 
Medcalf, when she was a little girl dressed as Cinderella. Her creative mother knew she loved Cinderella and transformed her wheelchair into Cinderella’s carriage. She took foam board, paint, tape and some glue-on jewels and created this adorable carriage for her little belle of the ball.
A little thinking outside of the box can remodel a wheelchair or mobility device into a really cool costume accessory. Make sure to leave room around any wheelchair or walker wheels. It is important to be sure that nothing is hanging in the way where someone could trip or something could be caught in anything that would cause an accident.
Another fun Halloween activity is visiting haunted houses. By doing a little research on the internet or calling a haunted house directly, you should be able to find accessible ones in your area. In the Indianapolis area, several haunted houses indicate that they are accessible. A few that I came across are:
It’s always a good idea to check the websites as they will tell you which parts are accessible and to call ahead with specific questions or communicating your needs to make sure the attraction will be able to accommodate your specific needs.
Halloween is almost synonymic with trick or treating. The anticipation of going door to door and candy being dropped in your treat bag is so exciting for most children. If you live in an area that is not 
easily accessible for your child to trick or treat, consider some of the safe place options in your area. These locations are almost always accessible. In the Indianapolis area, many malls have free trick or treating. A few of the malls that indicate they will have safe trick or treat hours in Indianapolis are: Castleton Square Mall, Greenwood Park Mall, and Washington Square Mall. The Indiana State Fair Grounds also offers trick or treating and is free for children under 12 (must be accompanied by one paying adult).
By doing a little research in your area, you will most likely find a safe trick or treat alternative location. It’s always a good idea to confirm the accessibility of the venue and confirm the hours they will have trick or treating by checking their websites or calling them directly.
Another growing Halloween tradition is throwing Halloween parties and events. If you are hosting a party with someone with special needs consider asking them what their needs are ahead of time and plan ahead. If you are hosting an event open to the public consider the needs of people with varied disabilities.
Some of the things that should be considered are:
-access space for someone using a mobility device
-dietary needs for anyone with restricted diets
-the need for interpreters or assistive listening devices for the hard of hearing
-making any printed materials in large print or braille for the visually impaired
-accessibility to the restroom, food and drink tables, parking, clearance for a mobility device for eating at a table
-consider the use of strobe lights or loud noises if this is problematic for someone with a disability autism or epilepsy
If you are a Halloween enthusiast, like myself, the time of year is 
upon us to start planning our festivities and in the event you are looking for something special to do in the Indianapolis area check out Easter Seals Crossroads Hallow’s Eve: A night for ability party held at the City Market.
This fundraiser will have tasty treats from city market chefs, a DJ, 
beer from Sun King Brewing and tons of 
entertainment such as magicians, tarot card readers and fire spinners. And as if that is not exciting enough, your ticket price includes a tour of the historic catacombs.
A little extra planning may need to go into Halloween celebrations for some folks with special needs, but with a little planning, research, and possibly a little imagination a spooktacular good time can be had for all ghouls & boys.
