A Halloween for all: Making treat time more accessible

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At a recent daytime Halloween event in Stittsville, a young boy dressed up as a firefighter was collecting treats in a bag that read, “My name is Louis. I have autism. I can’t say ‘trick or treat,’ but I love being included!’”

That lone image underscores the difficulty many people have fully enjoying Halloween, with physical obstacles such as walkways and steps as well as loud, scary music, flashing lights, animatronics and the like, plus simply the expectation of being able to say “trick or treat,” turning what is supposed to be a pretend hell into a real one for many would-be participants.

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In recent years, however, there has been a growing movement, known as Treat Accessibly, that aims to eliminate as many of those barriers as possible to create a Halloween that can be enjoyed by all.

Halloween events sponsored or inspired by Treat Accessibly are held in daytime on streets that are closed to vehicles. Non-candy treats are available. No one has to climb stairs. Nothing’s going to jump out from behind a tree and scare the bejeezus out of a little stormtrooper or princess. There are no tricks, just treats.

There have been such events in Ottawa already this season, including the Stittsville one on Oct. 5. Another occurred in Embrun.

And on Oct. 26, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., one will be held on Glebe Avenue between Bank and Lyon streets, with 16 homes and St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, local businesses, area cosplayers and even some real firefighters taking part.

Along with the usual treats, there will be crafts and a photo booth, plus a blackout tent for those needing a break from any sensory overload they might be experiencing.

It’s the first time that organizers Shauna Pollock and Eliot Newton have hosted such an event. If they’re worried about anything, though, it’s not that their Glebe Halloween Village won’t be a success, but that it might be too successful, at least judging from the overwhelming response they’ve so far received.

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“It’s a fun scary, not a spooky scary,” says Pollock, an educator. “We’re focusing on making the event as accessible to as many people as possible, and we’re learning every day about people other than kids with disabilities who want to take part, such as adults with physical disabilities who don’t typically get to trick or treat with their children.

“We’re trying to get the message out that everyone can come. The trick-or-treating part is really for individuals who can’t trick-or-treat on Halloween night, but we want other folks to come and make it this really amazing ‘streetmosphere,’ full of people celebrating and interacting.”

The Glebe event started to take shape after Newton, who incidentally was born on Halloween, learned about Treat Accessibly a year ago and early this September reached out on a Glebe community Facebook group to see if anyone was interested in putting one together. Pollock quickly replied.

“I work in equity,” Newton says, “mostly with the queer and trans community. There are a lot of intersections there with people who have needs, especially mental health and neurodivergent ones, so it’s something that’s on my radar.”

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Treat Accessibly’s roots go back to 2017, when six-year-old Siena Padulo of Etobicoke, Ont., was setting some pumpkins out on her family’s front steps about a week before Halloween and noticed a boy in a wheelchair across the street. She turned to her father, Rich Padulo, and asked how the boy would come to their door on Halloween.

“I said, ‘We’ll figure it out,’” her father recalls.

They put up a large sign that read “Accessible Halloween,” cleared out their driveway and put a treat table in their garage. The sign attracted curious families with kids with disabilities from as far as a couple of kilometres away, who also offered some tips (no loud music or bright lights, for example).

“From there it just blossomed,” Padulo says. “The next year, my family created about 150 signs just for the neighbours who said they wanted a piece of it.”

Seven years later, it has become a cross-Canada phenomenon, with national sponsorships from RE/MAX, Canadian Tire, Pet Valu and Kinder, with the latter including Treat Accessibly’s logo and QR code on its Halloween candies. This year, nine official Treat Accessibly Halloween Villages — their name for the events — have been organized in Canada from Halifax to Surrey, B.C., plus numerous similar ones like Newton and Pollock’s. Treat Accessibly lawn signs, meanwhile, can be picked up for free at all Pet Value locations.

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According to Padulo, more than 40,000 Canadian homes took part in a Treat Accessibly Halloween in 2020. Two years later, that figure has risen to 150,000. His goal is to reach one million in the 17 countries that trick or treat by 2030.

Beyond the benefit to those with disabilities, Padulo says the Halloween villages are simply good for community spirit. “Halloween is the biggest intergenerational community neighbourhood event of the year. People says it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas, but those don’t take people out of their house and on to the street, to the end of the sidewalk, to the end of their driveways, talking to neighbours for three hours.”

Meanwhile, Pollock and Newton are busy collecting candies and other treats, organizing neighbours and volunteers — they arranged with Glebe High School to make time volunteered by students count towards their required community service hours.

“This is a really easy thing to get behind,” Newton says, “so I’m not surprised by the uptake.

“I don’t have any children of my own yet, but I love Halloween, so I thought, ‘If I can make Halloween happen for more people, then why not?’”

Go online to treataccessibly.com for more information on Treat Accessibly or tips on making your Halloween more accessible. For more information on the Glebe Halloween Village, email glebehalloweenvillage@gmail.com.

bdeachman@postmedia.com

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