Table of Contents
Introduction
In my previous post, I talked about how costumes can contribute to sensory issues in autistic children. Here, I'll post something related to my personal experiences as an autistic person, which is evaluating my past Halloween costumes by memory.
Past Halloween Costumes
1996 (Three): Barney the Dinosaur and What Appears to Be a Wizard
When Barney & Friends was a huge thing in the mid-1990s, I was in the target age group. I'm not afraid to admit I liked Barney a lot as a toddler. I have a vague memory of jumping on my parents' bed in the costume. It felt comfy despite the fact that I had bad sensory issues then. I didn't go trick-or-treating in that one, though, so something must have been up.
Overall rating: 6/10
I clearly look happy in the other costume in the picture below. Like seriously, not only is Halloween at three nearly as fun as winning the lottery but look at how comfy that thing is. I'd give this a perfect score if I actually remember wearing it.
Overall rating: 9/10
1997 (Four): Bull
My mom made this costume for me, and I had tons of fun in it. There were no odd textures, large tags to distract me, or masks to make me increasingly uncomfortable. It was a great costume for me, and it's clear my mother paid close attention to detail when making it based on what she knew about me then.
Overall rating: 9/10
1998 (Five): Elmo
As I liked Sesame Street and the famous red, furry monster at the time, I knew I would love this costume. Guess what, I did. It didn't entirely cover my face, and although the fur might have been a bit for me to fidget with, I don't recall any big issues.
Overall rating: 8/10
1999 (Six): Ghost
At this point, I had a more in-depth idea of what Halloween is like, in large thanks to my parents and ABA therapists. I wanted to have one of the most Halloweeny costumes out there (just for fun). This inspired me to be a ghost. Although this was my first costume with a face covering, I don't remember getting too overwhelmed by it. I likely enjoyed it enough for it not to distract me.
Overall rating: 8/10
2000 (Seven): Spyro the Dragon
Spyro, particularly the second game, was one of my favourite Playstation games growing up, especially around this time. As this costume had a big mask and, from what I remember, was not particularly soft, it was quite a big step from the ghost costume. I think I might have been distracted by it at school, but I mostly just remember that I enjoyed being Spyro.
Overall rating: 6/10
2001 (Eight): Jurassic Park Dinosaur
This was one of my less memorable costumes but from what I remember it was quite comfy. It felt kind of "pyjama-like". Since it's been easier to be distracted in PJs, it maybe wasn't the best one, but I still enjoyed it. The distractions also paled compared to the following costume listed below.
Overall rating: 6/10
2002 (Nine): Yu-Gi-Oh
I don't recall being into the series then, but from what I remember, my mother wanted me to try this costume and I agreed it would be good. While it didn't cause me any huge pain, the mask from what I remember was a major distraction in school that day. I think I even decided to take it off for the rest of the day at one point. The silver lining was that because I remember Halloween being quite cold that year, this heavier costume was quite useful.
Overall rating: 4/10
2003 and 2004 (Ten and Eleven): Girl (or Marge Simpson)
In previous school years, a few of my male classmates would dress up as girls, which sparked a fire in me to do the same by this time. My parents didn't have many costumes at home in 2003 (this was our first Halloween at our second house), and decided that instead of shopping for one, I could use a blue wig and Marge Simpson's robe to make it more interesting. My costume was a big enough hit that I wanted to wear it a second year. I think the wig was slightly distracting at times, but not too bad.
Overall rating: 8/10
2005 (Twelve): Vampire
I vaguely recall I wanted to be something that was not too similar to my previous costumes but struggled to come up with something good. My parents suggested I be a vampire and I was quite eager for it. The outfit itself was comfortable; it was only the face painting that felt weird. Overall, it was a fairly good costume.
Overall rating: 7/10
2013 and 2017 (Twenty and Twenty-Four): Tequila Boy
Okay; it's time for the adult Halloween party stuff (all of the remaining costumes are for my parents' Halloween parties. I'll also note that I dressed up in 2015 and 2021, but I don't even remember what my costumes were exactly. Both were about 8/10s, though).
This is a personal favourite costume of mine. No mask or distracting textures and something that many people will enjoy seeing. What more can you want? As you probably guessed, the left picture is from 2013 and the second one is from 2017. Photo credits go to Nancy Fincher-Morrison, my mother.
Overall rating: 10/10
2014 (Twenty-One): Elvis Presley
This is another classic I once wore that was both comfortable and where people thought it was cool: Elvis Presley. The wig felt slightly rough but that was its only flaw. Overall, it was awesome.
Overall rating: 8/10
2016 (Twenty-Three): Chocolate Bar
In 2016, I was out costume shopping with my parents and we came across a S'mores Kit. There was a graham cracker, a marshmellow and a chocolate bar. With my love for sweets, my parents agreed that the chocolate bar suited me (my dad was the graham cracker and my mom was the marshmellow). The chocolate bar was a tad hard to walk around with, but otherwise, this was a classic for me.
Overall rating: 9/10
2019 (Twenty-Six): Austin Powers
Given how similar it was to the Elvis costume, I'll rate it the same.
Overall rating: 8/10
2023 (Thirty): Mixtape
I rate this costume a tad lower than the other ones since 2013 only because I had a hard time keeping the straps on my shoulders. My mother felt my dad would especially like this one; and he did.
Overall rating: 7/10
You may also like: Autism: Sensory Friendly Places for Entertainment and My Experiences