A couple of random Halloween stories
Jaime was a kindergartner on the autism spectrum. He loved numbers and had a high regard for accuracy. Every day, he would carefully study, and seemingly memorize, our posted schedule, and if an activity exceeded the time on the schedule, he would sternly admonish me, “Schedule says story time over 1:40 pm. 1:43 pm now. We are late.”
(As you might imagine, one of the major themes of the school year involved developing flexibility.)
On Halloween, Jaime announced his intention to collect 50 pieces of candy. He put on his Batman costume and went door to door with his mother and his older sister Jasmine, who was dressed as Ariel the mermaid.
Jasmine set a pretty brisk pace, and Jaime kept up with her. There was no opportunity for him to examine or sort through the candies deposited in his bucket as he trotted alongside his motivated sister. At every house, he dutifully repeated, “Trick or treat!” and “Thank you!”
Eventually they came to a house decorated with orange and purple lights, where a friendly witch was handing out treats. She found Jaime’s big brown eyes and long dark eyelashes to be especially charming, and she dropped 5 candy bars into his bucket. Jaime thanked her, then gave her back 2 candy bars, urgently explaining, “No, that’s too many!”
He then turned to his mother and said, “Time to go home now.” When they got home and counted out their loot, Jaime had exactly 50 pieces of candy.
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The extended family of one of our students was well known for their extravagant Halloween haunted house, which raised funds for local non-profits. They invited our class to take a field trip to a G-rated daylight version of their production.
Our student Alex was an extroverted child with a limited but colorful vocabulary. He enjoyed engaging with strangers, frequently greeting them with a friendly, “Fuck you, honey!”
Alex was literally bouncing with excitement as we lined up to enter the spooky house. Looking up, he spotted one of the cast members dressed as a skeleton, posing on the roof of the house.
Laughing and waving his arms, Alex gleefully shouted, “Hey!!! Hey, you!! You butthead!!!!”
To Alex’s delight, without missing a beat, the skeleton growled, “I’m not a butthead - I’m a bonehead!”