TRICK OR TREAT – Costumes for Everyone!
It’s already OCTOBER! The season of pumpkin spice, spooky ghosts, bats and gore! It’s the time of year many children look forward to, where they can collect all the candy they can imagine, and dress up like their favourite superhero, princess or villain. However, with this exciting time, comes many challenges for some families. All parents want their children to be able to dress up as who they would like to be, however sometimes this can be difficult when it comes to fitting costumes. At the end of the day, we want our child to be comfortable and happy in their costume and be able to trick or treat with their friends or family. In order for this to happen, sometimes we need to find a specialized costume that allows for adaptability.
A common misconception for an adaptive costume is that it is only for people who use a wheelchair. This is NOT true as there are many individuals who may benefit from adaptive clothing. Adaptive clothing is designed for people who have specific needs that traditional clothing cannot accommodate. Ease of donning and having the ability to access various parts under the costume are critical when it comes to costumes for some children. The key is catering to the vast array of needs different consumers may have, while maintaining style and fashionability.
Adaptive clothing includes a wide variety of innovations including:
- Access to the chest or abdomen for portholes, G-tubes or ostomy bags
- Zippers or BOA systems that can be fastened with one hand
- Magnetic buttons and Velcro closures
- Sensory-friendly knits and materials with flat seams to eliminate loose tags on the inside
- Clothing that can be put on while seated
- Specially-designed pants and tops to conform to a seated position in a wheelchair
- Costumes that can go over and cover the outside of a wheelchair
- Compression clothing for those with hypermobile joints or swelling (edema)
Here is a list of some places where you can buy adaptable costumes: Amazon, Disney, Etsy, Halloweencostumes.ca, Party City, and Target.
The Custom Orthotics Team (519) 850-4721 | office@customorthoticsoflondon.com | @cool_bracing
