Clowning for Autistic Kids

[Bonkers #361]

I used to be the party manager for Toys R Us. All kids love loud music so I had the music going I also had my disco lights flashing in the room. I had a parent complain I used the comment " If it is to loud your to old ". When out of the blue this child went nuts screaming and crying. She then informed me that the child was autistic and that the Flashing lights and Loud music sets her off. From that day forward I asked every new party customer " Are there any special needs children that we need to be aware about." It was never my intention to harm a child I just wanted them to have fun.

[Pickles]

Bonkers: Yeah, you sure learn from those experiences, don't you? Several people have told me I need to be a calm and soothing clown for this event, so I plan to cut back on the caffeine that day! It will be really interesting to see how it goes. Like you, I just want everybody to have fun -- especially the birthday boy.

I'm confused about this Toys R Us party business. Do they do parties there at the store? Wow, I never knew!

[Bonkers #361]

My store in southern Indiana did and the 3 Louisville Ky did but they are expinsive my average party was $359 for 2 Hours we had a adventure, Pizza, Cake & of course Geoffrey

[Pickles]

Well, I had a long conversation with the birthday child's mom today. It looks like there will be 8 extremely autistic children at this party. She wants me there for two hours. And she probably doesn't want balloons there, because she's afraid that if one pops, some of the kids might really freak out. I asked her about face-painting, and she said that a lot of the kids don't like wet stuff on their skin, so I probably won't attempt that.

This mom is very nice and laid-back. She said she doesn't care what I do during the two hours -- that I can just sit around and eat! She just knows she wants a clown present for two hours. Well, I don't plan on sitting on my clown butt stuffing my clown face with hot dogs and birthday cake for two hours, but I am really going to have to brainstorm to come up with enough activities to occupy these kids for two hours.

I'm thinking I'll bring music, puppets, some simple and colorful magic, bubbles, kazoos or whizzers, stickers.... (she said her son loves to take stickers on and off his shirt.) I wonder if they'd take part in one of those parachutes with the handles.... Hmmm. This will definitely be an interesting party!

If you can think of any other activities for us to do at this party, please share!

[Pickles]

Also, I meant to ask those of you who have done balloons for autistic kids: Did you ever have "balloon poppage" when twisting for autistic kids, and did it cause any problems? It had occurred to me that this might be problematic -- even before the mom mentioned it.

Also, I was thinking that maybe those touchable bubbles might be a good thing to bring. Where do you get those, anyway? I haven't seen them for awhile.

[Jusbytheclown]

I've worked one-on-one with autistic 7 y/o boys in my day job and also been around them in-clown for volunteer events at their school.
They were both sketched out by me in makeup. I think they knew instinctively that my clown would not follow the same school rules as my person.
They may be triggered by a popping balloon... so you might want to skip that section.
They may be reassured by a visual schedule so you might want to whip one up.
Although it would ruin the surprise for a neurotypical child, for someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) it would let them know that 'this too shall pass'. Eventually, the clown will move on and life will go back to 'normal'.
You could do dry wipe board, card stock, chalk board or some other visual cue. Maybe it would include what happens afterwards like cake/ ice cream & presents.
At school we use a 2" x 2" card with velcro on a strip of paper. After an activity the card goes in the 'Finished' envelope.
For that matter, this makes sense for just working up routines and swapping gags around... hmmm... I gotta get me some velcro!

[Jobee]

Thing you got to watch out for is there are many various forms of Autism. Some with extreme symptoms and some with very mild symptoms which don't get diagnosed. Can't just do a blanket act.