Brampton event makes trick-or-treating accessible for all children

Outside of Brampton's Paul Peleschi Recreational Centre, dozens of kids and their parents are dressed up in their best Halloween outfits. With the magic show, costume parades, and trick or treating stations, their goal is to have kids of all abilities and needs enjoy the festivities without barriers to moving around. So what people don't realize, and if you look on your street, most homes have stairs. Most homes have accessibility issues. Some homes can be overly frightening, and that causes a state of overwhelm for some children. Our goal is to get that message out that Halloween should be for children of all abilities. So the local realtor started an accessible Halloween village. It's in partnership with RE/MAX Canada and the non-profit Treat Accessibly Canada. They say it's the first of its kind in Peel Region. We essentially wanted to create trick-or-treating stations that mimic a residential street so children can go from station to station. We've got families, local organizations, sponsors all hosting a treat station. You can go from station to station and trick-or-treat. They're all flat, barrier-free, nothing overly frightening. We've got low sensory music all to just emulate a great Halloween. For parents who have children with disabilities, It's a place where their little ones feel included. It was something that was just for him and his brother, because his brother's also special needs. And so it's nice to have something that's just for them, and they get to see other kids that are the same as them. and don't feel like they're left out. She can literally go through and do whatever she wants here. She doesn't have to worry about getting hit by a car, about people running into her, about not being able to get into something. So it's fantastic. Parents say while they're grateful accessibility is more top of mind now than compared to previous years, there's still a long way to go. Every kind of kid wants to be able to do this. Every kind of kid wants to be able to go with trick-or-treating and stuff and having... Even just having people outside of buildings that aren't easily accessible so that they can physically go up to them and say, hey, trick-or-treat, hold out their bag instead of having somebody else go in for them. They say accessibility shouldn't just be an afterthought but needs to extend to everyday places and activities. And until then, they'll continue advocating for fewer barriers for activities like trick-or-treating. Isha Bhargava, CBC News, Brampton.