What Does a ‘Blue Bucket’ Mean for Trick-Or-Treating This Year?

Billy Boy Candies in New Bedford shared a post about "The Blue Bucket" back in October of 2019.

"If you see someone who appears to be an adult dressed up to trick or treat this year carrying a blue bucket, he could be autistic. While they could have the body of an adult, they love Halloween. Please help us keep his/her spirit alive and happy. So when you see the blue bucket, share a piece of candy. Spread awareness. These precious people are not 'too big' to trick-or-treat."

While I have heard of "Teal Pumpkins" being used to represent safe homes for kids with allergies to trick-or-treat, I had never heard of the blue bucket before. I was interested to learn more about it and traced the idea back to a woman named Alicia Plumer who posted about her son, BJ last year. The then 21-year-old loved Halloween, and she wanted to make sure that others in their community knew he was autistic and still wanted to trick-or-treat even though he was "grown."

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I think it's great, but it is still a very new concept so not many people know too much about it. I would love to see this get more attention so all of the SouthCoast knows what the blue bucket represents. One local parent agrees.

Tonja Hunt lives in Mattapoisett with her husband and three children. Her oldest son has autism and she is sympathetic to this concept.

"I think it’s a great idea because many people are not aware and are more worried about children displaying the social norms of 'please and thank you' that they judge someone who might not be able to communicate," Hunt said. "They mistake the inability to communicate as rude behavior because they don’t have the open awareness that someone may have autism or another disability. In addition, they may perceive someone as too old to be taking candy, but it’s an individual still enjoying the Halloween experience."

So share the news about the blue bucket, because everyone deserves a piece of their favorite candy this Halloween.