HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The main purpose of all candy buckets, especially during this time of year, is to carry as much candy as possible, but the main purpose of these blue buckets is to let people know that a child has autism and may not be able to ask the infamous question of "trick-or-treat."
"My son when he was younger, he was fairly nonverbal, almost still is now; that he would never have been able to go up to somebody's door and say trick-or-treat, it just wouldn't happen," said President of The Autism Resource Foundation, Betsy Berman. "So, I think that that would have been helpful, had he had a blue buck, you know, pumpkin back then, they didn't have them, so that he could indicate, you know, I'm here, but I can't say anything, you know."
This same blue pumpkin has sparked a conversation though.
Will carrying around a different colored candy basket single out those kids?
"When you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism, because they are all very unique and different. So, it can absolutely vary child to child, adult to adult as to whether or not they want to do different things," said Berman.
So, is carrying the blue pumpkin helpful or hurtful to those with autism.
Well, again, it really just depends from person to person.
Because for some children...
"They don't care what kind of color pumpkin is, you know if you hand them something they're gonna say, 'great, thanks!' and the walk away, so handing them a blue pumpkin won't faze them," said Berman.
But on the other hand...
"Then there are some kids that do know that a pumpkin is supposed to be orange and that they need an orange pumpkin to walk around, not a blue one. And so you know they're going to shy away from that," said Berman.
Carrying a blue pumpkin or candy bucket all boils down to personal choice but be on the lookout for those blue pumpkins this year and just know, even if you don't hear it, that blue pumpkin means trick-or-treat.
Alongside those blue pumpkins, you may also see teal pumpkins and a child carrying a teal pumpkin could have a food allergy. This initiative is a part of the Teal Pumpkin Project.
Some people may leave out teal pumpkins on their porch, symbolizing that they have little toys instead of candy to give out, to further include those children with food allergies.
"Hopefully, if they go to a house that has maybe a teal pumpkin sitting outside, they know that they can get- not candy necessarily but little trinkets or something else, so that they can also trick-or-treat, but not worry about their food allergies."
For more information about the teal pumpkin project, click here.