DAYTON — For some families the Halloween frights and sights are not always fun. Halloween displays scared their autistic son, so one family started creating their own. 

When the Yosts first started taking their son trick-or-treating as a kid, it was hard for them to find a way for him to have fun.

“He is autistic, and he has three processing disorders and really did not enjoy Halloween when he was younger,” said mother Miryam Yost. “There (were) a few years he would not go trick-or-treating because of the darkness and all the scary things that are usually, you know, attributed to Halloween.”

That’s when they started making their own Halloween decorations.

“We wanted to make a safe space for everybody that included sensory friendly, kid friendly, special needs, friendly,” said Miryam Yost. 

Dad, Jamie Yost, draws, cuts, and carves wooden cartoons and characters they have set up in front of their Huber Heights home near Dayton.

“We started doing basically a small display about nine years ago with the peanuts characters that we have in our yard,” said Jamie Yost. 

After nine years, it’s become their family tradition and the neighborhood’s tradition. 

“Parents wanted to come and bring their babies and their special needs kids and stuff and get pictures and so we thought it would be neat to add on to that every year,” said Miryam Yost. 

It’s all so kids like their son Trevor Yost, who is now 25, and dressed as Mickey Mouse, can have their own way to have a not-so-scary Halloween. 

“I get hugs a lot from other people, I get a bunch of high fives and stuff and everything from little kids,” said Trevor Yost, “Mostly, I can cheer up the kids and everything.”