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SKPA's new social story kit proves
effective
to prepare special children for photo session
Photos by Karen Dórame
The day was warm and the sun fading as
Braxton headed for the splash fountain in a community common area, St.
George, Utah.
Sarah, the Utah mother of two
boys with autism, has never been able to acquire a professional photo of
them, especially 8 year-old Rylan, who is nonverbal with unexpressed
social/communication skills.
Sarah was loaned the Photographer Social Story Kit, developed by Special
Kids Photography of America, with the aid of Susan Davis, speech and
language pathologist, Brownsville, VT. The purpose of the kit is to
prepare children for photographic sessions.
A day ahead of time, the boys were shown flip chart images to review the
photographer's visit and the activity that would take place that day.
Session time: The photographer arrived early to make preparations. When
the children came, Braxton greeted the photographer with his hand up and
said, "Hello"—just as the image in the social story!
The session began casually, without a lot of pressure from parents or
photographer. At first, Rylan would not look at the photographer at all,
and each time the photographer lifted the camera, Braxton put on a wide,
toothy grin and verbalized a very long, "Che-e-e-e-e-s-e." The initial
experience went from one photo extreme to another!
The "camera baffle," another helpful tool
developed by SKPA, worked very well during the shoot. This
light-weight, lens-surrounding poster image (mounted on foamboard)
attracted attention of the boys just long enough to catch a brief
glance from Rylan and semi "cheezeless" smile from Braxton. Pattern
for making the camera baffle is provided in workshops and in
Photographing Children with Special Needs (Amherst
Media).
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"This is amazing," said Sarah, "The social
story pictures prepared the boys for their pictures today." This was
evidenced by the greeting
given by Braxton at the
beginning of the session,
a behavioral copy of one
of the social story panels.
The session was a success. The parents were pleased. Thanks to Pacific
Life Foundation for funding the "Smiles for Katie" family photo grant
program, making this session possible for these boys.
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