Autism

fredjclaus · November 23, 2009

I had to do a family portrait with a group this weekend. The one boy is autistic and would not sit still for more than 10 seconds. I basically had to put him in a spot, then have the rest of the people jump in and take the shot within seconds. Does anyone have any tips on photographing autistic children?

CyberSteak · November 23, 2009

Sports mode? My 40D does 6 shots per second. It'd likely take a whole heck of a lot of shots but if you get a few good ones out of a couple of hundread...

That's all I have to offer but I don't suspect taking photos of someone with autism is any different then shooting toddlers.

fredjclaus · November 23, 2009

Thanks, I will have to try that next time. If one of the workers for this child were on hand that might free up the parents. That way I could pose them and right before I'm ready to take the picture the worker could place him in the photo, and I could snap it.

adbsgicom · November 23, 2009

Just talked with my wife, she'd be willing to chat with you (online or phone). But some of the items to consider:
1) What sort of autism are you dealing with? Autism covers a pretty wide spectrum.
2) What sort of attention management and compliance management works at school for the child?
3) Autistic children need structure and to be briefed on what is going to happen. Have a schedule of what is going to happen and the order so the child can mentally prepare for the events.
4) Possibly allow the child to negotiate for some settings for the pictures so they have some control.
5) If the child has an aide, use the aide so the parents are not stressed.
6) Other bribes -- stickers if they stay put...

I think that's all of what she told me.....

fredjclaus · November 23, 2009

I'd love to speak to your wife any time she has a free moment. My Yahoo address is Photospecial .

Do you think that the setting the picture is taken in can have an influence on him? He lives in a group home right now, but I'm having problems with the Hipa laws. They won't let me in the house to take the pictures. I was thinking about in the yard around the house, but it's getting close to winter around here in Buffalo so it's a bit nippy out and all the leaves are gone from the trees.

adbsgicom · November 23, 2009

fredjclaus wrote:

I'd love to speak to your wife any time she has a free moment. My Yahoo address is Photospecial .

Do you think that the setting the picture is taken in can have an influence on him? He lives in a group home right now, but I'm having problems with the Hipa laws. They won't let me in the house to take the pictures. I was thinking about in the yard around the house, but it's getting close to winter around here in Buffalo so it's a bit nippy out and all the leaves are gone from the trees.

My guess. Yes.
I'll give her your email.

fredjclaus · November 23, 2009

Thanks, My email is Fred@Fredjclaus.com so have her email me there, or if she wants to chat in IM I can be reached at PhotoSpecial on the YahooIM system.

I'd be available any time she has a free moment. I really want to do a reshoot because these pictures just plain are terrible. I'm going to see if we can get some sort of approval for the pictures to be taken in the house. Maybe if I'm just there with one assistant and a limited amount of equipment they will allow it.

adbsgicom · November 23, 2009

fredjclaus wrote:

Thanks, My email is Fred@Fredjclaus.com so have her email me there, or if she wants to chat in IM I can be reached at PhotoSpecial on the YahooIM system.

I'd be available any time she has a free moment. I really want to do a reshoot because these pictures just plain are terrible. I'm going to see if we can get some sort of approval for the pictures to be taken in the house. Maybe if I'm just there with one assistant and a limited amount of equipment they will allow it.

She fired you an email. We don't have any IM accounts.

sweet caroline · November 23, 2009

I have worked with several autistic children (as a photographer and as a teacher), and having an aide there to help makes a huge difference. Usually, an aide is very consistent and firm in a kind way, and they can provide the system of rewards that the person with autism is accustomed to. A picture schedule can be useful- have a written schedule of events with pictures to go with them so they know what to expect. So much depends on what type of autism and the severity, plus their personality. In my experience, they are much less stressed in a familiar environment, which means they are better able to focus on your requests and feel much more in control.

Caroline

Bassett1976 · November 24, 2009

I might also recommend a reward system for the child. Having a toy that they like to play with (like Legos or Playdough) when your finished. Give them basic goals to set and when they reach the goal they can play with the toy. Example: After 10 pictures you can play with the legos for five minutes (use a timer). Talk to the parents about what the child likes to play with and go from there.

D'Buggs · November 24, 2009

Autism is TOUGH. Unless you know the person, you'll be the challenged one.

Autism runs a wide and vast gamut and the best sure-fire way of dealing with it is to permit the individual to become accustomed to both you and the enviourment you'll be working in - This could be a matter of minutes OR could be several visits, or,,, not at all.... Chances are that the person will have something that peeks his/her interest levels in an *unnatural for us* type of heightened awareness/manner and this ~could~ be used as a reward system, but,,,, only if done with someone that knows them VERY well, or, a professional attendant that's worked with him/her for a good period of time.

At the end of the day it'll likely boil down to just how much effort you're willing to put forth in this sitting.

Pressure doesn't work but gentle coaxing and genuine befriending works wonders! If the individual becomes the least bit agitated, it's time for a break and to break into the reward - even if *your* goal wasn't reached

> REMEMBER THAT.

Again, it's l i t e r a l y impossible to guide this without knowing the person but in general, start with a low bar (expectation) and gradually increase it with TONS of attaboy's!!!

Good luck with this. If I were there I could be of more benificial help....

fredjclaus · November 25, 2009

This is very helpful, thanks everyone. I do remember that there was an aide at the session I did this weekend. The trouble is, the aide did nothing but stand in the background. It was the dad that did most of the work, and even then it didn't work. I do have a couple pictures of the boy with a baby doll because that seems to be the one he liked to play with.

I'm planning on re-shooting the children so I will take all this into consideration. I'm going to write out a schedule and see what sort of rewards he responds to. Maybe I'll bring some gifts with me to keep him calm.

Tango · November 25, 2009

use a layering technique in PS, (many tute's on this technique, google "head swapping" or somthing like that)

anyway, pose the family in a setting that will be easy to merge together a great image of the child with a great image of the family...

the biggest problems with this is isolating the child to make a clean merge.

if needed tonight I can PM you some examples, PM me if needed.

Autism

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