Naperville Photographer – Special Needs Photography Mini's

Here is the second half of my April 19th special needs mini sessions.  I look forward to these every year and am sad that Autism Awareness Month is already passed.  If you have a special needs child, you don’t need to wait for our special mini-sessions.  You are always welcome to schedule a full session with us at any time.

First up is a set of twins.  This is my third year photographing them, and I enjoy seeing them each time because they crack me up.  Emily and Philip were born eight weeks early and faced challenges from the beginning. Both kids have the Autism diagnosis, which they received around age 2 1/2. Getting numerous therapies through Early Intervention when they were young, to the district pre-school, to now receiving outside therapy has helped them come so very far.  They have both really come a long way in these three years.  Emily loves to be photographed and chat with me, and Philip used to have obvious speech delays which are minimal now.  Unfortunately, they were thrown a curveball last December when they found out Philip was having absence seizures. Another medicine and another doctor to see and even more admiration for Philip.

 

 

 

We had the pleasure of meeting Logan for the first time this year, and boy, is he all boy!  Logan is a six year old kindergartener who will become a big brother later this year. He has high functioning autism and apraxia but has made amazing progress this year. His skills are really emerging. He is fun, sweet, silly and so loveable!  And seriously, he cracked us up with smacking his butt at me and laughing.

 

 

This next lad made my day.  I thought he looked so much older than he is, as he is just a few months older than my own son.  Noah also has Asperger’s.  He came in and did exactly what I said, but let to his own devices, he would give me an incredibly fake smile – which as far as fake smiles go, was pretty good.  So I was told to talk to him about history, his favorite subject.  Boy, did he open up and talk!  His favorite channel is the History Channel, and do you know what he wants to be when he grows up?  Something I’ve never heard of – a forensic geologist!  What an awesome kid, and such a beautiful spirit.

 

 

This last boy is one I will always remember.  Alex is twelve years old and an only child.  When Alex was two, he started to get speech services due to speech delay.  The speech therapist recommended that he be evaluated by a developmental pediatrician.  He was then diagnosed with mild to moderate autism.  He has made tremendous progress since then.  He is very verbal now and loves to tell jokes.  In fourth grade, he was diagnosed with ADHD which is controlled by medication.  He is a sweet and caring little boy.  His favorite activity is swimming.  He is looking forward to attending his first overnight camp.  Now, these smiles are awesome, but he wasn’t all smiles when he came into the studio.  He seemed very tired.  So, I asked him to sit on the couch and also take off his shoes and socks. Then I said, “Peeyew!  What stinks?  Is that your feet?!”  I was just kidding, but it got him smiling.  So we kept up the game of me commenting about his smelly feet.

 

 

Firefly Nights Photography is nationally known for our work with special needs children, especially those with autism spectrum disorders.  If you live in Chicago or the surrounding area and have a special needs child and would like to work with a photographer who understands how to work with your child while still providing beautiful images, we hope you consider us.