Special Needs Photography | Naperville Photographer | Part II

As you know – as you should know by now – April was our Autism Awareness month where we celebrate all children with special needs.  Here is our second say of our special needs mini sessions.  It is always a heart-warming day for me and my assistant.  Seriously, this stuff feeds my soul.  Each and every one of these families was totally awesome.

This was my first time with this handsome family.  One of their sons has ASD, ADHD, and ODD.  They warned me he wanders, which he did a bit, but it was a good day, and we got some awesome family pictures.

 

This little girl was shy at first, and has trouble looking up, but man was she adorable with her brother. She has Down Syndrome and has gone through three surgeries.  Such a little hero!

 

I love also being able to photograph older children with special needs, as well, like with this awesome guy.  He has autism spectrum disorder.  Most of his speech is echolalia (repeating back what is said), but he did like telling me about his favorite movie.

 

This little boy may have Down Syndrome, but he was certainly living life big!  I mean, how can you get any cuter?!

 

I get to see this lovely lady every year.  She has autism and is non-verbal and tends to not follow instructions.  This was her first year with her new therapy dog.

 

This little guy was all smiles and a joy.  He also has ASD.  I love me these wonderful kids!

 

Ok, this family deserves a story.  Their son is developmentally delayed and has a sensory processing disorder.  This family has ne ver had a family picture before because one of the parents always has to work to get the picture.  The night before, mom messages me that she is going to cancel because the son had a big meltdown while clothes shopping. I could tell she was just at her wits end.  So I told her – don’t force him to wear anything. Let him wear whatever he wants. Don’t stress about it.  She says he ONLY wears black sweatpants and a Jack Skelington T-shirt.  So I said, so let it be.  They show up, and man, he was AWESOME.  He was goofy and silly and fully of laughter.  They were so happy to finally have a family picture.

 

Every year I see this lovely lady. She loves being beautiful and always has colorful, pretty shoes.  She has a wonderful smile, and is turning into quite the young lady.

 

This gorgeous family was new to me this year, and it almost didn’t happen.  Their son has autism, and just minutes before we took this picture, he was having a meltdown outside of the studio.  So when he came in, we grabbed some of our toy cars and had him play for a bit, and we saw this bright smiley guy emerge.  His smile truly lit up the room.

This kid – I have to say kid because he’s no longer a little boy – has grown SO MUCH since I’ve last seen him.  He also has ASD, but wow has his communication and ability to follow instructions drastically improved.  I love seeing that!

 

This handsome family was also new to me.   Such a great looking bunch, right?!  And the star attraction was their sister with Dowm Syndrome who greatly enjoyed being in the spotlight.

 

I had the pleasure of photographing this boy and his family last fall, but now it was jut for him.  He has high-functioning autism and is the sweetest, silliest boy ever.

 

You would be surprised how many clients I have where more than one child is on the spectrum.  Both of their sons have autism, and the suspect their daughter will also be diagnosed soon, though she is much higher functioning than her brothers.  And while the boys cannot communicate very well, they did a great job for me.

 

Then my day ended with this incredibly happy little guy who just happens to also have ASD.  He was full of mischief and smiles.

If you have a child with special needs, come to us.  We promise – we get it.  There is no judgement here.  There is only love.