Senior Photos for Kids with Disabilities

Good morning,

I have to look at getting Senior pics taken pretty soon and I'm dragging my feet. I don't know why. Maybe because it's become this big production. We had one or two outside poses and one inside pose when I was a senior and we wore the same thing the entire time. In fact, outside poses were cutting edge. It was the 70s, what can I say?

I've been asking around and I've found a couple that I'm thinking about. Ryan has an awesome smile if you can catch it. I'll do the outfit change thing with him. He'll have one with his medals from Special Olympics, another with his mascot outfit, some outdoor, a formal indoor, perhaps a few others. Anyone have any ideas? Any good picture takers with kids who have disabilities. I found one in Mondovi but I guess she's real busy so I'll have to call and see where we're at. I want to call around for prices too. ERG.

Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks,
See you tomorrow,
Much love and joy,

Karen

Assistive Memory Device

Hi everyone!

Here's Ryan at the fair with his Gold and Plumb chicken visor. The kid is SUCH a tourist. Camera around the neck, sunglasses in hand, he's ready to enjoy the day.

We ate our way through the fair. Ryan insisted on his annual mega-cookie.

By the time he's done, he's covered in chocolate.

It was insanely hot and we only stayed about two and a half or three hours. One of the buildings felt like the heat was on and after we toured that one we declined rapidly!

I didn't take a ton of pics because we end up with some of the same stuff every year. Ryan is adamant that we log and document his experiences. I wondered why it was so important when he was younger, then I finally realized that his memory sometimes prevented him from remembering everything he wanted to about experiences that had a lot of visual input. He needed the documentation as an assistive memory device. (We also talk about that in Therapeutic Scrapbooking). He needed to remember what happened and have proof that he was there. Sometimes I wonder if it was a blurring of fantasy and reality. Was I there or did I imagine it?

We all forget things and that's something I make sure he understands. We remember generalizations like "We went to the fair, it was hot, we ate junk food, we had a good time, we saw people we hadn't seen in a while." Those are things Ryan remembers too. BUT, and here's the kicker, I can think back and visualize the fair. I don't think he can retrieve that memory picture so he depends on the actual photo.

At any rate, the day is getting away from me. I need to get back to my real life!

God bless you and yours,

Much love and joy,

Karen