Educating Photographers to Meet the Needs of a Neurodivergent Family

Everyone deserves to be understood. Neurodivergent families are everywhere and as photographers, those families may end up in front of our lens.

Are you interested in improving your session experiences for your families that may have children that are differently wired? Do you find you work with a lot of children that are highly distracted or highly sensitive? Great! I have a class coming for you that will walk you through how to prepare a family that is neurodivergent for a family photo session, how to identify a child that is possibly neurodivergent, how to navigate the family’s inner relationships during the photo session and what to do if a child is triggered.

Why is Improving Session Experience Important?

  • Happy families share their experience with their friends, creating referral business for you

  • Parents that enjoyed their time at the photo session are more likely to enjoy their photo galleries

  • Families that enjoyed their time with you at your session will return to you year after year

  • Neurodivergent kids HATE change, so if you can make your time with them amazing, then YOU will be their photographer

Why didn’t they tell me their child was different?

I have heard photographers share horror stories about how they showed up for a session and eventually figured out that the child was autistic or had ADHD and the session went poorly. As a photographer, this type of information can help us prepare certain modifications to our workflow to ensure the family still has a great session experience.  It is so devastating when we have a bad session!  Especially when we, as the photographer, feel it could have been prevented.  All the parents had to do was tell us their kid was different, how hard is that? 

Harder than you think.

Let me be frank, as a mother of a Neurodivergent child, I ask you:  Why should they tell you?  Are you their doctor?  Are you their family?  Are you a friend that they vent to about all their struggles and challenges?  No.  You, to them, are just a photographer.  The fear of rejection is real for this family too. What if you don’t take the session because their kid is autistic and you don’t feel comfortable working with different kids? What if you share that your kid is high-energy and you say that you are not a good fit to work together.

Their kid just has to behave for an hour, right?  They can do that…. The mom hopes.  

The family doesn’t understand what you do from behind the camera.  They don’t get that you will be guiding their family through poses and they will be requested to touch each other.  The parents haven’t thought that through.  That mom is just desperate for one good photo.  For one moment of bliss where she can pretend that her daily challenges won’t show in her face.  That dad is terrified of the money that they are spending on this photo session that is only going to end in tears for the whole family. 

You likely cried, vented and complained about the experience.  The problem is….  The family you photographed likely has too.  And that isn’t good for you or your business.  

Are you wanting to improve your session experience for those families that are differently-wired?  Do you want to have the magic question that will get them to open up to you before you arrive at the session?  

My upcoming class will teach you what to ask, how to spot neurodivergent children, how to handle the family dynamics of a neurodivergent family, what to do when a child is triggered and more.  

I am so passionate about this.  My family struggles every time we have family photos taken and I don’t want that for the other neurodivergent families out there.  Let me help you, your business and the families you serve to have a better session experience when working with high-energy, highly sensitive and neurodivergent children.