Bagpuss Report post Posted May 29, 2007 (edited) I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that children with ASD find it difficult to smile for photo's. Does anybody have any info about this and is it correct? Our youngest dd 6 has struggled as she has become older to smile for piccies. She will ask us to take her photo, but tends to have a grimace on her face or a strange forced smile. I've also begun to notice that our eldest dd 9 is now quite formal and stiff when having her photo taken. Both girls had very natural smiles when having their photo's taken when they were younger......is this something which usually manifests with age? Would also appreciate it if anyone knows why the girls would ask to have their piccies taken, but seem to find it difficult at the same time, IYKWIM Are they actually finding it difficult, or is that just me interpreting their behaviour/stance/smile as that? Do the adults with ASD on the forum enjoy having their photo's taken...and if not, has it become more difficult as they have become older? Edited May 29, 2007 by Bagpuss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baddad Report post Posted May 29, 2007 Hiya baggy - I think as all kids get older they get more self conscious about smiling, and for our kids that can often mean that it ceases to be a 'reflex' and becomes something they do consciously, with the result that it looks exactly that - staged. I have some absolutely HIDEOUS pictures of Ben where it's very obvious he's been told to smile and he's 'done' a smile rather than 'smiled'. He sometimes moans that he can't do it. Of course, I also have LOADS of photo's where he's smiling naturally and those don't look staged at all. More often than not if you ask Ben to do anything the act of doing gets in the way of doing (does that make sense?) and he just panics instead. If the same task evolves naturally he has no problem whatsoever. I think this rabbit-in-the-headlights effect is something many adults on the spectrum will identify with too, and also NT's who lack social confidence to any degree. Personally, I hate having my photo taken 'cos I am supremely unphotogenic! Absolutely gorgeous in the flesh, but nine out of ten photo's make me look like Quasimodo's uglier brother.... L&P BD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tally Report post Posted May 29, 2007 I don't particularly like having my photo taken, but I don't really hate it. I know NT people who hate it more than I do. I think it has more to do with self-consciousness, which probably happens more the older you get. Maybe they want their photo taken to practise smiling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bard Report post Posted May 29, 2007 Interesting to wonder if they change as they get older. I have very serious looking baby photos of B, and then lovely, smiley infant photos. Brooding Marlon Brando style as a junior, and then one at the beginning of year & where he looks absolutely FERAL! Wild thing from the woods. I think Baddad's made a good point. I have some spontaneous photos, when he's doing something else and concentrating on that, and in several, he's smiling. He does have a fantastic smile, with dimples, but it's fleeting with sideways eye contact. Not for the camera. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mumble Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Hi Bagpuss, An interesting thread and another thing I learn about myself that could be connected to Aspergers. I think (as others have said above) the problem is in social/reciprocal smiling; being asked to smile and having to pick up on and reflect others' smiles. Where the smile is natural and 'belongs' to the ASD individual it isn't a problem. My mum has the sum total of one photo where my brother is smiling naturally - it was taken when he was 6 and was taken to a Riding for the Disabled scheme where he looks totally at peace and happy perched on the horse. With me, my mum couldn't get any photos of me smiling and ended up taking me to a photographers out of desperation!! (The results weren't much better, but at least the whole staging of the photo balances the staging of the smile!) In all my baby/child photos I seem to be too preoccupied and concentrating on various things to even be thinking about smiling. Now as an adult, I don't really like having my photo taken, but as Tally says, I don't hate it and don't go out of my way to avoid it. However, I'm not good with group photos, and I'll normally be on the end with a distinct gap between me and the person next to me (that's if I haven't got out of it by volunteering to take the picture). In these photos though, I don't smile, and I do experience a sort of unease if anyone tells me to smile - I think becuase smiling's not a natural 'way' to me and because I don't find it easy to identify my feelings and attach emotional states to physical states, I don't really know what a smile should 'feel' like - i.e. without a mirror, I can't tell whether the way I've moved my mouth is a smile and because I'm concentrating on it it tends to go wrong because I'm too worried about getting it right. I hope that doesn't make me sound completely strange! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss Report post Posted May 30, 2007 No, that doesn't make you sound strange Mumble. Thanks all for your replies, makes alot of sense. I feel as if youngest dd has forgotton how to smile, when asked to. She tries to, but.........oh, I don't think I can describe without posting a piccie. Eldest dd is looking more and more solemn on pics. Mind you, I really dislike having my photo taken, mainly because it shatters my illusion that I'm tall, blonde, long legged and 9st. I'm actually 5ft 4, dumpy, mousey greying haired and my stomach weighs 9st alone Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pearl Report post Posted May 30, 2007 JP is hopeless at doing photo smiles, he just looks insane. Staring eyes, lots of teeth..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bard Report post Posted May 30, 2007 No, that doesn't make you sound strange Mumble. Thanks all for your replies, makes alot of sense. I feel as if youngest dd has forgotton how to smile, when asked to. She tries to, but.........oh, I don't think I can describe without posting a piccie. Eldest dd is looking more and more solemn on pics. Mind you, I really dislike having my photo taken, mainly because it shatters my illusion that I'm tall, blonde, long legged and 9st. I'm actually 5ft 4, dumpy, mousey greying haired and my stomach weighs 9st alone Well, apart from the fact I'm 5' 1"...it sounds like we match just fine. I used to be 7st, until I hit 30... and sadly, in my head, I still am. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxgirl Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Hi Bagpuss, don't know about the reasons for it, but my lad has always had trouble smiling. When he was little and we asked him to smile for the camera, he would put his hand up to his mouth and push the sides of his mouth up to fashion a smile. We've got quite a few photos of him holding his smile on his face, so to speak! Even now, he does this awful, false smile thing when we try to take photos, so I always prefer to take them when he's not aware, much more natural. It's as if he doesn't know what his face is doing or how to make the 'right' face on demand. ~ Mel ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluejean-genie Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Hi, my 15yr old ds finds it hard to smile naturally when having his photo taken. He says he can't force a smile and only smiles when happy. But having his photo taken doesn't make him happy! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiley Report post Posted May 30, 2007 M used to grab his mouth and make a smile shape...... Now he just beems so hard all you can see is teeth and no eyes We both take a much better picture when we don't know its being taken, lol. I've got a cracking piccy of me - lil monkey took it whilst he was messing about with my camera. I look like i've been dragged through a hedge backwards, dumped on a different planet and i have a 'if you take a picture of mummy - i'll have to put you up for adoption' look on my face Soooooooo tempted to stick it up here - but i don't want me ugly mug plastered all over t'internet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoebe Report post Posted May 30, 2007 interesting thread!! I had never really thought about it, but we also have this with Ds. Reading this thread has also reminded me, I went to hear Wendy Lawson talk recently, she opened with a photo of her and her sister as children and she used the photo to explain the one track nature of her thoughts, even as a young child, she was really uncomfortable with the dress/fabric/colour/feel of her sisters dress and that was all she could think about. In the photo, she was clearly unhappy and her sister's body language reflected that she felt Wendy's discomfort as well. She said that since she was unable to concentrate on anything else, clearly, smiling for the camera would have been low down on her list of priorities........ maybe sensory awareness also stops spontaneous smiling for photos????? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Oh go on Smiley....you know you want to Thanks everyone for your replies, seems to be common, wish I could remember where I read it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Phoebe, I think your right, sensory awareness definately comes into it with our girls. They also seem to be concentrating SO hard on creating a smile, that the naturalness (is that a word? ) is lost. Eldest dd seems to becoming more and more formal and stiff in her posture, that it is reflected when she has her piccie taken now. Yet their nursery photo's and those when they were toddlers show both girls with very natural smiley faces. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiley Report post Posted May 30, 2007 Oh go on Smiley....you know you want to I'll PM it to anyone who promises me a Galaxy bar........ (easily brought, me...) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Philly Report post Posted June 4, 2007 My son of 7 was diagnosed at 2yrs 9 months. He still had the problem with smiling on request then and he still has it now - even after much coaching and showing him "how to smile". My mother in law said to me the other day she wanted a photo with a smile. You think she might have guessed after 300 photos - it ain't gonna happen unless I happen to catch him on the sly. Philly Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
