By Kim Cantrell,CFILC’s Program Director
My husband shared a photo with me last weekend that stopped
me in my tracks. Check out the photo below.
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If you are like me, your initial response might be, “What
was the photographer thinking? How could the teacher allow this?” I am especially
sensitive because I worked at two different school photography studios in high
school and off and on throughout my college career. I had never come across a
photo even remotely like this one.
On Father’s Day my husband, a school photographer himself, received
an email from a national photography listserv with this article about the photo that ran in a Canadian newspaper.
The original photographer who posted the story to the listserv
asked, “How would you have photographed the group?” Many photographers weighed
in on the subject. “If possible, take him out of his chair,” one replied. “Just
push the class toward the student and move the teacher behind him,” someone
added.
Though each response seemed well-intentioned, they didn’t
take into account that assistive technology (AT) is part of the person.
Including the student with his AT as part of the class rather than off to the
side was the only way to make the photo truly inclusive.
If an adult asks a child if he wants to be moved out of his
wheelchair for a class photo, the student may view it as the only way to be included
with his classmates or see it as a way of fitting in. Moving the student out of
his chair sends the wrong message to the student and his peers that using a
wheelchair is “less than.” In addition, transferring a student may require a
personal assistant, which may be unsuccessful or result in injury, and it can also be
embarrassing. It’s much better to use the class photo as a learning opportunity
and to encourage the children to work together to get an inclusive shot.
Assistive technology should be considered part of a person,
and photographers should not ask or persuade students to give up their AT in a
class picture. Instead, with the help of the teacher, the photo should be built
in a way that neither excludes nor highlights the student using the wheelchair.
Unlike the authors of this
newspaper article, I believe the teacher should have been involved in
making sure the student was sitting with his peers in the photo. The teacher is
usually the last person placed in a class photo in order to help arrange the
kids and make sure the situation is under some resemblance of control. It’s not
a time to zone out. So when I read that the teacher didn’t know how the
students were posed, it sounded like the school was trying to dodge
responsibility.
Both school photographers and teachers have a responsibility
to ensure all students are included in a class picture in a meaningful way.
With that said, many national photo companies hire young, inexperienced
photographers to take class pictures, and they are told to move as quickly as
possible. It’s true that schools only allot a short amount of time for photos so
students can get back to class. This means that teachers must pay attention and
be a partner in the process.
If you are a teacher or a school photographer, what should
you do to make sure each student is included in his class photo in a meaningful
way?
Should you place a student who uses a wheelchair at the end
of a row, off to the side with a teacher?
No.
How about placing the student on the bench without his wheelchair?
I don’t think so.
Can you use creativity to re-imagine the photo?
Yes.
What about incorporating a student’s wheelchair or other
assistive technology into the photo?
Most definitely.
Though the parents of the student above ultimately had
the photo retaken with the student transferred onto a bench and out of his
wheelchair, there are many ways to set up a photo that includes a student’s
AT in an inclusive way. The last thing you want to do is make a young person
who uses AT feel ashamed of who they are and what they need to be independent.
Instead, you want to promote self-esteem and disability pride so that each
student feels good about their self-identity.
My husband and I discussed how to best rework the original
photo. Though we can’t share example photos due to privacy issues, the following is a
description of what we would have done.
The first row of the bleachers becomes the
back row where students stand on the benches. A row of students stands on the
floor in front of this new back row, becoming the middle row. The next row is
seated in chairs, allowing for many options to place the student in the
wheelchair. If needed, a row of students sitting with legs crossed in front of
the seated row would be added for larger classes. In fact, my husband has
arranged many class photos this way in the past.
All of a sudden the school photo tells a very different
story. A story of inclusion. A story of AT as part of a person. A story of
acceptance. And a story of another successful school year completed for a class
of smiling children. It’s a win-win-win.
If you have questions about disability etiquette and
competence or are looking for resources to share with your friends and family, click here
for a great web resource. And please feel free to share this article with the
school teachers and photographers in your lives.
What do you think? Please share your perspective in the comments box below.
What do you think? Please share your perspective in the comments box below.
