There is an amazing community of special needs parents and individuals on Instagram and we are reaching the broader public with a day to day look into our lives one photo at a time.
Photography is one of our most powerful mediums. A photo of a white sandy beach will inspire us save up our hard earned money for a trip to Mexico. A newborn will have his/her first photos taken within minutes of being born and anyone who sees the pictures can't help but "Ohh and Ahh" over them. When a loved one dies our photos of them may be one of the only things that bring us comfort as we grieve. We see photos of war and starvation in foreign countries and we are motivated to make a donation to help someone we will never meet. This is the power of photography.
I have seen friendships built between individuals who have an amazing number of things in common and between people who have almost nothing in common other than their love of taking pictures and sharing them with others. It is our photos that build that bridge and welcome others to see into our lives and learn about what matters most to us.
For instance, I have made a friend with a lovely lady named Amy (@amysphere on IG) with whom I share a strange love of llamas. I really don't know how to explain our level of excitement over finding a new llama pic on Instagram but suffice it to say we love them and we're not ashamed to admit it. (well, I'm not but maybe Amy is...Cats outta the bag now my friend!). Suffice it to say that if it had not been for a photo of a llama and our mutual squeals of joy over it I may never have connected with Amy.
I would say that over half of my followers on Instagram are not special needs parents like myself. In fact, a good number of them are not parents at all. And yet the photos of my family and our day to day adventures, catastrophes, and combined strange senses of humor has not only caught their eye but piqued their interest.
And I think that is what makes IG awesome.
I have followers from outside the special needs community comment on my photos that they have opened their eyes to what autism is and what it is not. Many have shared my photos on their own feed to bring awareness about autism and to raise money for a skateboarding non-profit, The A.Skate Foundation, (@askaters) which provides lessons and supplies to children on the spectrum. In fact, A.Skate won two $50,000 grants from Pepsi last year which is funding their mission to provide more opportunities for individuals with autism to interact socially with peers through skating and both the #autism and #skating communities of Instagram were a large part of what made that happen.
Instagram has become another medium for social change and education. It is bridging the gap between the "us" and "them" mentality and it is featuring some pretty awesome photos in the process.
I hope that if you have an iPhone you'll download the Instagram app and join us. We're a community of #specialneeds parents, individuals with #autism, #skaters, and even #llama lovers just looking to make a new friend and maybe change a few minds along the way.
