Why We Love Photo Books!

Photo books are great for young people with learning disabilities – they are perfect for sharing memories and talking about things to come.

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My nephew, James, loves books. He doesn’t read himself but he will happily spend hours listening to someone read his favourite books. Best of all he loves photo books. He has lots that his mum, Helen, has made him over the years. They are full of pictures of himself, his family, his friends and significant places. Consequently they are very motivating, great for sharing, for remembering things past and for talking about things to come. James’ photo books include ones about exciting holidays, special people, milestone birthdays, leaving school and moving into supported living. 

Appealing and motivating

The great thing about photo books is that they can be personalised to give them maximum appeal. James’ books always have pictures of people in, but other young people with learning disabilities might prefer images related to a hobby or a special interest. 

Personalised presentation 

When you make your own photo book you can design it in such a way that you know it will appeal to the recipient. We always make ours with Snapfish but there are lots of other companies providing the same service. Everything about the presentation of the page  can be personalised for maximum interest and appeal. The page backgrounds can be made the same colour or all different colours. They can be in a recipient’s favourite colour or a suitable colour for ease of visual discrimination. The page backgrounds can also be patterned to give visual appeal, or plain to avoid visual clutter. 

The amount of photos to a page can also be varied depending on how ‘busy’ a page the recipient prefers. Text can also be added. Different fonts are available so you may be able to pick a font that the recipient is familiar with to aid them with reading the text. You can add single words, a sentence or several sentences. James’ books tend to have short sentences which reinforce the images. Usually we’re not just reading the text but chatting about the pictures too. James points to people for us to name or signs the names of people. Sometimes he signs the actions that he can see them doing in the photos. Reading one of his photo books always turns into a conversation.  

You can also add to the visual appeal with  embellishments which compliment the photos. These can then become talking points in themselves. You can find them, sign what they are or count them. 

Keeping memories 

Photo books are a great way of remembering special things that have happened – that could be special events like birthday parties, a day trip or a whole holiday. James doesn’t have the vocabulary to say ‘Remember when we…..’ but he will go to the bookcase and look for the particular book he wants you to read with him. The books provide an opportunity for him to talk about what he wants to talk about – they can act as his conversation starters. 

James so enjoys the books that he will sometimes pick one up and look at it by himself, flicking through the pages in turn from beginning to end and looking at the pictures. I find them a great pleasure to read too. I enjoy looking back over the things James has done, and we have done, over the years. Our family are all in the books and there are many happy memories in them for all of us.

Looking forward to new things

As James has encountered times of change over the years Helen has made books to support him with these. James has had books about moving to new schools, new daily provisions, new respite provisions and into supported living. Helen has worked hard to collect photos and images to make books to help to prepare James for the changes to come. Once James has made his first visits to the new provision she then introduces the books. They reinforce what is going to happen, prepare him for what he will see, and give him a means to talk about the changes. He can point to the images to ask questions or comment. He can choose to return to the book as often as he wants to remind himself of the new things or hear the information again. The books help James to understand what will happen and ease the transition process. They can help with transition from another perspective too. This year James moved into supported living. Reading his photo books with him has helped his new staff to get to know James, and learn who and what is important to him too. 

As you can probably tell, we are huge fans of photo books. However, I can’t recommend them without also acknowledging that they can be very emotional to make (and maybe read too). Sorting through all the photos and deciding what to write can be a tear jerker, sometimes more so than others. Making the books for James has often coincided with significant life events like milestone birthdays or transitions to a new provision or place of residence. Such times can be challenging as they can lead us to reflect on how our lives, and the lives of our young people, haven’t turned out quite as we once thought they would. I know that Helen has shed many a tear making books for James but that she keeps doing it because they have such value in terms of supporting his understanding and communication – and, most of all, he loves them.

If this inspires you to make a photo book you can check out the latest Snapfish offers here. Do tell us about what you made and why. You never know, sharing your ideas might just inspire someone else 😃