Family photos and Trying to do the Poses with NVLD
Today, we’ll talk about getting family photos done and trying to do the poses with NVLD. Recently, we went to Balboa Park to get our family photos done. It was hard for me to take photos because of the posing and because it was my first time doing it when I was aware of my NLD. I’ve done family photos before, but I didn’t know I had NLD then, so I wasn’t aware of what my challenges were. This time was different because I was aware.
I had to have help with posing from the photographer, who didn’t know why I had a challenge with it. She just thought it was hard for me to get loose. That’s partly true, but it depends on the situation. I can have fun and be loose when I want to. She only knew this because my brother had told her that about all of us. She didn’t know I have NLD, but with some of the poses, my brother had to help me because I didn’t quite know how to do them. It was a little embarrassing, but I tried to get over that because she wasn’t making a big deal of it, thankfully.
Once I was used to some of the poses and laughing, it was easier to pose for the pictures, but it wasn’t natural. It wouldn’t be natural unless I were neurotypical or were good at doing it. Since posing is part of nonverbal body language, it’s hard for me to duplicate because I don’t know what it conveys. I did have a lot of fun taking pictures with my brother, dog named Truffles, mom, dad, and grandma, not sure who I had the most fun with. Maybe my brother and I pretended to dance to part of Soulja Boy, just for kicks. I also got to do some hair flips, and I’m surprised and glad that my glasses didn’t come off while doing them.
It was fun with Truffles because she was such a good girl all day. But at the same time, she was like When are we going to be done? In some of them, I think she was thinking Okay, mommy, I love you, but this is too much for me. I’m the only one in my family who is photogenic. My mom said she would rather be getting a road canal or giving birth than getting pictures taken. It was fun posing with her because we got to ones that looked like sorority sisters and showed our love for each other.
It was also fun with my grandma because she is beautiful no matter what age she is. I will cherish every moment I get with her, especially since she’s my last grandparent. Love you a bushel and peck around the neck. It was very funny with my dad because he and I are very alike. I’m the female version of him.
My brother is the male version of my mom, and he has some characteristics of my dad in him as well. I also have some of my mom in me. It was fun with dad, and because we did it by a plant which was by my head in the photos a lot. I was okay with that because I love Mother Nature. It was cute to see my brother and grandma take photos because they used a scooter as a prop. I think they came out cute.
I think we all have a little fun to different degrees because of our love or hate of our photo being taken. I can relate to this article from the NVLD Project “How Understanding Multiple Intelligences Can Help People With Learning Disabilities,” by Michelle, who “has a Learning Disability but has not let it stop her from being successful! She has been published in The Mighty, Imagine the World as One Magazine, and The Reluctant Spoonie. She wants to educate, empower, and encourage people with and without disabilities.”
“Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to identify the emotions, feelings, moods, and the motivation for the actions of others. People who have Interpersonal Intelligence can read facial expressions and body language. Individuals with Interpersonal Intelligence have good people skills and are good at motivating and leading others. I am good at gauging how others are feeling based on facial expressions and body language. I remember when my grandparents were sick and had limited communication skills, I could tell what they wanted. Part of this was reading their facial expressions and also being able to understand mumblings. I had fluid in my ear as a child, and much of what I heard was muffled. I knew my grandma was thirsty when she puckered her lips together. She smiled gratefully and thanked me when I handed her a glass of water.”
I can relate to this article because I’ve gotten better at reading emotions over time by being able to pay attention to facial expressions. I’ve talked about this before in this podcast. I think I got better at it because I naturally really like to help people, and I wanted to figure out how to help them even more and in different ways. I started doing it with my family because it’s easier to do things around them than with people who don’t know about me having NVLD. Because if I were looking at somebody for a while, they might be wondering why I was doing that. It could creep them out and be like Why is she staring at me when I’m trying to understand her facial expression.
I guess that’s why I try to do it in subtle ways so nobody knows what I’m doing. Which sometimes can be tricky for me to do because I often wonder what other people are thinking about me, and that’s hard for me to turn off. Although I will say this, I usually care more about what my close friends and family think about me than everyone else because they’re more important to me. Plus, those are usually the people who know more about me and NLD because they have known me longer than others have.
Since COVID, facial expressions have gotten harder to read because of the masks covering half of the face. I have to try to figure out what eye expressions would match up with a smile, frown, anger, surprise, fear, or embarrassment, etc. This isn’t easy to do because sometimes the eyes don’t match with that mouth. And even when they do, you may not know if you’re reading them correctly.
So whether it’s how to pose for family photos, being silly and having fun, knowing you’re beautiful just the way you are, and others who have NLD still have these issues today. As I wrap up today, I would like to hear from you about times you had challenges with posing for family photos or things similar to that, and trying to have fun with it. Please comment on livingwithnld.com with the answer or email me at livingwithnld@gmail.com. You can also leave a review on the Apple Podcast with the answer. Thank you. Hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Talk to you next Friday.
