Photo Book Ideas

A photo book of your child’s favorite things and people
Valley CoPA (Community of Practice in Autism) - April 2008 from the RAISE Infant Program

1. Say the name of each picture as you point to the picture and as you point to the printed word.
   
   
2. When possible, show your child the photo and the actual item that is in the photo at the same time, pointing to each and saying the name. If it is a photo of your child, try showing him/her the photo of himself/herself and then immediately show your child his/her reflection in a mirror and say his/her name.

After you feel like your child is starting to know the names of the pictures, try the next three ideas:

1. When two pictures are shown, ask “where is _____?” or say “show me ______” and give your child at least five seconds to respond. If there is no response, take your child’s finger and point to the correct picture and say the name of that picture as you point.
   
   
2. Point to a picture and say “what is this?” or “who is this?” Give your child at least five seconds to respond. If your child does not respond, first try giving the first sound of the word as a prompt (“b” for “ball”). If that does not work, say the name.
   
   
3. Show him/her some of the details in each photo. For example, if there is a photo of a person, point to some body parts, like nose and eyes and mouth, and then show him/her the same body parts on his/her body or on yours. Another example: if there is a picture of a car, show him/her the tires or the headlights.

Some general tips:

1. Be enthusiastic!
   
   
2. Follow your child’s lead – if he/she only wants to look at a few pictures before he/she gets up and does something else, that is OK. You want the experience of looking atbooks together to be pleasurable. Hopefully, over time, you will spend more and more time together looking at books.