The mother of a three-year-old girl says she wants to raise awareness about how school photographers treat students with special needs after her daughter’s school photo was nearly unrecognisable.
Abby Lubiewski was born with cataracts, the result of a genetic syndrome called Hallerman-Streife, which means she is legally blind without thick glasses, so when her mother, Amanda Lubiewski, received photos of Abby last week, she was surprised to see her daughter without them.
“My daughter loves her glasses and needs them to help her perform to her full potential,” Lubiewski wrote on Facebook.
“She’s a strong, confident girl who deserves to show off all her beautiful sides, glasses included.”
Lubiewski did not respond to Yahoo Parenting’s request for comment.
A mother from O’Fallon, Missouri, pointed out online that Abby’s thick glasses could cause reflections in the photo, but the photographer for the photo company, LifeTouch School Photography, said they should have taken that into consideration.
Abby herself noticed she looked different in the photo. “What happened to my glasses?” she asked Fox 2 News.
Lubiewski said her daughter’s nervous smile in the photo indicated she was uncomfortable.
“I knew it [when I looked at the picture] “She couldn’t see it and I just couldn’t understand what someone was thinking asking her to take it off,” she told Fox 2.
Additionally, the photo would be used for identification purposes if Abby were to ever go missing.
“This is very dangerous for her because her photos are invisible to her without her glasses,” she said.
Three-year-old Abby Lubiewski is legally blind, but was reportedly told to remove her glasses for school photos. Source: Fox 2 News.
Lubiewski believes Abby’s glasses were removed because of glare from the thickness of the glasses, as other children were allowed to keep their glasses on, according to Fox 2. “It’s not just about getting cute pictures of her,” Lubiewski told Fox 2. “It’s about how she was treated and how it seems like she was treated differently because there are parts of her body that are hard to photograph.”
LifeTouch School Photography did not respond to Yahoo Parenting’s request for comment, but apologized to Lubiewski on Facebook. “We should never have asked your daughter to remove her glasses for the photo shoot and there is no excuse for this,” the company wrote. “We will offer a free re-shoot.” Abby is scheduled to have new photos taken next week, according to Fox 2.
Abby will receive new photos, but Lubiewski says the issue isn’t just about one child. As she wrote on Facebook, “school photographers need to be trained in how to capture the individuality of each child, including those with disabilities.”
Morning News Flash – April 24th