So I have officially decided that I am never going to be able to decide which pictures to put in the calendar!  :-)  I just wish everyone had the opportunity to work with such amazing kids!  These are my new friends “V” and “I”!  It was so amazing to watch “I” interact with her sister – what lucky girls they are to have each other… and of course my camera loved them, too!  

Well, we are 1/4 of the way through our Project Hope photo shoots!  We started out with some great April spring weather… warm, sunny, slightly breezy… then BAM!  March came back to haunt us with 58 degrees and can’t-mow-my-lawn-for-three-weeks-because-it’s-always-wet rain.  I think Mother Nature needs to a consult for some mood regulating meds!  Needless to say, this session kicked off the inclimate weather, but we still managed to grab a few quick pics!  And no, you are not seeing double – these are two of the most adorable identical twin boys – and I grabbed a quick few of their twin siblings – yes, you heard me – TWO sets of twins!  Hats off to mom and dad!!!  Stay tuned – next weekend is packed with three Project Hope Sessions!  Lots of pictures to come!!

I cannot tell you how much I love meeting all of these kids!  As the parent of a child on the spectrum, I love seeing the diversity in our community!  From freckles to spiral curls, each child is so uniquely different!  I hope the calendar portrays and highlights the beauty of each of these children!!!

So our friend “S” was the first of twelve photo shoots for the calendar!  It went so well, we were in and out and done after about 15 minutes!  He did SUCH an amazing job and I am in LOVE with his freckles!!!  Here are a few sneak peeks – but we won’t tell you which images will make it into the calendar!  Thanks “D” family for taking part in this project – we are going to be able to help MO-FEAT help so many families!!

Each of us has a story – a trial, a triumph, a struggle that defines us.  Every once in a while there are moments in time that seem to shift the continuum and start a new chapter in our life.  The reason why I get up each morning and collapse exhausted at the end of the day.  I hope you  find inspiration, strength, or just an understanding in My Story:

Our journey began a few years ago when my daughter, Kyah, was diagnosed on the autism spectrum.    When you have a diagnosis of any kind, whether it’s a medical issue or a disability like Autism, as a parent or family member you go into survival mode.  You cope and do what you need to do for yourself or your family member to improve the quality of life and try to make things better for that person.  While “survival mode” doesn’t always allow you to feel, sometimes the reality of the diagnosis hits you like a ton of bricks.  You realize that while you are coping and dealing and trying to make those improvements in life, you don’t necessarily take time to think about how hard the journey has been…  Because if you did, you might just fall apart; you might not make it through the day.

And then there is a level of acceptance that comes.  You accept that this diagnosis is a part of your life forever.  It’s now a part of your family’s story.

My way of coping with Kyah’s diagnosis was to dive in head first.  Initially, my intentions were totally and completely selfish.  I wanted to “fix” her, make her life the best that it could be.   That meant educating myself about Autism, how it would affect her at school and at home and what we could do to improve her quality of life and her education.  The more I learned, the more I started getting involved with local disability organizations and found myself helping other parents who were embarking on that same journey that I had already traveled.  I joined my local Parent Advisory Council (PAC), and as time marched on, I realized there were so many flaws in the special education system.  To compound the issue, there were so many kids whose parents didn’t have the time or the resources to understand where changes were needed and where improvements could be made.  I am now Vice President of the PAC and serving on several committees in my district.    I also joined Missouri’s Parent and Training Information Center (PTI) as a Parent Mentor and started volunteering, helping other families prepare for their child’s education who were in similar situations.  Now I am employed with the PTI and work daily to give hope to hundreds of families per year.  I have also started Project Hope, a charitable calendar to benefit Missouri Families for Effective Autism Treatment (MO-FEAT),  with the goal of showcasing the beauty and diversity of the autism community… inspiring all of us to hope!

At one point during my own journey, I realized that I had been helping so many other families, I had failed to see the creativity in my daughter that probably would not be there without her diagnosis.  I realized that having a disability isn’t always a measure of what she can’t do, but perhaps is more accurately a measure of her unique abilities.

I have recently started teaching my daughter to shoot my ancient Nikon D50… photography is not only my passion, but it has also become an invaluable connection for me and my daughter.  I have never attended any of the many workshops out there because typically they are not in the budget… but I want to learn to work smarter (not harder!), so I can continue to inspire my daughter’s creativity with a camera while making time for the autism community which has provided me with the single most important journey of my lifetime.

WE love MO-FEAT, but would love to hear stories about how MO-FEAT has supported YOUR journey through the world of autism! If you have a great story or even a little anecdote, send it our way! We will be posting these thoughts and praises of MO-FEAT throughout the calendar project, so please let us know if you’d like to keep your comment anonymous. You can send your comments through our Contact Page!

WOW! What an amazing first week for Project Hope! We have already sold several sponsorship spots on the calendar, we have received many model applications, and have had over 300 hits on the Project Hope blog! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Don’t rest now! We have work to do!!!

MODEL SEARCH

We would LOVE to have a ton of models and applications to choose from, so if you have a child living with autism or know of someone who does, make sure you pass our information along! Any child is welcome to apply, however we would love to capture the hope and beauty of children diagnosed with autism to help raise awareness and funds to support MO-FEAT! Check out our Model Search page, cut and paste the link to your Facebook, Twitter, or blog and help spread the word!

Check out the recent blog post by Donnell Probst Photography explaining why MO-FEAT was chosen as the recipient of the proceeds from calendar sales by Project Hope!

And of course, don’t forget to check out MO-FEAT’s website and share it with all of your friends and family! With such an increase in the prevalence of autism, surely we all know someone who could use additional support and resources!

We are celebrating! Announcing Project Hope, a Calendar for Charity!

Donnell Probst Photography is proud to announce the 2011 Project Hope Charitable Calendar. Inspiring all of us to hope, the first annual calendar theme is “Where flowers bloom, so does hope” and ALL profits from calendar sales will be donated to Missouri Families for Effective Autism Treatment (MO-FEAT)!

Project Hope features 12 months of pages filled with beautiful photography of children by Donnell Probst Photography. The images portray the hope, beauty and innocence the children living with autism every day… and that just might include your own children!

Please visit our Model Search page to learn more about the calendar and how you can apply to have your own child featured for one of the months. In the coming months, check back to see how you can purchase a Project Hope calendar and help raise money for MO-FEAT.

If you or your business would like to support the calendar and MO-FEAT, sponsorship information is available on our Be a Sponsor page.

Spread the word – the more calendars sold, the greater the donation will be!