"I specialise in portraiture of ‘real’ people, but a portrait for me does not necessarily have to feature a person. Sometimes a person’s surroundings can tell us as much, or more about an individual. I was introduced to TreeHouse last year, and was so impressed by the achievements of this specialist school for children with autism, that I offered my services as a photographer to the head teacher there and then.

I became a silent observer in the corner, recording everyday events. I focused on the whole environment, attending classes and sitting in the playground together with the children and teachers for one to two hours at a time, twice a week, over a period of three months. My photographs focus on the children as well as their environment, for example the children’s bags on the rack, toys scattered on the floor. The images are very unobtrusive, highlighting the normality of these children, but at the same time showing their differences.

Too often autistic children are portrayed as sad and fearful - difficult to know and better not to know about. What struck me when I first visited the school was that I was confronted with a rather happy and engaged bunch of children, receiving amazing one-to-one tuition by loving and energetic teachers. I wanted to portray this ‘normality’ of atmosphere, with children learning and playing, and allow the public to see amazing individuals who will, because of the care they are receiving from TreeHouse, grow up to live more independent and happy lives."

See also

• Outside Looking In: Photographs from TreeHouse by Stefanie Hafner
• A learning curve: Article about learning difficulties and autism in children.
• Mad, bad or ill?: Article about new insights into antisocial disorders.
• Kids of the 90s: Article features details of the ALSPAC study

External links

• TreeHouse trust
• Stefanie Hafner: Details about the photographer
• International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium ( IMGSAC)
• National Autistic Society