Scopophobia

Just to add he learnt how to play 10 pins bowling watching videos of professional and launched his first real ball in a bowling like a pro.. without any practice before.. just by watching this video over and over again. Do you have something similar?

Thank you!!! I'll dig into this! I have heard from Donna Williams before but not on this topic! 

Autonomistic said:

I suspect the 'future' comment relates to the unwanted attention of being shown or having other people look at that photo in the future.

That definately makes sense knowing him!

Autonomistic said:

Does your son have a camera himself? If not it may be worth getting one for him. I do like taking photos and nearly always have my camera with me. However I usually try to avoid having any people in my photos. I am more inspired by landscapes and patterns in objects.

He has but prefers to use the camera of his tablet, he takes screenshots of screenshots of screeshots until it fills the picture with small subpictures so tiny it becomes a grain and uses video mode with filter as a scanning machine etc.. all experiments but nothing alive on it ever.

Unknown said:

May I ask what your son's viewing habits are in terms of TV and video ie does he watch the same sort of thing or the identical thing over and over?

Yes he does! TechRax teaches him all about his favourite things, thank to what he can spot an Iphone 13 Pro whatever miles away.. As for TV he doesn't like it much, no cartoons whatsoever but he sometimes get interested in some piece of documentary or news I am watching when it deals with planes, trains, Tesla cars or something that raises his interests and meteo of course. No fast movies, no strong noise, no disturbing news image but I am also not a fan of them so we agree on what can be watched or not and switch off on demand.  

I am a outwardly confident mature white male with nothing to hide nor to be ashamed of.  I have a very profound objection to being photographed in the majority of situations that nowadays seem to require it.  Some people think I am cantankerous, others must think I have something to hide.  Neither of these on my reason and nor do I fear the loss of part of my soul.

I often need to pause a TV show or video " to just take a moment" because I feel somewhat overwhelmed by aome aspect of what I am watching and hearing.  I think it happens when I start thinking about out a concept that has been raised my mind unexpectedly.

May I ask what your son's viewing habits are in terms of TV and video ie does he watch the same sort of thing or the identical thing over and over?

I seem to have similar behaviours to your son although mine are better suppressed or milder.  I wonder if we are driven to these behaviours for the same reasons.... hence why I asked about his habit with TV/video.

This is something that I have experienced my entire life.

As a child I would scream and cry and have meltdowns if anyone tried to take my photo. Early photos show me either crying, hiding behind my mum or disappearing out of the picture.

As an adult there are very few photos of me. If I do have my photo taken I try and stay as far away from the camera as possible, so that my image is a tiny dot. I would never dream of uploading any photos of myself online. If I am on a video call I prefer to have my camera off or at least not to have to look at myself on the screen.

The reasons behind this are hard to explain. I believe it is an intense dislike of being observed and not necessarily a phobia.

Does your son have a camera himself? If not it may be worth getting one for him. I do like taking photos and nearly always have my camera with me. However I usually try to avoid having any people in my photos. I am more inspired by landscapes and patterns in objects.

I suspect the 'future' comment relates to the unwanted attention of being shown or having other people look at that photo in the future.

It may be worth you researching more about autistic exposure anxiety. Exposure anxiety was identified by Donna Williams, an autistic author who wrote "Exposure Anxiety: The Invisible Cage" in 2002. It can be summarised as an extreme and overwhelming form of self consciousness. 

Even though the book was written 20 years ago there is very little online about it. Googling the term just brings up lots of results about 'Exposure Therapy' for anxiety, which is completely different. Aucademy did a video on the topic a few months ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ma_UG3f2U

I find it helpful myself... Good luck!

Deepcake said:

There is a whole literature about it but frankly the uses of photography are increasingly sinister and your son is entirely right to be sceptical.

I fully agree! The current narcissitic tendancy is absurd, the problem is everyone think it is so normal that they take pictures all the time.. even at schools it seems. People need photo proofs of anything.I' ll try the actor tip!!! Thank you!

As someone who has always had this problem, I am sympathetic. I am still avoiding video calling and generally can't do social media as it is so video/photo oriented. 

I suggest that you encourage your son to think of himself like an actor. To think of photography and video in this way, as something essentially fictitious. Such that he can appear in a photograph as someone else. Allow him to appear in photographs as anyone he wants to. It is then not necessarily a photograph of himself, in a sense.

Obviously this is one of those things that autistic people have right. Portrait photography is a massive drag unless you happen to be young and good looking. Even then it is arguably worse than useless. There is a whole literature about it but frankly the uses of photography are increasingly sinister and your son is entirely right to be sceptical.

John Berger said that photography is always an act of violence which is why photos are not made, but rather they are taken.