Teenage life was an ordeal, until Caitlyn found her calm with a camera

Young photographer Caitlyn McDonald wears her headphones all day, every day.

It’s the only way an 18-year-old can escape the constant noise, chatter, and distractions of daily life.

Caitlyn was diagnosed with Autism and Auditory Processing Disorder (a condition that affects how the brain interprets sounds) in her teenage years.

High school was an ordeal. He was tired, filled with anxiety, and it was breaking his confidence.

But there is a place where he finds his calm and focus. Watching wildlife through the camera lens.

“It’s a whole new world, seeing what wildlife photographers have always seen,” says Caitlyn.

“It’s so peaceful, you can see all the animals slowly coming in, their different behaviors.”

Like many autistic people, Caitlyn, from Ardrossan in North Ayrshire, has difficulty coping with busy environments, meeting strangers and changes to routine.

From dance to boxing to photography. He could never decide on an interest until he picked up a camera.

His mother, Paula, and father, John, realized he had a talent after taking a photo of the family dogs running on the beach with his cell phone.

He came second in the RSPCA photography competition.

Suspecting that Caitlyn’s dog photo might have been more than just a fluke, Paula searched online and found wildlife photographer Paul McDougall.

Their workshops teach budding photographers how to learn and read animal behavior.

Paula sent her a text and explained Caitlyn’s autism and APD.

“When you meet her, she doesn’t really fit the norm for an 18-year-old girl,” her mother says.

“But as soon as she met Paul he was very understanding and patient.

“Most of the time it’s the tone of voice that Caitlyn responds to. Paul’s is very calming and gentle.”

Caitlyn attended her first workshop with Paul in March last year, photographing swans at Hogganfield Loch in north Glasgow.

Running in small groups was an ideal situation for him.

“I feel a kind of calm that I wouldn’t feel if there were more people,” Caitlyn says.

“I loved the first lesson and immediately wanted to do it again.”

She says she formed an instant bond with Paul, who understood her from the very beginning.

Paul tells Caitlyn that he doesn’t want to treat her any differently than the other students.

He says he has a great eye and a “natural talent for wildlife photography.”

“In our first workshop he just had a very simple camera and took this photo of a swan with the sun shading it.

“As soon as I saw it, I knew there was something in it. Then he learned very quickly.”

Paul says it’s been amazing to watch Caitlyn’s knowledge and confidence grow.

He has been shooting beginners at Hogganfield and other lakes in central Scotland, progressing to island tours and even international safaris.

Caitlyn has now photographed an incredible list of species from across the country.

Ospreys diving to catch fish, hares in the snow, seagulls with beaks full of sand eels, red squirrels, beavers and even a lynx.

Teaching Caitlyn was also a new experience for Paul, who has been a wildlife photographer for over 20 years.

Originally from Oxfordshire, his travels have taken him to Uganda, Finland, Canada, India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

He led photo safaris in Kenya before meeting his wife and moving to Scotland full-time to set up Touch the Wild photography.

This was Paul’s first time working with someone with autism, Caitlyn said.

He says: “No matter who you teach photography to, you have to be patient and everyone learns in different ways.

“When Caitlyn started talking to me more about her autism, we really started to bond.

“When she told me about her experience at the school, it made me realize how much of a difference coming to the workshops made, and I felt very emotional about it.”

Mum Paula says Caitlyn has a “hard time” at school because of her autism and APD.

She says if a child misbehaves or the class becomes too hectic, her daughter usually has to leave the classroom because she can’t handle the situation.

Caitlyn couldn’t understand why she was the one left out

“He retreated into his shell for a while, had no self-confidence, didn’t really know his direction in life,” says Paula.

Her mother says Caitlyn is now unrecognizable. Wildlife photography “really changed” him as a person.

The skills Caitlyn gained from Paul helped her gain a place at Ayrshire College, where she studied for an HNC in photography.

For Caitlyn, college life is much better than school.

To manage her autism and anxiety, Caitlyn uses fidget cubes and “calm tags,” which are small sensory devices she holds in her fingers to keep her focused in stressful scenarios.

He wears his headphones all day, which gives him protection from the noise around him. He doesn’t seek silence but uses music to find his calm.

Caitlyn will listen to playlists made by her friends or her father’s influence, Eminem.

“When the environment gets hectic or noisy at university, teachers will realize it’s too much for me because I’ll be wearing both headphones in my ears,” he says.

“If it’s quieter, I’ll put on one headphone and keep the other ear open.

“If my head lifts up, that means anxiety, and you can see my legs sway up and down when I’m nervous.”

Routine is important for Caitlyn, who has autism, and Paul helps manage it.

Before each trip, he will email the schedule of the workshop day and when he can rest.

Mom Paula says that although people love Caitlyn’s photos, they don’t realize the effort that comes with it.

“A lot will have happened that day. Mixed emotions; maybe happy, sad, excited, nervous.

“They don’t see the next sensory overload, the noise, the anxiety, the exhaustion.

“He’ll come home and go straight upstairs to his room to sort everything out.”

But Paula says photography gives her daughter purpose and Caitlyn gets through it because she loves it so much.

Caitlyn has come a long way since she first photographed her dogs at the beach.

He now volunteers his camera skills at local events and has even been enlisted as a student photographer for his first wedding shoot next year.

Caitlyn also runs a craft stall selling notebooks, calendars and prints featuring wildlife images. He hands out business cards explaining his autism and APD.

His biggest passion is traveling to Kenya and photographing cheetahs in the wild.

She’s preparing for a dream trip to Finland next year with Paul, where they hope to photograph brown bears and wolves.

This is a huge step, but everyone around him believes he can do it. And more importantly, Caitlyn believes in herself.

“Before I started photography, I lacked confidence,” he says. “But I gained trust and confidence in Paul.”