Kurt Vollert’s son’s passions have ranged from trains, to the deep sea pacific hagfish.
“He becomes interested in a topic then goes online and absorbs (information) like a sponge,” Vollert, a Royersford resident, said of his 15-year-old son, Alex, who has Asperger’s syndrome. “We call it a data dump — he has to talk for five minutes straight without a breath then he moves on. I’ve learned to just listen.”
Vollert is one of the fathers that Phoenixville-based photographer Brian Mengini is featuring in his new photo series, “A Father’s Love,” which explores fatherhood within the special needs community.
Mengini of Schwenksville, whose son, Dominic, has a double diagnosis of sensory processing disorder and pervasive development disorder, is the founder of Dominic’s Dreams Foundation (/), a nonprofit with a mission to raise awareness for SPD. He also created Hope Dances, a nonprofit dance outreach program for special needs children.
“Unfortunately, I’ve heard from lot of different mothers at events I attend and through different groups I’m part of that some dads just don’t buy into the fact that there’s something wrong with their kid. They say, ‘Leave them alone,’ or some dads maybe just don’t know how to handle it or deal with it, so they ignore it.
“When you have a child with special needs,” Mengini continued, “it really takes the entire family, both within the household and the extended family.”
With “A Father’s Love,” Mengini set out to spotlight the fathers who, whether they “stay at home” or have “9-5 jobs,” share family responsibilities and advocate for their special needs children. He hopes that through the images he captures, coupled with his subjects’ personal stories, other dads will get inspired “to step up and take on their roles (as involved parents).”
Vollert is one of those fathers who just might inspire the dads navigating a new diagnosis. He and his wife, Gloria, founded the A Team, a parent/teacher support group for children on the autism spectrum in the Spring-Ford Area School District.
He said autism shouldn’t be a label, but at the same time, it should be openly acknowledged.
“With Alex, it’s not something that we hide — it’s something he’s very aware of. And helping him to understand his strengths and his challenges only makes him stronger. And that’s not going to happen if I’m in the background not doing much,” Vollert said.
Mengini created the Fatherhood Advocacy Network () for dads who champion for their kids with special needs in hopes that the website would eventually spur social outings and meetings. But the network has so far not gained the traction he hoped it would. So for now, his focus remains on “A Father’s Love.”
To support that endeavor, he’s created a home for the photo series at http://afatherslove.co, where he will chronicle his own challenges as a single father with a special needs child and invite other fathers to serve as guest bloggers.
“A Father’s Love” currently features several fathers and their children who are mostly Montgomery County residents. Mengini, a dance photographer, also has photographed fathers and their children in Boston and hopes to grow the exhibit as he travels to other cities.
“Every child needs to know a father’s love,” Mengini said. “The more we can do (with the series), the more awareness we can create and hopefully the more fathers we can inspire to step up and take on a more active role in the advocating for their child.”
Mengini explained that he offers free sessions and shows the exhibit free of charge, but donations will allow him to continue with his efforts by helping to cover travel costs, vendor fees and the cost of prints, frames and easels.
“I want to do more with it and travel more with it, but all of that stuff comes with an expense and so far I’ve been footing that bill,” he said.
Mengini is looking for more fathers to get involved with this cause, and to be captured by his lens or to share a personal story a dad doesn’t need to have created a foundation or a support group, he said. “They just need to be active in their kids’ lives. They need to know about this stuff.”
Rather than dwell on — or ignore — a diagnosis, Vollert recognizes the strengths that Asperger’s has given his son and praises him when he shows them. “He’s got an incredible memory and a great ability to digest large amounts of information in a very short period of time,” he said.
“My hope is that fathers can recognize (opportunities that come with challenges), embrace them, support their children when they need support and encourage them not to be self-conscious or feel different just because of their diagnosis.”