However, among the thousands included in clipart packages, we have often found it very difficult to find suitable images for the materials we produce for people with developmental disabilities. Sometimes the images are stylized and not sufficiently realistic to be understood clearly. Sometimes images that we might think cute are seen as babyish and condescending by slower readers. Silhouettes and partial figures can cause annoyance or confusion because facial features or body parts are indistinguishable. Often the images either do not represent the reality of life as a person with a disability or are downright derogatory.
Exercise is more likely to mean going for a walk, rather than skiing or snowboarding.
A woman whose work experience is being a clothes sorter in a secondhand store, is poorly represented by either an image of a well-dressed business woman with a briefcase or an image of a cocktail waitress with big hair and an hourglass figure. There are virtually no positive images of older people, individuals with disabilities, or those from different racial backgrounds. Images that show people doing ordinary activities, like watching TV, are few and far between. People with disabilities are represented by the occasional image of them in wheelchairs or with seeing eye dogs. Although many people with developmental disabilities cannot be distinguished by their appearance, there are specific disorders which have recognisable characteristics, such as Down syndrome.