When Marblehead, Massachusetts-based photographer Rick Ashley visited Disney World with his wife and her then-12-year-old brother Michael, who has Down Syndrome, he observed the way people stared at Michael, and the way the boy retreated inwards during such moments of alienation. Ashley promptly purchased for Michael a pipe, a baseball cap, and sunglasses, telling him that he resembled the General Douglas MacArthur and suggesting that he salute to anyone who gazed openly at him. Soon, says Ashley, Michael was greeting everyone in this manner, and they returned his salutation with a smile.