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"Parents are desperate to find a doll that looks like their child."
"Parents are desperate to find a doll that looks like their child."
Link to tweet
Inspired Life
First there was a transgender doll, then one with an amputated leg. Now these dolls with differences are giving kids a boost.
Emma Grassi, 4 months, with her look-alike doll. (Brian Grassi)
By Cathy Free
March 12 at 8:00 AM
During the three years that Amy Jandrisevits worked as a pediatric hospital social worker, she often used dolls to show children what would happen during their surgeries or treatment. The dolls also helped children act out their emotions and feel more secure.
But there was one part of it that bothered Jandrisevits. ... While young patients at the hospital were often facing amputations, had severe skin burns or had lost their hair to chemotherapy treatments, the dolls she handed to the children always had all their limbs, plus flawless skin and shiny, thick hair.
“What about the girl with limb or hand differences or the boy with a large birthmark on his face?” Jandrisevits asked. “It was always in the back of my mind that they deserved to have a doll that looked like them.”
In 2015, about 14 years after leaving her job at California’s Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Jandrisevits put her idea into motion. It came about by happenstance.
....
Jandrisevits took up the challenge and finally completed an exact replica. She knew she had nailed it — and that’s what keeps her making the next one and the next one. ... "Every single doll tells a story of a little person,” she said.
First there was a transgender doll, then one with an amputated leg. Now these dolls with differences are giving kids a boost.
Emma Grassi, 4 months, with her look-alike doll. (Brian Grassi)
By Cathy Free
March 12 at 8:00 AM
During the three years that Amy Jandrisevits worked as a pediatric hospital social worker, she often used dolls to show children what would happen during their surgeries or treatment. The dolls also helped children act out their emotions and feel more secure.
But there was one part of it that bothered Jandrisevits. ... While young patients at the hospital were often facing amputations, had severe skin burns or had lost their hair to chemotherapy treatments, the dolls she handed to the children always had all their limbs, plus flawless skin and shiny, thick hair.
“What about the girl with limb or hand differences or the boy with a large birthmark on his face?” Jandrisevits asked. “It was always in the back of my mind that they deserved to have a doll that looked like them.”
In 2015, about 14 years after leaving her job at California’s Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Jandrisevits put her idea into motion. It came about by happenstance.
....
Jandrisevits took up the challenge and finally completed an exact replica. She knew she had nailed it — and that’s what keeps her making the next one and the next one. ... "Every single doll tells a story of a little person,” she said.
5 replies
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