These dolls were made e"special'ly for children
undergoing
amputations
or going through
chemotherapy. They have been used by teachers to
help classmates understand certain disabilities and by
doctors to help children learn how to put on their
prosthesis. Grandmothers, grandfathers, moms and dads,
aunts, uncles, friends, doctors, therapists and
hospitals have all shared these
dolls with the children
they love. We'd like to get the word out that these
Sew *ABLE* dolls are
available and waiting to be adopted and loved. They are
18 inches tall and can share clothing with other popular
18" dolls. They all come with a pair of
crutches. We have had requests for dolls with other
limb differences and ethnicities and we are working on
that forthe future. The dolls were created by me after I
spent a few years counseling the most adorable children
in a children's psych hospital and I saw the
relationship these chlidren had to their dolls, dressing
them alike.... even the hairstyles were changed to look
like their own. It left me thinking about the children
out there who were dealing with physical disabilities. I
wondered if they had any dolls they could had a heart
for all children with other types of disabilities. It
was a feeling that wouldn't leave me alone. I wondered
if children with physical disabilities had a doll that
resembled themselves.... or ones they could change to
look like themselves. I was saddened to see there
weren't any all vinyl dolls like the other popular 18
inch dolls. But after seeing the price of creating a
high quality vinyl doll in the U.S. or overseas, I
better understood why. What I could not understand is
why the bigger manufacturers didn't make any. They had
already made one of the most popular dolls on the market
but for some reason, did not continue to manufacture
dolls similar to this. The amazing part is that this
particular doll sold the biggest seller of dolls when a
disability was linked to the doll. But if the big
companies weren't going to focus on helping children
with disabilities then I certainly would try, somehow,
someway, someday! I knew it would happen but had no idea
how long it would take or what obstacles I would face to
make this doll real!
I will save this area to add onto for those of you
who would like to know what went on during the years we
tried to create, manufacture, patent and make this doll
a reality. Since they were created, my mom was diagnosed
with breast cancer and she went through chemotherapy for
weeks on end and invasive surgery. Today, just 2 years
later, she is doing well. Her favorite item that we
make, is of course, the
scarf and
baseball hat. I bought her a baseball hat that she
wore almost everyday. Please understand, this all
happened after the dolls had been created. We had no
idea any of us would go through Cancer and deal
personally with what it's like to have all the
treatments. I know she understands much better than me,
how important these dolls are. My mom is my best friend
and she is the reason this doll
business continues. She is there always! She is the
one who ships your items to you and makes sure they get
to the right address. She is also the seamstress of some
of the outfits we have.
My dad, my other best friend :) has given his time
and energy to run the business and write the checks for
business expenses. As a dad, he is wonderful and
irreplaceable. As an accountant he is purely amazing.
Feel free to add your ideas. Also, I hope you can be
patient with the changes to the dolls. We are 3 people
in this business and we would love more than ever to
make all the changes tomorrow. We were only allowed one
"style" of doll in a very large production run, so we
chose to have one above-the-knee amputation and
prosthesis, and one below-the-knee amputation and
prosthesis (all on the same doll). It's been a long
trip, but it's all been worth it when we hear from the
parents and children who receive the
Sew *ABLE* and
Special Like Me dolls. We have donated to many in our
country and numerous other countries overseas. We have
done this as much as possible but unfortunately we do
not have the funds to give them all away. I would love
to do that but the business would surely go under and no
new dolls would be able to be created. To be added onto
at a later time... Please feel free to add your
comments.