{"id":220534,"date":"2020-03-26T10:40:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T15:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=220534"},"modified":"2020-03-25T12:50:46","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T17:50:46","slug":"special-needs-children-joy-dolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-children-joy-dolls\/","title":{"rendered":"Children with special needs find joy in dolls who look just like them"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amy Jandrisevits has learned to notice the kids with special needs, who won\u2019t be able to find a doll that looks like them<\/a>. While it may seem like a small consideration, Jandrisevits knows it can make a huge difference in the life of a child looking for acceptance.<\/p>\n

If you take a blond-haired, blue-eyed child like Jandrisevits’ daughter to the store, finding a look-alike doll is easy. \u201cBut let\u2019s imagine that your friend doesn\u2019t look like her,” wrote<\/a> Jandrisevits in Love What Matters. “Your friend has a limb difference. Or maybe she lived through the horrors of a house fire and her skin tells the story of that trauma. Actually, let\u2019s pretend your friend\u2019s cocoa-colored skin is a road map of scars where they cut tumors out of his body. His hair hasn\u2019t grown back following months of chemotherapy and radiation, so he is bald. Do you see one like that on the shelves?\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: Nashville police officer uses own money to start a camp for girls with special needs<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Recognizing the fact that those children would not find dolls to look like them, Jandrisevits decided to act. \u201cI am a doll maker. I make dolls for kids who will never see themselves on the store shelves,” she explained. “I work tirelessly to get dolls into the arms (and legs!) of the kids they belong to.\u201d What started as a favor for a friend has turned into Jandrisevits\u2019 non-profit, A Doll Like Me<\/a>, which makes dolls for children across the country.<\/p>\n

The dolls are anything but trivial to some of the kids who receive them, many of whom take their special dolls with them everywhere. As Jandrisevits wrote, \u201cParents often tell me how the comments have shifted from \u2018what\u2019s wrong with your daughter\u2019 to \u2018how cute that her doll looks just like her!\u2019 That\u2019s an entirely different message, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n