Your Chance To Pre Order Dolls For Downs, I Ordered Mine Thanks To All Of You!

Today I am so very excited to share with you about some new 18 inch dolls that are in pre production. These very special and beautiful dolls are made even more special due to the fact they are the first truly beautiful dolls that represent children with Down Syndrome. These breathtaking dolls are in pre production and offered on line through Dolls For Downs. Org.

 

I had a chance to interview the driving force behind this new doll line, Connie, who was inspired to create beautiful dolls who truly represented her daughter Hannah. 

This two minute video shares some of her story and below I share with you her answers to some of my questions.

Q: What size will the dolls be?

A:The dolls are just under 18 inches because kids with DS are shorter than their peers.  We would have made them 17 inches but we really wanted the clothing lines to be close.

Q:Do you know yet the cost involved in ordering and weather you will ship outside of the USA

A:During the pre-order phase, now until March 22, I will mail anywhere in the world for $12.50.  That is because these are basically the production funds and it's my way of saying thank you for believing not only in the dolls, but in me, a total stranger who is asking for money up front.  The response has been so positive.  Every day when I check my email, there are the most wonderful letters of support from people who didn't have to take time out of their days but they DID!!

Q: How many styles of dolls will we see?

A: We are hoping to launch with 9 girls although right now, we are only pre-ordering for 5.  If we get enough money for all 9, an email will go out to all pre-ordering customers giving them an opportunity to swap out, if they want to.

Q:Are you going to create a boy doll?

A: We already have 5 boy dolls, Matty, Robby, Ian, Sammy and Andre!  We hope to have a few more.  The response to the boys has been as popular as the girls.  I love that!

Q:Do your dolls eyes open and close or are they fixed?

A: Right now the eyes are going to be fixed.  I love the way that they look and I am not sure that having them open and close would add much to her over all look.

Q:Have you decided on the type of clothing the dolls will wear and if so why did you choose this type?

A:We have designed (by "we" I mean my OT consultants and myself) an outfit that has pants that zip on the sides to make them easier to get on and off, snaps on the pockets and an attached belt, a shirt with big buttons, a super cute jacket and hiking boots with laces.  Our dolls, unlike some others, will have underwear, too.  No one needs a socially inappropriate doll running around all willy nilly.   We have a bunch of different skill specific, cute garments and accessories coming down the pike.  We also have AFOs, glasses, hearing aids, g-tubes and hopefully trachea tubes, too.

Q:As a mother of children with Special Needs can you tell me a bit about your thoughts on the importance of doll play as well as how important having a doll that your child looks like is?

A:It started because Hannah saw no dolls that looked like her and she actually noticed.  That told me there was a need.  However, as the project grew, I came to understand that it is much more than that.  Putting a doll with special needs into the mainstream population takes away some of the fear, stigma and questions.  My daughter is 1 of 6 children.  They ALL have special needs... she just has a diagnosis... ha ha ha.  All kids need the same things.  I didn't give birth to a "syndrome" I gave birth to a child.  She eats, sleeps, cries, feels mischievous, plays practical jokes on her sister, she is more alike than different.

When a child plays with a doll, they combine worlds.  They take the world they live in and they manipulate it, create in it and I think in a lot of ways, they make it better.  Maybe a child who has exposure to a doll that is different, won't approach a person that is different in the same way.  Change a child, change the world 

I know that children love dolls that look like them because those dolls might be able to do things that they can not do aright now; be an astronaut, be a princess, something, anything;  dolls are possibilities limited by imagination only.  All kids have that in common.

Q:I love the photo of the dolls hands can you share a bit about your sculpting journey?

A:For a year I worked with a factory sculptor.   We couldn't get over the language gap.  When I was referred to Karen Scott, the entire world opened up to me.  We viewed, edited, scrutinized, hundreds of photos.  We picked about facial features, we compared sizes, shapes, colors, everything you can imagine.  We started working together almost a year ago and we are finally in the mold phase.  

The hands were the first sculpt that I saw and when I opened that file attachment, I actually cried.  I knew that Karen "got it."  She fundamentally understood what I was looking for, not on an artistic level- on a heart level.  There were days when we'd trade the same picture back and forth saying, "something isn't right but WHAT IS IT??  The hand of one of those things.  Then I'd took some pictures of Hannah's hands and we compared and said, "ah... one finger is too long." 

I'd say that the sculpting journey has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever been a part of.  Watching that child emerge from clay, take shape and then have personality was like unwrapping the best surprise!

Q: Anything you would like to share with my readers?

A:I just wanted people to see Down Syndrome the way I do.  I see a beautiful child full of possibility.  I hope they do, too.

I could not agree more. I strongly endorse this beautiful line of dolls, not just as a doll lover but as a Mother! *I would like to thank each and every one of you who has viewed my blog and visited any of the sponsors on my blog I used the funds raised from these advertisements I received in the last year to order Hannah from Dolls For Downs.Org To pre order your own doll and support this wonderful doll line please click here . Delivery is expected to begin in May!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
* Google Adds between my posts in the last year that were clicked added up to enough to pay for this doll and her shipping. When you click these adds Google keeps track and then once the total reaches a certain amount they kindly send me a cheque.