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Post by Jodi on Apr 1, 2005 21:06:58 GMT -5
I have seen her other dolls with Ds about a month ago... she hasn't gotten any better at it! Oh my goodness, it's pretty funny! I feel kinda bad because she thinks they are sooooo special - and she is providing a wonderful service...
I guess it's nice that Ds has touched her life in some manner, I just wish she was more "artistic" about it. Oh well.
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Post by Cbean on Apr 2, 2005 9:17:07 GMT -5
LOL Jodi, maybe she's toooo artistic???
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Post by Emilysmom on Apr 2, 2005 9:43:51 GMT -5
I keep reading these posts and looking at the dolls, and I still just can not "get it". When Emily was about 5 years old or so, I first saw an advertisement about a "Down syndrome doll". Back in "those days" there was a really good magazine that came out ...I think monthly....that had so many great articles and advertisements in it!! And, in the advertisement for the dolls, the whole selling point was that every kid with Ds would want one of these dolls because they were more like THEM than the dolls in the stores. I must say the dolls I saw in that ad looked more like our kids than these do, but I still didn't get the point! I mean.....I don't think Emily notices or cares that she has a space between her big toe and 2nd toe, or that her little finger slightly curves in, or that her eyes are a tad bit "almond shaped", or that her ears are just slightly lower on her head than other kids, and I doubt there will ever be a time when she notices that line inside her palm! (all those were the advertised things that made these dolls look like a baby with Ds). What Emily would want..........IF she had ever been a girl who liked dolls..... would be a doll she saw advertised on TV or one she fell in love with at Toys R Us, or one like she saw a friend playing with. NOT one that supposedly looked like her because of any kind of "differences".
On the other hand........maybe a new mom, full of emotion about just having a baby with Ds might just want to buy one of these simply because the "idea" of having a doll with Ds is sweet??? Maybe. I think anyone who buys one MUST do it based on the IDEA that this doll is sweet and special because of the Ds......not because it looks like their child. When Emily was born, I bought a porcelain doll from a magazine simply because I thought it was so cool that this doll's name was EMILY!!! I continued to buy dolls like that for several years, and dreamed that one day she would proudly display all those dolls in a curio cabinet or something. LOL they are all at the top of her closet and she does not like them at all!
Susan
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Post by Jackie on Apr 2, 2005 10:46:31 GMT -5
Susan...I agree....I have never bought anything that focuses on DS....except........for one small item. For years we have collected the handmade Simpich character dolls made in Colorado Springs....I really have liked buying their "cloud babies" and Christmas carollers ...and about 10 years ago they came out with this cloud baby....and it had the story of how it came to be in their flyer....so...with the name....and our collecting history...I had to have it. www.simpich.com/catalog/cloud/clddear.htmBut actually in person this baby doesnt look very different from all the others... If you open the link be sure to look at the whole site...its really neat if you are ever in the Springs.....be sure you go to the shop. Also these days I dont really buy into all the cute little things that come out trying to put DS into a positive light. I will purchase them sometimes to help out an organization...but for the most part really dont think of Emily's DS like belonging to some big fraternal order.....we dont focus on it. I must admit, though, that early on I DID do this.......it seemed to satisfy a need...maybe an overt way of expressing my acceptance. But...through the years...as I have said before....I really think of Emily as my 4th child...not my 4th child with DS. Of course I was always interested in things to do with DS.... The way I found this site years ago was.....because when I first tried to surf the net...DS just came to mind...and I found all these wonderful people....But away from my PC....I admit I seldom think about DS anymore. I see nothing wrong with these dolls....except for ones that look like NO child I have ever seen before...LOL. Just that they are not for me. Emily much preferred Barbie and Ken to baby dolls. Jackie mom to Emily almost 25
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Post by Cbean on Apr 3, 2005 15:45:43 GMT -5
LOL Susan. Hmmm, as the proud new owner, I mean Mom of a baby with DS, I don't feel the need for a doll with DS when I got the real thing! LOL! Especially if they're going to look like that. I can't help it, but I just think my little bug and all the children I've met in person or viewed here are just gorgeous and no artist can seem to capture that. I feel it's another person who's focusing on what makes our babes different as opposed to noticing the similarities. (Especially when the doll's built with posable joints - reminded me of a praying mantis!) I wonder if my Em will be into dolls. I can't seem to find my favorite from when I was a child. It was a Madame Alexander that my Grandmother gave me - Victoria. She's somewhere wearing my Christening gown. (Was also thinking of cleaning that up for Em's christening.) She's also in desperate need of a trip to the doll hospital. Can't imagine where she is or where my wedding album is. That may be a good thing as I must admit I was sporting some big hair that day! Oh my!
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Post by kellyds on Apr 3, 2005 16:35:51 GMT -5
If we could find one that was smiling, my 7-year-old daughter would like one. She has a doll with a missing arm and she kept it that way so that it would look like her friend's father. She isn't macabre or anything . . . just very accepting of peoples' differences. She cut another doll's hair so it looked just like her friend's (to her, anyway!) I can't imagine that Joshua will ever want one of those dolls, though!
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Post by Debbie on Apr 3, 2005 16:43:50 GMT -5
This is the second time I have seen a doll, a girl, who has Down syndrome. The first one I had seen was a long time ago when the Arc was advertising them. My opinion is this, why not make dolls that are more realistic? We all looked different we don't look the same. Appearances are superficial anyway. Personally though, I think it is bad taste to make a doll who has Down syndrome. Does that mean someone else will make a doll with dark glasses and a cane? Or a doll with a wheelchair? What some people need to do is take a good look at how they view a child and adult with disabilities. I am an adult who has Down syndrome so maybe I am just a mite sensitive to this but, it seems to me that we just all need to accept each other as we are and leave it at that.
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Post by Kristen on Apr 3, 2005 20:08:51 GMT -5
Debbie - great point as always! I love your insights!
Incidentially, I have seen a doll in a wheelchair at Carter's group he goes to. I'm like okaaay...the thing is that kids that are there get that people are different and another kid probably isn't going to get it if they are 3 or 4 because people are people to them, so why heighten the differences and bring attention to something they don't care about at this point and make it an issue? People are who they are. I wish that more people would think that way without slapping on lables and stereotypes.
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Post by christie on Apr 3, 2005 20:11:13 GMT -5
DEBBIE, I couldn't AGREE with you more ;D THANKS for shareing your opinion CC ~
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Post by DereksMom on Apr 4, 2005 21:17:44 GMT -5
That is one of the ugliest dolls I have ever seen!!!!
Hugs
Allison
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Post by Jodi on Apr 4, 2005 21:52:55 GMT -5
I hate to feed into this more... but this is the latest on ebay. It's a little better than the other one, but, HOLY TOLEDO, it is selling for more than $170.00!!! There are three bids. WOW. the description is as follows: "All Babies are Special some are big some are little some are blond some are dark Some have special needs! I met a new friend last week and we started discussing My Work as a Doll Designer, She said her little Girl wouldn't play with dolls , I of course ask why, She told me her Daughter said they didn't look like her!!! She has Down Syndrome. The mother and I talked some more and I said I would see what I could come up with for a Doll .. Well!!!!! this is Dravon My first Down Baby he is a Newborn size weighted to 5 lbs 21" long hand rooted angora goat hair( curly) glass eyes bluegrey, bellie plate(anatomically correct) Dravon is Cold Cast Silicone, head, arms and legs jointed body This is Baby No. 1 and the Cold cast Silicone version of Dravon will be a very small edition I am working to get a playdoll edition produced in the Near future This is a very Exciting project for Me." Link: cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=327&item=5569912985&rd=1
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Post by kellyds on Apr 4, 2005 23:35:25 GMT -5
Well, I like that one, because I think it looks a lot like my son. I wouldn't want to buy it, though, because I'm lucky enough to have the REAL THING! ;D
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Post by Jodi on Apr 5, 2005 9:27:38 GMT -5
I know what you mean... I adore Ryan at 6, but I sure miss him as a baby!! He was so cute; I never wanted to put him down!
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Post by christie on Apr 5, 2005 11:15:54 GMT -5
Hmmmm in her ad or whatever she says "I met a new friend last week and we started discussing My Work as a Doll Designer, She said her little Girl wouldn't play with dolls , I of course ask why, She told me her Daughter said they didn't look like her!!! She has Down Syndrome. The mother and I talked some more and I said I would see what I could come up with for a Doll .." Now not for nothing guys but to give a little child a doll that cost $170.00 just to play with Hmmmm seems a bit off the wall to me But hey thats me, I say go to Toys R Us and get a cute baby doll for lots less CC ~
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Post by Emilysmom on Apr 5, 2005 16:49:51 GMT -5
Call me WAY toooo cynical, but I just don't understand why this little girl would not play with a doll because it didn't "look like her"! That just seems off the wall to me. And this newborn baby boy doll looks like her so she will play with it? All $170 of it??? Makes me think this doll creator (who really did do a better job than most) is playing on the hearts of new parents of a baby with Ds.......tricky advertising to me. I know I could be wrong.
Susan
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