Amy Jandrisevits knows the value of a good doll. "Dolls have a power we don't completely understand," she told The Today Show. It's a conclusion she came to while working as a pediatric oncology(儿科肿瘤学) social worker using dolls to help her young clients adapt to their changing medical situations. Many of the kids saw themselves in those dolls. But for the kids missing a limb or who had lost their hair, there were none they could relate to.
So, seven years ago, when a friend revealed that her child was suffering from appearance anxiety caused by a rare disease, Jandrisevits, now 49, knew what might help the youth through this potentially challenging period. "It's hard to tell a kid, 'You are perfect the way you are', and to build self-esteem that way, but never offer them anything that looks like them," she says.
Jandrisevits went about changing that. She crafted a doll by hand-using fabric, stitching, and markers—that resembled her friend's child and sent it off. After the friend posted a photo online of the happy child and doll, another woman asked Jandrisevits to make a doll that looked like her baby, who was missing a leg.
Word spread, and soon Jandrisevits was making dolls for children with scars, birthmarks, facial deformities(畸形), tracheotomies—in short, a doll that looked like them. She quit her job and started a nonprofit, A Doll Like Me.
Working out of her home in Milwaukee, from photos sent by parents or caregivers, it takes Jandrisevits roughly seven hours to craft each doll. A GoFundMe page helps her offset costs and allows her to donate her services. She hasn't charged for a doll since she began her nonprofit.
In all, she's made more than 400 dolls. The waiting list is long, but Jandrisevits is unbowed. As she explains on her GoFundMe page, "Every kid, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, medical issue, or body type, should look into the sweet face of a doll and see their own."
