Dolls with disabilities?

I learned in my late teens I had dysgraphia, thank god as it was a struggle writing and not understanding why made it worse. I was home schooled and really smart otherwise but spelling and writing were just the hardest thing even though reading was easy. I'm so glad to have learn why as made it easier to deal with.

Velocity and Legacy as characters are these kind of super villain OCs loosely based on us from an art/comic-book parody club we were in. We shelled them as dolls cuz my love's art is photography. When we worked how much of ourselves to put into them we made up minds to put in at least one or two of our own flaws for realism. (As well as other traits like Vel as a reflection of me is bi-gendered, and under a lair of being lippy is really a bleeding heart.)

I also get leaving some traits or issues you have out of dolls as well. It's play and should be a way to have fun, not make an issue worse. If Vel having depression dragged me down too much, I'd scrap that part of the character so as not to hurt my own mental health.

 

I have always wanted to have a doll that uses a wheelchair, for my OC, but I have never been able to make it. I have tried to plan a SD sized wheelchair several times, but have not managed to come up with anything that would support her weight and look good. All the existing chairs have been made for very wide dolls like American Girl, and I want my doll to have something comfortable that looks like she uses the chair in everyday life. So a wide seat, heavy looking frame and folding leg supporters are not what I would want ideally. I am also super bad at crafting or planning anything mechanical, I just don't have that kind of intelligence. I really hope I could shell her some day despite all the trouble. If I could just get a blueprint for the parts, my father owns equipment he uses to make parts for sports car engines and can make pretty much any metal parts, with a little more cost of course, but then I would have a Mercedes class wheelchair!

 

One of my characters is blind in one eye and has extensive scarring on the left side of his body and face, but he is usually hiding it. I'm planning to buy a second head for him which really will have scars and a blind eye.

Another one should have a mechanical, prosthetic right arm, but so far I didn't find any which would suit my idea. The irony is, his fullest actually had mechanical, steampunk arm -- very similar to what I envisioned. But when I bought him, all fullsets were already gone. I'll either manage to find a similar hand in future or (more likely) paint the prosthetic arm ower his ordinary arm. It's easier than moding it.

I'm planning to shell a character who has PTSD. I don't have PTSD but I'm hypervigilant -- this probably influenced me in these regards. My second planed doll keeps on forgetting to eat and is a workaholic. I don't think it's actually an impairment at all, but it definitely isn't entirely natural state of things. This is also a problem I have, my weight fluctuates really a lot due to this.

 

@vauhtikatti Myfroggystuff has a couple of videos for DIY wheelchairs, custom fitted for the doll's size: and

As for spoonie props @Cinnamon Crystal, perhaps a cup or bottle of water or a smoothie for when cooking is too much? Pillows or some kind of portable seat would also be cool.

 

I have one doll who needs a wheel chair, though I’m yet to find an SD size wooden one

 

None of my dolls really have characters, but I have plans for my Volks F05 to kind of embody my personal issues. I am a chronic migraine sufferer thanks to a brain condition called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. Fortunately, I'm in a bit of remission, but I want to pay tribute to that difficult time in my life and how I pushed through the pain to accomplish my goals.

 

@saraquill Thanks, I have seen those, but I do not think that a chair made of paper or plastic bars and CDs is going to last very long on a heavy doll sitting on it all the time, plus they are not that realistic to me. I think sourcing folding metal bars or some welding machinery would be the best - and pretty hard - way to make a modern "sporty" chair that could actually be used, like bringing it outside and travelling with it, and that has functioning wheels (just one of my fixations, it is not even going to show on photos so I don't know why it matters to me so much). I have seen someone once using old stroller wheels as bases for wheels, and I think that would be very useful. There the wheels would only need some thinner metal hoops attached to them, so that the chair can be "wheeled". I once saw metal hoops for sale for making dreamcatchers, they have various sizes and colours and would be ideal for the purpose.

 

The doll in my avatar has his arm amputated at about mid forearm.

 

I've been meaning to get one of my dolls a wheelchair in remembrance of a girl I used to know who had difficulty walking more than short distances, like across a room. The doll also has a fantasy head that makes her unable to stand unaided. She's an odd size, about 20cm tall and slim, so finding a wheelchair her size is difficult. Another one of my dolls' characters is deaf, having lost his hearing as a child. I have hearing loss, from childhood too, though its not as significant as his. I also have a doll who has PTSD. I should make him a dog so he has a service dog or emotional support animal.

 

@saraquill those are good ideas. Some cute water bottles would be nice.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned 3D printing to make a wheel chair. I'm not an expert at it, but I assume that using the right kind of filament and making the pieces thick enough could make a nice, sturdy wheel chair. There are free 3D models out there. There might be one of a wheel chair, and I don't think it would be too hard to model one if necessary. There are companies that will print the pieces for you as well. My other thought in making wheel chairs was metal casting. I know very little about it, but I think it would make a really sturdy chair.

 

This might be a bit random, but amongst my doll making plans, I want to make one that doesn't reflect my (invisible) disabilities literally, but metaphorically. I want to create a doll and use either gold paint or something else to make it look like kintsugi. Just because that's more a reflection of how I feel, than a literal representation.

(I hope that isn't offensive to anyone. It's mostly to do with PTSD, and my own feelings about myself, because everything becomes fragmented. Between the present and the past, there are bits of me all over the place. It's not to imply that disability makes you broken, 'cos it doesn't. It's human.)

 

My favorite doll mirrors my mental illness and physical disability, in a way it’s made me bond with her more.

I was injured years ago and have permanent nerve damage. My doll Mia can’t stand for very long either but I changed her cause to something fantasy based. She’s a lab creation, a human fused with an owl’s DNA, so she has brittle bird bones that can’t support a human body. She has levitation magic(can I get some of that?) but when her magic runs low she can’t walk anymore. I’m eventually getting her a wheelchair.

She mirrors my diagnosed mental illness but again it’s not an exact copy of my own. Mia has severe sensory issues, panic attacks and trouble with speech. She finds it easier to talk to her cat or to young children than other adults. As a result it’s made her reclusive but she can warm up to the right person.

Mia’s best friend(incoming) is a kind and compassionate boy she’s known since they were children, who knows how to talk to her and make her feel safe.

 

My Simply Meant to Be Dohwee has a wheelchair waiting for him when he finally arrives. I'm a part time wheelchair user myself and I'm excited to decorate his chair :-)

 

One of my characters has a magically caused version of something I have. She gets migraine-like headaches, but she gets it from this very dangerous, very illegal magical substance her father decided was completely appropriate to be putting in his child to enhance her abilities. If she overused her powers, she gets absolutely splitting migraines.

On top of that, she can’t fly, which is considered a disability in one of the worlds she’s lived in, and less so in the other. She Hates it when people try to carry her too. She will walk, or she will climb, or she will find a way to get there, but don’t pick her up unless she’s got a migraine or she’s too injured to move herself. For mobility aids for that, she’s learned minor amounts of levitation magic and such, and probably has a service dragon, or the like for long-haul trips she can’t walk on.

 

Suddenly wishing that service dragons were a thing in real life O_O it would be so cool! XD

 

Ari has Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (albinism and associated vision problems, bleeding disorder, lung issues...) and Ilari has PTSD and very poor mental health in general due to years of solitary confinement.

 

Arkady (FL Minifee Mir/ka) has pretty severe PTSD after a life as a professional soldier, and he is dyslexic, though in his world they don't have a name for it, he just hasn't ever been able to really master reading and writing, and that's why.

Amadi (Simply Divine Harlequin) has selective mutism and is probably autistic, though again, fantasy setting and they don't have words for that except Unusual and Quiet and very Studious in his case. He carries a wax tablet around so he can write to people when he's nonverbal. I need to get him some jewelry to stim with.

Kevya (Iplehouse Barron mod) has definitely got Sensory Perception differences and he has PTSD after some awful stuff.

 

I just love the idea of her dropping that into a casual conversation in uni, like “yeah, if we’re planning to fly, let me know, my service dragon will have to realm-hop to get here.” And who ever she’s talking to being baffled. Dragon bonding is a huge thing in-universe, so her getting a dragon would be wildly significant. Her realm hasn’t ever had dragons, so the dragon-bond is something she comes by in another.

ngl I wouldn’t have minded one when I had like a year where a skating injury made walking really painful for my knee. I just thought it was an answer to how fantasy settings could address mobility aids in a way that vibes with the setting, and I absolutely love the idea of her bonding with one.