Dolls with disabilities?

My Roux (Elfdoll Vivien) has a arm crutch (custom production from a local artist). Long story... She was a circus performer.

Green Chartreuse - The Secret Garden VIII by Arengil Tajedinápravá, on Flickr

 

A lot of my characters tend to be on the autism spectrum... mostly because I am, so it's easier for me to think and write from that perspective even if the characters present in very different ways. So among my dolls, Billy and Marigold are both Autistic (it's just a coincidence that they happen to also be the two short redheads... also like me).

Vince's character isn't disabled, but I did think it was kind of cute in a weird way when I discovered that he and I have the same 'bad hip'-- he's just strung a little bit imperfectly so one of his hips doesn't want to stay in place, since I haven't restrung him in an age. Technically both of my hips are bad, as is my lower back, but I tend to go out more on one side than the other and I liked that he seemed sympathetic to it? Since he's the Comfort Doll of the crew.

Pete has more severe vision impairment (and photophobia) than I do, but he rarely wears his glasses, which are very slightly tinted for said photophobia. (actually, as I take my glasses off to clean them, I realize we probably have similar levels of blur, but he's more light sensitive in addition-- because I've been a glasses-wearer for so long, the last time I was talking about disabilities among my dolls I didn't even THINK about vision impairment)

 

My doll is supposed to be a schizophrenic boy so kinda like me. We can relate to each other

 

I never realized BJDs could be such a great way for differently-abled people to express themselves. How wonderful! Having a doll friend that has the same experiences as you must be nice.
More on the side of physical disabilities, but wouldn't it be cool if more dolls came with them? Perhaps a limb fitted with a prosthetic? I never thought about it before, but after reading this thread I think I'll sculpt some option parts for the doll I'm working on. I was already planning on doing ballet feet, flat feet, and heel feet, so whats a few more pieces?
Thanks for broadening my horizons by talking about your dolls!!

 

Aww, that's so sweet of your husband! Some people don't "get" dolls, but I feel like this thread shows how useful they can be! Everyone's responses were cool to read. I feel more educated now

I'd never seen that Aimerai doll before, he's so cool! Why didn't I know about him when I wanted a steampunk boy He would have been perfect! Seeing him really inspires me to do something like that too. With so many new sculptors getting into making dolls, more of us should try to represent different kinds of bodies!

 

This is such a great idea... Jointed hands are something I just found out about. I love the idea of using them for sign language...

 

I have dolls with several of the disabilities already mentioned in this thread, but I don't think parathesia has been brought up, and it's something that my first SD and I both share. Whenever my hands and feet are tingling/burning/freezing real bad I can put myself in the mind of my character and know he feels the same way, which I find helpful.

 

At the moment no. My first and only (for now huehuehueuhe) doll is a macho elf from Raccoon doll and I will confess I hadn't given this any thought until this thread. Thank you everyone for sharing and @Manic Mushroom for creating this very cool thread about representation and comfort and more.

As another spoonie/disabled human I take comfort in the fact that he (Caedan) could have all the spoons in the world instead of me.

 

This thread makes me so happy! I love seeing the incredible diversity of dolls that reflects the real world. My first legit doll (who sadly isn't with me yet) is going to be a character I've been working on for a while; a deaf and selectively mute girl with ADHD who attends a prestigious arts school and writes poetry. I myself have ADHD, anxiety, and depression, and I often end up making characters for dolls that include one or more aspects of that, but I also like to branch out to include other disabilities that I want to see more representation of in fiction (with proper research done on anything I'm not familiar with of course). I love reading about all the amazing disabled dolls others have and the stories behind them!

 

Yes! I don't have a physical disability, but I have SZPD, which I have never seen represented in any form of media ever (and probably never will), and OCD, so making my dolls have similar struggles is kind of a comfort thing and representation, even if it's just my characters, is very important too.

 

I am going to be making my feeple.named Andi a cane soon. I'm supposed to get one but I've been stubborn and just limp around. I'm mostly unsure how to use one properly. But since she is supposed to have my conditions, I want her to do the right thing lol

 

@Doll-Mage He is so cute! I love his wheelchair!

My newest doll, Tommy has a little bit of a learning disability if that counts! A few of my other dolls have mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, ptsd. I haven't given any of my dolls physical disabilities, but I am interested in creating a character with some kind of physical disability one day!

 

I loved reading this thread! It's so inspiring to see people using their dolls as this kind of expression.

I guess I do by proxy? Most of the characters I write though have so called "invisible" illnesses, as my son and I both do, and many of those characters I've been shelling into doll form. I don't really do photo stories or the like though, so it's mostly that they're a tangible representation of a character with disabilities, if that makes sense.

In particular though is the little Pongpong I did up in my son's likeness My son has childhood apraxia of speech and can't talk (he's just started speech therapy and is already making huge strides!) but despite the frustration he gets sometimes with us not understanding what he's trying to express, he's such a happy, vibrant little boy. The moment I saw that giant Pongpong smile I just thought that's my baby! and knew exactly what I'd do if I ever got my hands on one Now I've got my little smiley boy in doll form in my home office.

 

I have a few, a mix of moderately visible and invisible types.

Gabriel has a chronic illness that leads to fatigue, nausea, pain, and sleeplessness due to night terrors.
Maren has oculocutaneous albinism, with visible implants that help correct his vision.
(I also have another character on the shortlist to be ordered who has ocular albinism; due to a reduced gene pool, recessive traits such as albinism have become somewhat more common than the human average among Gabriel and Maren's kind.)
Prae is blind; her blindness is magically induced, so it's visible in her eyes being whited out.
Luc is selectively mute.
Edward has a prosthetic arm and leg (mods in progress).
Jace is lucky and is only missing one toe.
Edmund has a prosthetic arm, too, which will be done when I finally decide how I want it to look.

 

My dolls are all designed to represent characters from my creative work (mainly screenplays), which is how I process a lot of my own emotional pain. This manifests itself in both mental health issues as well as physical injury.

Taylor is the most flexible; based off one of my creative muses—a woman I greatly respect and admire—she takes on many roles depending on what I'm working on. Her body is blushed with numerous cuts, bruises, scrapes, etc. from her previous time as Scarlet, a severely depressed, anxiety-ridden pop idol traumatized from years of abuse, and trapped within an existential crisis. Though I consider this story finished, and her head is currently away for a long-deserved makeover, I never had the heart to have her reblushed; she may not be able to feel pain, but that sense of metaphorical agony is so important to my connection with her as a companion doll.

Next in line would be Carina, a street performer and aspiring actress left aphonic after her vocal cords were damaged in a car crash. This is why there's a jagged scar painted across her neck. I've always felt like I've never really had a voice; that my work and dreams never matter to anyone. After Taylor, she is probably the closest to my heart.

Faye is a makeup artist that murders models, and turns them into perfectly preserved dolls, an addictive behavior born from a mixture of childhood trauma, and the loss of her beloved to terminal illness; a high IQ, obsessive-compulsive individual that, instead of being a textbook sociopath, finds herself crushed under the weight of intense remorse instead. She... ended up being way more relatable than you might think. Her severe isolation, emotional unfulfillment, the inability to let go of past mistakes, OCD, and negative coping mechanisms all hit extremely close to home. To this date, I've never finished her story... it goes to some very dark places, and seeing Faye—someone that, deep down, is a beautiful, loving soul crying out for help—so undeservedly tortured, upsets me so much.

Even though it was years before I was finally able to have her, Foxglove might have been the first doll I conceptualized in this manner; an ageless woodland witch turned agoraphobic misanthrope after her lover was tortured and killed for practicing magick centuries prior. I don't think I realized it at the time how much of a reflection this was of my severe anxiety and deep-seated trust issues. Her crippling loneliness, much like mine, is something I wish no one ever had to feel.

... sorry if this was all TMI. I just didn't really know how better to explain my little band of misfits better.

 

I have a lot of OC's that have "issues" either physically or mentally. I think the reason for this is because I find mental illness extremely interesting, as someone who has struggled with mental illness. The same for physical difficulties, I want to know more about them and become more educated with them. I worry a lot about inaccurately portraying these with my characters though, I want to ensure that I don't misrepresent or accidentally stereotype anyone's struggles.

 

Since one of mine won't stand, I got her a wheelchair. I decided she is a post polio and has mobility problems and
another wears an insulin pump.