Special Need Dolls

I recently filled an order for a childrens hospital in North Carolina for 6 dolls with specific special needs.. Thought I'd add some pics in case anyone is wondering if a doll could be made for your own special angel with one of these special needs... 

This doll has an omphalocele... An omphalocele is a birth defect in which the infant's intestine or other abdominal organs stick out of the belly button (navel)

Her omphalocele is securely sewn in place. If could actually be removed at a later date is desired...

This doll has a feeding tube as well as a trach tube... I can insert either, but customers will need to send me one to use, as I have no way of getting them myself... I can also make "pretend" ones using craft foam if you don't want the real thing added to your doll...

 I sew around the "incision" really well in order to keep the feeding tube in place.. Rather than fill the bulb with water, I fill it with air, so there's no chance of the doll's stuffing getting wet... You can easily add more air if ever necessary...

 This sweetie is a Down Syndrome doll with hearing aids in both ears..Her eyes are a little slanted and oval shaped, her face is a little rounder than the other dolls and a bit flatter from the side... 

Hearing aids are attached with velcro and can be removed if wanted for bedtime :o) The dolls don't normally have ears, but if you want your doll to have ears to go along with the hearing aids, I'm glad to add them.. 

 This baby doll is a little boy doll with hydrochephalus, a shunt and a much larger than normal head...

 His shunt is located at the top of his head along with his scar, and his tubing runs down the side of his chest and tummy, ending at the scar point... The shunt and tubing can be felt under his "skin"...

This cutie patutie has one shorter than normal leg.. His foot is located just beneath his knee on one leg... 

And last, another hydro boy, this one with a just slightly larger than normal head.. I thought I had taken a picture of his tummy tube, but can't locate it.. But he has a tube running down his chest and tummy ending at the scar location.. His shunt and horeshoe scar is located on the back of his head and can be felt through his hair...

I'm always willing to try to recreate any special needs your child may have.. If you are wondering if a special need you would like added to a doll can be incorporated, please email me at karen @ karenskids.net (no spaces) and ask.. Pictures always help me to visualize what I'd need to do, so feel free to send me pics!

You can read more about my Special Angel dolls at www.specialangeldolls.com or go to Custom Ordered Special Angel Dolls.  

Dolls are available in either 16" or 20" sizes..

Dolls with shunts, or Hydrochephalus dolls...

Some of my favorite doll orders are for Special Angel Dolls.. These are dolls made with special features to match a child's special needs.

This cutie is a shunt doll. Her shunt is in the back left side of her head with the tube running down the left side of her chest and the belly scar to the left of her belly button.

I started making the Special Angel dolls about 7 or so years ago..It really wasn't my idea, but rather a very sweet Mom who wrote and asked me if I could put a shunt in a doll.. I didn't even know what a shunt was! This mom was super helpful and gave me all kinds of info on them, gave me links to websites that would help me understand them and answered every question I had.. 

The very first shunt doll I made was for this little sweetheart.  

I will always remember this little girl as the start of the Special Angel Dolls ;o)

My husband and I started going through craft stores and Home Depot looking for supplies I could use.. I took a bit to figure it all out, but this Mom sure made it easier with all her wonderful help! 

This cutie has beautiful eyes and wears glasses, so her doll does , too.

Her shunt bump and scar are in her hairline, so her doll's is, too.

Before long, I received another order for a shunt doll, then another and another... Now, 7 years later, I've made so many hydrochephalus dolls, I've lost count.. 

I had a company who supplies shunts to hospitals write and ask if I could make a doll with an actual shunt and tubing (they provided).. They asked if I could add some sort of clear fabric down the front of the doll and on the back of the head showing what the system looked like... They wanted this doll to use as an educational tool for children who were about to have one surgically implanted..  I used a clear sewable vinyl product to sew a "pocket" to slide the shunt and tubing in so it was visable.. I wish I had a picture of that doll, but unfortunately, it crashed along with my computer....

But that doll was actually incredibly helpful to me because I got to feel what a real shunt looked like before it's inserted in the head, plus I got a feel for the tubing.. Wonderfully helpful experience!

One of my fondest memories is of a large group of Hydro dolls that traveled to Sweden to their new homes. A woman who's son had a shunt contacted me and asked if I'd be willing to make dolls for each child in their Hydro group.. Her name is Merja and I still hear from her from time to time.. What a great experience! 

I attempted to add a sign in Swedish on the side of the box declaring the box to be fragile and handle with care.. I'm not sure what I actually wrote, but Merja did seem to find humor in whatever it was.. She never did tell me what it actually said.. 

The internet has sure made our world a lot smaller.. If it weren't for the internet, I never would have met so many wonderful people from all over the world.. It's been a wonderful ride!

Each shunt doll has the shunt bump on the head, in the back, on the top, in the hairline, on the right or on the left, where ever it's actually located on the real doll :o)  There's a tube running down to the neck from the shunt and continuing down the front of the chest to the tummy, where a scar is placed to match the child's scar.  The shunt bump can be felt through the doll's "skin" on the head and the tube running down the front can also be felt and seen slightly.. A scar is also added to the shunt bump area, usually in the shape of a horseshoe, unless another shape is requested.. In short hairdo's, like the one shown below,  I can add the scar through the hair... I try to work with whatever the customer would like.. As long as it's something I can work with, I'm more than willing to try.. 

Shortly after I was asked to make a hydro doll, I started receiving requests for dolls with missing limbs, then on to prosthetics, scars from surgery's, hearing aids, cochlear implants and more.. 

This is Lil Owen.. He's a shunt doll and was donated to the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite
If you see him there, give him a hug for me :o)

I very much believe that people cross our paths for a reason.. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had that wonderful Mom cross my path 7 years ago and ask me if I could make a shunt doll...

She started me on this particular journey and I'll be forever grateful to her. 

I've had a lot of people writing me asking questions about the Special Angel Dolls. 

You can get lots of info from my website:

Karens Kids or/and

from the Special Angel Page.

Ordering info can be found here:

http://www.karenskottage.org/CustomOrderSpecialAngel.html

But if you still have questions, feel free to email and ask ;o)

karen @ karenskottage.org (no spaces)