Custom therapy dolls—adapted for any child
By Kylie McKenzie
A Jerusalem firm is having great success making dolls for children living with disabilities that actually mirror their real life situations.
When Tami Gutman, a special education teacher at ADI Jerusalem, (ADI stands for ability, diversity, inclusion), a rehab care facility for some 220 children and young adults, realized there were not suitable toys at neighbourhood stores, she set about adapting a few soft dolls into playtime twins.
Now, Gutman’s Toy’s Like Me project can personalize dolls by adding gastro lines, glasses, hearing aids, respiratory lines or even a tracheostomy cannula in their neck. As ADI’s Director of Education says, Gutman’s project is more than making dolls, it’s based on a philosophy to make every child feel like any other child no matter what his or her needs might be.
Photo: ADAPTIVE DOLLS at ADI Jerusalem
