"Thank you for making a doll like me!"
June 5, 2016 11:54 AM   Subscribe

10-year-old Emma had never had a doll that looked like her, until A Step Ahead Prosthetics made her dream come true in the weepiest video (alternate YT link) you will watch today.

The #toylikeme campaign has been raising awareness of the need for disability representation in children's toys, and there have been responses from big toymakers like Lego and Playmobile, small indies like Weesie Pals and Makies, and of course companies and individuals that mod existing toys like A Step Ahead.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (30 comments total) 51 users marked this as a favorite
 
I double-dog dare you to watch that video without crying. And I love how her little sister is IN ON IT and is SO EXCITED she can hardly contain herself.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:55 AM on June 5, 2016 [28 favorites]


Yup. Cried.
posted by mondo dentro at 11:57 AM on June 5, 2016 [8 favorites]


oh man, little kids don't usually hit me like this but I seriously am still kinda crying. How is mom keeping her shit together? I'd be bawling my face off right with her!
posted by zinful at 12:07 PM on June 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


She'll cry later, when she can relax.
posted by hat_eater at 12:17 PM on June 5, 2016 [10 favorites]


Representation matters.

I love this.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:18 PM on June 5, 2016 [16 favorites]


roomthreeseventeen nails it. Next time anyone acts like having dolls or or other toys that reinforce the sheer variety of nature is trifling I shall direct them to this.
posted by hilaryjade at 12:37 PM on June 5, 2016 [22 favorites]


I am just blown away by the statement from Step Ahead. What an awesome company.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:37 PM on June 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


My parents still talk about going to six different toy stores when I was little to buy me a Shy Violet Rainbow Brite doll, because it was the only doll they had ever seen with glasses like mine.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:41 PM on June 5, 2016 [10 favorites]


I double-dog dare you to watch that video without crying.

Nope, couldn't do it.
posted by el io at 12:44 PM on June 5, 2016


>I double-dog dare you to watch that video without crying.

I fail at this also.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:46 PM on June 5, 2016


I took that dare and IMMEDIATELY failed
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:56 PM on June 5, 2016


Are there places that do this for Barbies? AG dolls are beautiful but they're pretty expensive. (I never had one because I felt my limited toy allowance would be better spent elsewhere but I would read every page of the catalogue...)
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:03 PM on June 5, 2016


Cried; now sitting cross-legged on bed hugging my bewildered dog.
posted by mochapickle at 1:20 PM on June 5, 2016 [7 favorites]


Holy shit, from the A Step Ahead website:

"We are NOT charging for the customization; we feel that it is absolutely crucial to boost the self-confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of inclusion for little girls with limb loss, and that something as small as a doll that resembles them can have a profound effect on their mental and physical well-being. In that spirit, anyone with a child who has had or is facing an amputation is welcome to send us an American Girl doll which we will happily modify with a prosthetic limb (or limbs) to match the child."

And man oh man does the video every prove them right! At first I laughed with joy as Emma got excited, and then the video got to the 1 minute mark and she checks the doll's prothetic, hugs the doll, and just bawls. And so did I.
posted by Frayed Knot at 1:23 PM on June 5, 2016 [28 favorites]


Now I know why black children picking a white doll as better convinced the Supreme Court that separate but equal is not equal... Oh yeah, I failed too.
posted by xammerboy at 1:26 PM on June 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


This is incredibly touching and sweet, and is a wonderful service for the prosthetic company to provide. It was also probably a good idea for whoever wrote the doll's backstory blurb to focus on the part where she was fitted with a great prosthetic in her favorite color, and gloss over the part where the perfectly functional leg she arrived with was severed and thrown away.
posted by contraption at 1:49 PM on June 5, 2016


To address showbiz_liz's concern above about the affordability of the American Girl dolls, it looks like they are taking donations to purchase American Girl dolls to then modify - see http://www.onestepaheadfoundation.org/
posted by that possible maker of pork sausages at 1:49 PM on June 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


Wow thanks for sharing this. I thought I could tough out the video to take on the dare but nope. Was crying halfway in. I never realized what a profound effect having a doll like them could make on a child. I'm so happy this company is doing this.
posted by FireFountain at 2:19 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is a totally amazing thing.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:50 PM on June 5, 2016


Bawling.
posted by amanda at 3:53 PM on June 5, 2016


Yeah got some onions grilling around here somewhere.

Have to echo Eyebrows McGee that the obvious joy of the sister at being in on the reveal is extra special.
posted by Bringer Tom at 4:11 PM on June 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


Oh man, seriously, not even tears I could try to hide. I'm bawling over here, just like her.

This is just priceless. Thank you for sharing, this made my day.
posted by bologna on wry at 4:44 PM on June 5, 2016


I haven't cried this much since "It's Quiet Uptown."
posted by villanelles at dawn at 4:53 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


Challenge accepted. Aaaaaand failed.
posted by bendy at 8:01 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


You made a big man cry, you monster
posted by misterbee at 8:58 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


My initial impression while watching the beginning of this video was a solid "this is slightly more heart-warming than average, awww". Yeah, it's adorable seeing some kid get a present, but I've seen similar things before. Yeah, her little sis is in on it, that's cute. Yeah, kid's an amputee, that's really sad and all, but still. Why is she bawling like that...?

...and then the girl, between gasps for air, stammers out: "It... it's got a leg like me!"

It's equal parts desperation, disbelief, and relief. That line and how she says it just captures... so much. And then the glances back at the doll, making sure she saw it right. And touches it, making sure it is really what it is.

roomthreeseventeen definitely nailed it. Thanks for posting.
posted by theony at 2:19 AM on June 6, 2016 [3 favorites]


It's equal parts desperation, disbelief, and relief.

Part of it for me, in the crying, was that it sounded like she suddenly realized this tiny pain she had been carrying around with her this whole time that she hadn't even acknowledged. That when she finally held a toy that looked like her she realized all the times she had had to ignore that the dolls and toys she played with had both legs.
posted by Deathalicious at 7:02 AM on June 6, 2016 [15 favorites]


My favorite part was when she shut the box for a second and opened it up again.
posted by BibiRose at 7:06 AM on June 6, 2016


Even my extremely stoic husband cried at this, and then was grumpy at me for making him cry, as crying is a thing that has happened maybe two or three times in the sixteen years we've been together.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:06 AM on June 6, 2016 [6 favorites]


Yep, cried. And I seriously love the little sister's yip at the very beginning.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 10:04 PM on June 10, 2016


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