Lots of moms out there have a hard time managing to make sure their family’s Elf on the Shelf stays on the move during the holiday season, but one mom is putting us all to shame by creating her very own original Elf doll. Samantha Lackey designed an inclusive Elf on the Shelf for her two-year-old daughter, Stella, who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic disease that affects her motor function. Bean the Elf uses a purple wheelchair and pink ankle-foot orthoses, just like the toddler.
When Stella looks at Bean, she sees an elf who looks just like her and Bean does the same activities as Stella. The elf goes rock climbing at occupational therapy and uses a nasogastric tube that delivers food and medicine to the stomach through the nose, although Bean’s tube is filled with hot chocolate. Samantha was inspired to make the inclusive elf after she and her husband gave Stella her first Barbie doll, who also uses a wheelchair, and they saw her confidence grow. Now they make an effort to make sure she sees herself represented in her toys and books.
“I don't think she even second guesses that the elf is in a wheelchair because that's just what she's so used to,” explains the mom from Phoenix, Arizona. “For me to be able to mirror this little elf with her personality, I think she truly appreciates it.” She also shares Bean the Elf’s antics on Instagram in hopes it sparks conversations in other families about people with disabilities. Samantha says, “I think bringing inclusion and normalizing disability is going to only make our kids a little kinder when they see someone with a disability.”
Source: Good Morning America