Hello, my name is Marie-Claude, I am a mother of three children, as well as three grandchildren, two of whom have autism syndrome.
My mother, when she was 45, began to show symptoms of Alzheimer's. She died in 2009, at the age of 72. This disease was rather common in the family and of course this led me to know the disease better, and to wonder what relief I could bring. On a personal level, the departure of the children during the change of custody was a shocking event that activated things. The need to take care of someone was all the more revealed, by the void created.
A deep self-reflection led me to my training as a beneficiary attendant, for a career change on the way. The attendant experience brought me a lot, but it was not yet what I was looking for, I felt like I was missing out on the essentials for me. I spent more time doing other chores than spending time talking with them, caring for them, and providing them with comfort and presence. As for many of us, the pandemic has had an impact on our lives, our projects. It was in the beginning of this period that the idea of the reborn doll resurfaced, because I had plenty of time to simmer the idea…
Indeed, I knew reborn dolls since the 80s and as far as I can remember it has always been my dream to have one, life offered me at that moment the wonderful opportunity to materialize this dream.November 2020, birth at home of the first reborn baby! Love at first sight ! The White Night ! (yet the baby was not crying!) In the early hours of dawn, the inspiration to launch the reborn doll workshop project, as sometimes the night brings more than advice!
Then, the gestation and the birth of the project, many planning stages, as well as new babies! To ensure adequate funding and competitive rates for Reborn activities, I also attached to the project a second-hand clothing store for babies 0-24 months.The first workshops simply confirmed to me the countless benefits of reborns for the elderly. By presenting the babies to them, if sometimes they realize that it is a doll, the realism invites them to let themselves be taken in the game and feel good about it. It is not mandatory to be under the disease to feel this effect… Holding the baby in their arm brings them comfort, serenity, smile. Another positive effect involves that it calms the agitations by decreasing the anxiety. Reborns create moments of connection to a reality through which they have the opportunity to give tenderness, love, despite the illness, they can still take care of a baby.
Indeed, simply on the physical level, it allows them to maintain a certain dexterity as well as a muscular tone, because the dolls have a weight. For the past few weeks, thanks to the opening of the accommodation centers, I have been able to do some activities to promote the activity. People are happily discovering the effect that reborn dolls can have. I have heard this kind of phrase several times: we thought that it could sometimes be useful, but we certainly had not imagined such a positive impact on the elderly.
This does not exclude the effect on the staff of the establishments, who monopolize me during the first minutes, before I start the activity. When their wonder diminishes a little, I can start the activity for the people for whom the whole thing is intended. Reborn dolls act as a balm to people's hearts.
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