wHOLEhearted

We'd like to introduce you to wHolehearted Kids, a site whose mission statement is:

Let curiosity inspire amazement.
Consider the whole person.
Acknowledge gems already present.
Value wisdom learned from having a different experience.
Focus on what people CAN do.
Inspire self-reflection on how differences contribute.
Model living wHOLEheartedly.
Share David’s wisdom.

The creator of the site, Cyndi Elliot is an occupational therapist from Montana who is launching a new line of dolls with special needs. Here is her bio:

I am the sister of a dynamic, authentic brother. David was born four years after me, the tenth child. The impact of his life on mine is beyond measure. David expresses himself with extreme truth. I follow his lead.

At a very young age, I recognized David’s body and cognition were slower, but he had a greater ease about himself in his heart and in his mind. His wise abilities stood out above the rest. David had a hole in his heart, and surgery when he was a newborn left him with a large scar across his chest, side and back. I remember being little, looking at the scar and wondering, “Why God? Why did he have a hole in his heart, and why did he have to go through that?” In my early 40s, I remember having this epiphany. I thought, “Oh my God, he was born open-hearted!” And he is! Believe me, he is very open-hearted.



During the summer of 2009, I brainstormed and heart-stormed how I might honor him and children with different abilities. I have been a pediatric occupational therapist, which enabled me to meet many wonderful, multi-abled children. Children who were strong, brave, spirited, and inspiring. The artist in me created sculptures, capturing their essence. Now I am sharing, through my dolls and my message, the wHOLEhearts and wholeness of those who have taught me.



This journey has been led by my brother’s love.

Each doll features a short story of the accomplishments of the child they honor. At first glance, it is next to impossible to tell the doll represents a special needs child and is only revealed once you read the story and “know” the doll and their story. It is this moral lesson that Elliot intends to teach not only children but everyone to live wHOLEheartedly and see everyone as wHOLE.

“They are already wHOLE. They just need our help with some little bit - instead of looking at them as broken, and we need to fix them a lot to be like us. I think they already have a lot that they can teach us, Elliot said.

View all of the dolls here.