About Regards Gran'Ma, Inc. and the inventor

I was a stay at home Mom for three girls. They are all grown now and the oldest and the youngest have gifted me with grandsons, 25 years apart. The middle one gifted me with a granddog. I started my career after the girls were in high school and the youngest one in the last elementary grade. Now all of the girls are strong, secure career women. 
I developed the Discovering Me Therapy Doll in 1986 and Regards Gran'Ma, Inc. in 1993.  They were sold primarily to therapists, clinics and teachers.  I really wanted an EDUCATIONAL TOY, that would accomplish teaching children how to express and talk about their feelings. This year that dream came true with the development of the Discovering Me Furbuddy. It is perfect for the age of four years old and up. Kids can develop communication skills that will carry them through life, through the joy of play. My professional and personal life, as it relates to the creation of Discovering Me Doll is below.
    
Sandy Van Hoose Saunders was one of the co-founders of the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Washington, D.C.

This set the precedence for many of today's similar institutions. As an early advocate for an integrated program of nutrition and holistic health, she developed the educational newspaper, "Preventive Medicine Forum". And was an early promoter of radio and television programs  to increase public awareness of health issues, as well as, seminars, conventions and lectures at the university level. To promote early education, she created a television character for a children's show, programs in the public school system, and a motivational plan to enroll disadvantage children and their parents into a free health care program.  She served on a government agency boards to remove highly processed snacks from the public school system.

      When a series of life changing events occurred she was lead to experts in the field of attitudinal, spiritual, emotional and physical healing. Listening to audio tapes and reading everything she could find.  Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD, the founder of The Center for Attitudinal Healing, speaking on Love and Forgiveness.

She was fascinated with O. Carl Simonton, MD techniques of teaching patients to heal their cancer with visualization.

She did affirmation work reading Louise L. Hay's "You Can Heal Your Life". Her work included visualization and replacing fear with love.

Dr. Wayne Dyer tapes gave encouragement and motivation for continuing to reach the goal.

In her words: "I was commuting 180 miles a day and thank God for these tapes. I studied daily and with the help of these books and tapes I crawled out of the mire of dis-order I had buried myself in. I listened to my tailor made affirmation tape twice a day and they started to manifest into a new reality for me. I "stopped for a brief moment in time", stopped commuting and stepped out of my comfort zone and onto a new path." 

      Then through a series of dreams and inner felt events "DISCOVERING ME DOLL" was born.

       Moving from public education to the area of "Listening and Touch", she became an advocate and teacher for the elderly, developmentally and mentally disabled. A unique contribution to this work was counseling and speaking on the power transition struggles of the aged and disabled. It was in this work she gained insight to the re-occurring theme that dis-ease caused by undelivered communication is transferred through the mind/body connection to reappear as physical pain in the body.

         Learning that not everyone can visualize the source of their body pain, Ms. Van Hoose developed the four part DISCOVERING ME MIND/BODY PROCESS as a visual aid tool to allow for creative communication and healing. This tool is most helpful in discovering the emotions long consciously forgotten, but imprinted in the body from the beginning of the first action.

 The name "REGARDS GRAN'MA" goes back to a time when the extended family was a reality and "GRAN'MA" was an important, vital part of the family unit. "GRAN'MA" imparted advice through the wisdom of experience.  "REGARDS GRAN'MA" is a greeting to the inner child in all of us.