While browsing the Internet the other day, I saw a story about a doll that’s fashioned like a disabled child. To be a bit more specific, a child with Down Syndrome. While I was growing up, I used a wheelchair. Although I knew most of the kids at my school didn’t have a disability, it didn’t bother me. This isn’t necessarily the case for all disabled kids. I think having dolls with differences is a great idea for children with disabilities so they’re less likely to feel left out when it comes to their non-disabled peers, which can sometimes be the case. If there are dolls with different eye, skin and hair colors, it only makes sense to have dolls with different disabilities too. It’s great that dolls can be made representative of real life.
Having these dolls available can help kids feel like they’ve got someone to identify with. They can also help build self-esteem. It’s a great idea for children with out a disability to have a chance to be exposed to these dolls too. That’s because it could help them become sensitive to others no matter their circumstance.
When I started thinking about this, I remembered that when I was about 17 years old, Mattel came out with the first Barbie doll in a wheelchair. It was really cool to see that a toy company seemed to be catching up with the rest of the world, but then, it kind of disappeared from the market.
I really like that this doll encourages things like occupational therapy. I remember when I was younger, I was really not interested in doing the exercises that were assigned to me by my physical or occupational therapist in the least. Maybe these dolls can help make a not so fun thing a little bit more fun to do. All in all, I feel like these dolls have the potential to make an impact on many people.
What do you think about creating different dolls to exemplify the differences of people in society?
Thanks for reading…
cr