London-based manufacturer MakieLab is creating the dolls with disability and differences via 3D printing. Kids will be able to customize the look of the dolls—the gender, outfit, hair and eye color—then pick add-on aids and accessories, including a wheelchair. It's yet one more way 3D technology is a game-changer for people with disability.
Dolls with a disability aren't very common. Some kids have been concocting their own versions, like these dolls created by a 10-year-old who's been an above-the-knee amputee since infancy, complete with crutches from broken hanger pieces.
Another 10-year-old girl with a form of muscular dystrophy started a change.org petition to get American Girl to release a doll with a disability, and snagged 145,000-plus signatures. As she noted, "Disabled girls might be different from normal kids on the outside. They might sit in a wheelchair like I do, or have some other difficulty that other other kids don't have. However, we are the same as other girls on the inside, with the same thoughts and feelings. American Girls are supposed to represent all the girls that make up American history, past and present. That includes disabled girls."
Alas, diversity in dolls does not cheap; the MakieLab beauties will run $108 each. Hopefully, major toy companies will see the attention these dolls are getting and follow suit with more reasonably- priced dolls. Some small enterprises have come out with diverse dolls, including Extra Special Dolls, started by the mom of a girl with Down syndrome who wanted dolls that resembled her daughter. Doll maker Karen's Kids offers a Special Angel line with customizable dolls including ones with prosthetic limbs, feeding tubes and cochlear implants. The B Independent site carries crutches, a seeing eye dog and cane and other accessories for dolls.
It will be awesome for kids with disabilities to get their hands on these dolls. And you know what would also be awesome? For kids without disabilities to play with them, too.
Images: MakieLab
That is cool, though as a hearing aid user and non girly girl I wish that the hearing aids had more color options other than pink.
ReplyDeleteI am a non girly girl as well and what are hearing aids like I have to get them soon and I'm kind of nervous
DeleteI made this Minecraft skin. He has two very cool artificial legs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.minecraftskins.com/skin/5569096/assassin-with-artificial-legs/
I do like the idea of familiarizing people with disabilities, like this because what you know something about, you're less likely to be afraid of. My husbands co-workers daughter was going to have a child with a disability...so my husband comes home and asks me about it. I told him everything I knew about that particular condition. He tells me that everyone else was afraid to ask the co-worker about the child, but he wasn't, because he had KNOWLEDGE. Taking the mystery out of a disability, showing people how it's o.k. to talk about disabilities. It's forward progress.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters are non-girly girls too
ReplyDeleteAddie has really never been interested in dolls
They both love stuffed animals and have a whole menagerie
Build-a-bear actually has a few things that fit this category - wheelchair, crutches, glasses and hearing aids, all for the bears to use/wear. The bear can even have its own ipad, to match up with the kid's communication device. - Alyssa
DeleteLove this idea for my doll-obsessed toddler with a facial birthmark! Hopefully this can be picked up by other companies as something more "normal" and we won't have to buy special dolls for ridiculous prices. :/
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! BUT - am I the only on thinking this? - there need to be more BOY DOLLS with disabilities represented! My son loves to play with dolls, but there are none here that are boys. Also, there needs to be some action figures (aka - dolls for boys) with disabilities! Girls are not the only ones who need to support inclusion.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? It's as hard to be Ken as it is to be Barbie.
Delete..... well.... like I said a while ago in this post (http://www.meriahnichols.com/dolls-with-down-syndrome/), I really hope people give these dolls to kids WITHOUT disabilities. I mean, I can't speak for everyone obviously, but I know I would have been horrified to have been given a doll with scars and hearing aids while all my friends got a Barbie. You know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Karen Challender and I've been making Special Angel Dolls (dolls with special needs to match a childs) for many years (boy dolls too !).. You can read about them at www.specialangeldolls.com or email me for info. Have a great day...
ReplyDelete