Started a thread in SN's but for those that don't venture over, interested in knowing your thoughts on these disability dolls

[Thomcat]

There is an article on them here

They are dolls with Down's syndrome, undergoing chemotherapy, blinds dolls, dolls with prosthetic limbs etc.

Good idea, bad??
Would you buy one?

Saw a snippet on the news about them this morning and am not sure how I feel about them.

I saw some of the dolls that had Down's sydrome and I can't help but think that they're a rather stereotypical depiction of what someone with down's syndrome looks like.

But then I thought that perhaps they could be used to promote understanding and inclusion in nurseries etc

I wouldn't buy one, because I don't buy dolls.

I don't think they're a bad idea though, at first thought - be interested to hear more about them though.

(I have a horizontal crease across my left palm - not a broken line like on the other palm - have occasionally wondered if that's unusual and this article reminded me of it!).

I think they're a good idea in theory but I suspect they might be quite expensive. Good idea for nurseries and schools and I know I try to keep an eye out for dlls that look like DS (impossible) becasue I'd like to see him playing with somthing that reflects him IYSWIM, I imagine I would feel the same if I had a child with special needs.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying but a doll can't teach children the behaviour problems, the fact that people with Down's syndrome take a long time to learn new skills etc. It shows, looking at the doll, that people with Down's syndrome have protruding tounges. They don't all have protruding tounges and the children that do have this have a lot of therapy to help with this.

Think that the 'chemotherapy dolls' may help a child going through themselves. So the doctor can explain to the child using the doll what is happening to them.

I saw this on Breakfast TV this morning.
I have two boys, so not many dolls around here, sadly.
I really am unsure about them, tbh. I like the idea behind them, I think that anything which makes children feel comfortable with other children/people who are different to them is a good thing. It must also be great for a child who has that particular condition/disability to be able to have a doll that they can relate to?
Sorry, Tractors/Trains/Powerrangers I can deal with, dolls? Have no idea!

oh - and like lizzylou I probably wouldn't buy one as, as much as I like my children to be play with toys that are assciated with either gender, my DS's appear to be "naturally" interested in anything that is stereotypically boyish

oh - and like lizzylou I probably wouldn't buy one as, as much as I like my children to be play with toys that are assciated with either gender, my DS's appear to be "naturally" interested in anything that is stereotypically boyish

Hmmm... I don't know.

I feel very much dolls & all toys tbh are just what they experience from the real world.

There is a woman selling breastfeeding dolls - they are a mum and a baby and they latch on with a magnet... but in my experience, a child who is around breastfeeding will breastfeed dolls, cows, chickens etc and doesn't need a special doll.

The downs doll looks very odd to me, and more like poking fun (does that make sense??).

Chemo doll for a child going through it could be very good though.

I dunno. Black Barbies have not defeated racism. Feel a bit about these dolls. I wouldn't buy for my friend's litle one with Down's - would feel it was a bit patronising - and would not buy for own DS (not special needs) as I just don't think it is something he needs.

Yes I would feel a bit patronised if someone bought one for DD1.

If however she saw it and wanted one as she recognised something in it - different matter. But I really can't see that happening.

honestly? I think the idea is horrible and I wouldn't buy one. And before I get lynched by the masses for coming out and saying it that bluntly, here's why...

It's one thing having a chemo doll, an amputee doll, to help children who are going through the experience by being able to show them what is going to happen to them etc.

But imo toys should be toys. Children should play with a doll because it's a doll, not because it's black or chinese or has a prosthetic leg or looks like a child with downs. In fact a "downs doll" only tells half the story surely? Because what the child looks like doesn't even begin to reflect what the disability is really like.

I wouldn't buy such a doll for someone with one of the above mentioned disabilities, because I think that by giving say, a child with DS a doll with DS just reiterates to that child that everything about their lives should be in a disabled bubble, even down to the toys they play with.

You put that perfectly!

Very well said wannaBe.

They'd be great for kids who had those conditions wouldn't they? I don;t think anyone should really judge if they can't see it from their point of view

I don't think the dolls are about defeating anything, but giving a child with a disablity/condition or disease something to identify with, a friend in a similar situation, a comforter, a validation. I doubt these are meant to me mainstream, but specialist. You won;t get them in Woolworths

I don't think the dolls are about defeating anything, but giving a child with a disablity/condition or disease something to identify with, a friend in a similar situation, a comforter, a validation. I doubt these are meant to be mainstream, but specialist. You won;t get them in Woolworths

My dd2 has a condition that has facial characteristics, and if they did one with hers, I suspect that I would buy it, amongst others. Then it would just be part of her dolls, not a big deal, she could chose to play with it or not.

I specifically bought my dd2 a brown doll to balance out the pink blonde dollies, and she chose to make that one her favourite.

I don't see this as doing any more than making the dolly world slightly less homogenous.

I don't think they are that bad a thing, but I think they are only really going to be good for DC who have several dolls, like dolls and generally play with them: buying one doll for a child is kind of making it more of an issue than it is. But I do generally like the fact that on quite a lot of kids' programmes now you get kids in wheelchairs etc just included as part of the crowd of kids: I think we can get too hung up on representation as being a cure-all but it's good that there is representation.

Some people just don;t like seeing people with disabiites full stop - not becasue they are bigoted, it just makes them feel uneasy - guilty even - the reaction to these is just the same it seems to me

i am with flamesparrow.

dd has cp. i wouldn't buy her a cp doll if god forbid one was made. she has her doll that she has made disabled. it has a hole in it;s tummy for a feeding tube.
the whole idea to me seems a money making idea. the dolls bear no relevance. imo they won't teach children about disability. a child will still just pick a doll that they like.
and I bet these dolls are more expensive that say a baby born.

I think any extension of the range of human beings added to the 'fantasy' world of dolls is in principle, good.

But the problem is that these dolls are being introduced alongside a typicl doll depiction which has nothing to do with real life, anyway. The dimpled cheeked, rodebud lipped confection of Baby Annable, chouchou etc etc is miles away from blotchy, patchy-haired, range of real babies.

And what about a wider range of depictions amongst other types of dolls - those aimed more at boys etc?

Because my Baby Born toting DS and a few others aside, the majority of the doll market is aimed at girls. SDo where do boys get a wider view?

DS was setting up an identity on a wii yesterday - and was MOST indignant that he couldn't have a wheelchair-user mii-wii. Which I may well feed back to nintendo.

why not start with having people with disabilities in tv progs, in magazines

DS has a koala bear with its own replica cochlear implant. This was given by the manufacturers (Australian based). I didn't read anything too political in it, just clever marketing. DS and DD1 loved the bear for a while then, like other toys, it got forgotten. They also had a soft dog with a bandaged leg (this one from the PDSA) which, again, was amongst their favourite for a while.

I didn't read the entire article but if the dolls were sold alongside others I don't think I'd find it offensive.