This is a Down’s syndrome doll which has been designed with the characteristics of children born with the condition.
The manufacturers claim such dolls, which are finding a growing market in Britain, help ‘normalise’ conditions like Down’s syndrome so young sufferers don’t feel so different from their friends. They even say such dolls may help make disabled people more accepted by society.
Children undergoing cancer treatment can get ‘chemo’ dolls which are bald and come complete with headscarves. Others are available with hearing aids, glasses, guide dogs, wheelchairs, crutches and leg .Many parents of disabled children have welcomed the dolls as a realistic alternative to the physical perfection of the Baby Annabells already on the market.
Others, however, dismiss them as a sick joke. In fact, their detractors believe they only emphasise a disabled child’s differences to their able-bodied friends.
Children undergoing cancer treatment can get ‘chemo’ dolls which are bald and come complete with headscarves. Others are available with hearing aids, glasses, guide dogs, wheelchairs, crutches and leg .Many parents of disabled children have welcomed the dolls as a realistic alternative to the physical perfection of the Baby Annabells already on the market.
Others, however, dismiss them as a sick joke. In fact, their detractors believe they only emphasise a disabled child’s differences to their able-bodied friends.
a mother says:She says: ‘To me, creating disabled dolls like these and giving them to a child pigeon-holes the disabled and turns them into something akin to a freak show.
‘It seems as if the disability is being highlighted here, whereas most disabled kids just want to blend in and be accepted for who they are .Also, it worries me that able-bodied children might treat these dolls as a figure of fun. Life is difficult enough as a disabled child, as Rebecca will testify, without this unwelcome attention.’, — Rebecca doesn’t even like her disability being referred to.
‘It seems as if the disability is being highlighted here, whereas most disabled kids just want to blend in and be accepted for who they are .Also, it worries me that able-bodied children might treat these dolls as a figure of fun. Life is difficult enough as a disabled child, as Rebecca will testify, without this unwelcome attention.’, — Rebecca doesn’t even like her disability being referred to.
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