Dolls with special needs cause controversy
Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Kids 5-7, In the news, Toys & games, Special needs
Though I spent a dozen years working in special education classrooms with preschoolers and toddlers, it never once crossed my mind that the dolls my students were playing with in the housekeeping area often looked nothing like the kids themselves. They were just kids playing with dolls, doing what kids do, even if those kids had diagnoses that other children didn't -- Down's syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy. But some doll makers, many of them parents of special needs children themselves, think that children with disabilities might benefit from having a doll that looks like them. And so they created dolls like these. With the best of intentions, I believe, they made dolls with Down's syndrome, including a heart surgery scar, dolls who have been through chemo, bald and with a catheter port, dolls in wheelchairs, dolls with leg braces.
But the toys have some parents of disabled children fuming. One mother said of the dolls, "They are totally one dimensional -- they can't show that a child with Down's syndrome can be funny, bright, and articulate." They worry that these dolls pigeon-hole kids with special needs, that they put the focus back on their disability.
Other parents think that the dolls are a good idea, but need a little tweaking -- fashion dolls who have special needs but still wear trendy clothing or action heroes who still save lives despite their own personal hurdles, for instance. Though I can't really decide how I feel about these dolls, I think I tend to agree with these parents the most. Childhood is about fantasy, about make-believe, and about imagination.
What about you? Do you think these dolls with special needs are appropriate or even helpful? Or do you think that they focus too much on a child's special needs and ignore what is truly special about a child?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jenni 7-08-2008 @ 5:17PM
"They are totally one dimensional -- they can't show that a child with Down's syndrome can be funny, bright, and articulate." Can't you say the same thing about any doll? That is what a doll is after all: an inanimate object that the child him or herself animates.
I don't care one way or the other about what a child's doll looks like; the child is only going to play with it if he or she chooses to anyway. There's always one special doll out of the hundreds each child has in their bedroom. What makes it special seems to be an individual choice for each child that adults could never explain.
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Tammie 7-15-2008 @ 11:24PM
Jenni, I totally agree with you, I have a son now 18, born with cerebral palsy, physically handicapping him. Leg braces and all, I feel he would have benefited having a doll like this. And probably his shallow twin sister as well! Great Comment.
ciao 7-08-2008 @ 6:46PM
I'm thinking that perhaps "special needs dolls" may be of greater importance to more "typical" children. The parent who posted that children play however they choose with their dolls, using imagination etc, so it isn't really all that necessary that the dolls be made to portray special needs-- was very eloquent. My thoughts however were more in the direction of how the availability of special needs dolls may help parents and/or educators foster greater understanding and compassion in more typical mainstream kids, many of whom may have limited opportunities to otherwise gain understanding of special needs. There's a place for "special needs dolls" although it may not be what the creators initially imagined.
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Tricia 7-09-2008 @ 8:26AM
My youngest daughter has had three heart surgeries - the most recent one 3.5 months ago. She'll be four in two weeks.
She's starting to question other kids: "Do you have a zipper too?" We have friends in the heart community who have been through the surgeries but she wants to be able to see someone on a more regular basis that is "like" her. We took to drawing a "zipper" on one of her babies.
Her surgery is still fresh in her mind as are her scars. They'll fade with time and become the silver badges of honor again, but I think it's great to have someone that's "just like her" to help her out.
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jennifergg 7-09-2008 @ 8:30AM
Does it matter that the dolls are just ugly? I've been around children with Down syndrome, and babies with Down syndrome are particularly angelic. I wonder why this doll has on what looks to me to be a clown suit?
I'm all for diversity...in toys and dolls and people. Especially people. But I think the quality of the toy is important, maybe even more important than the novelty of a special needs toy.
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moppityshoe 7-09-2008 @ 9:03AM
I remember reading a while ago that they did a study where they put a bunch of dolls of different races in a room and then looked at whether children would play with a doll of their own race or a doll of a different race, the argument being that most dolls are caucasian and therefore kids of different races are feeling left out.
What they found was that all the kids chose to play with the caucasian dolls, regardless of their own background. I forget if they asked them afterwards or if this was just extrapolating by the researchers, but it was suggested that this was because the white dolls were seen as superior by the kids because they would not face the discrimination that the kids did, and therefore the kids wanted to play with them because they were "better". I guess the same way kids want to play with the cool kids more than the non-cool kids.
(I'm not saying I agree with that, just reporting what I recall from the study, which I found fascinating)
I wonder if children with disabilities might show the same kinds of patterns. I think it's an interesting idea, but I wonder if the assumptions of the toymakers are not correct, that maybe kids don't necessarily want to play with dolls that look like them, but would rather play with one that is perceived as "cool" (or insert whatever adjective you want there).
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marie 7-09-2008 @ 9:00PM
We recently talked about this particular study by Clarke and Clarke in class, and the professor explained it like this: It was done in 1920, when racism was even more rampant in society than it was today. The white dolls were factory made with cute clothes, etc. The black dolls were homemade, because you couldn't buy one from a store. The kids picked the one that looked fancier, plus it was what they were used to having, regardless of their race.
Without knowing the setup of this study, the results are often misunderstood. The researcher who designed the study did not take into account that the white dolls were more desirable simply because they were better made. What Clarke and Clarke actually ended up measuring was how kids react to strange dolls.
Black people do not look up to white people as superior. That's racism talking again.
bygrace 7-09-2008 @ 9:13PM
I asked my 9 yr old special needs daughter what she thought of the doll she thought it would be a good idea she just wanted them to have better clothes. I think the parents who came up with the idea should be applauded instead of critized for trying to make a difference. If other parents with or without special needs decide not to by the doll than that is their right. I didn't buy my daughter the Pregnant Barbie that came out nor did I seat around and critize other parents who did. Atleast they tried to do something to help their childs self esteem. We are asking that the media use real life models who arent a size -0 because little girls are starving theirselves to look the image. But we bash someone who tries to show their child and others that they are beautiful to.
Uly 7-13-2008 @ 4:42PM
That study is quite famous, being more-or-less central to Brown v Board of Education
nicole 7-09-2008 @ 9:55AM
I am the mother of a former 23 week surviving twin premie -- she went through 5 1/2 months of NICU -- heart surgery being one amongst many medical procedures --- another one was the placement of a MIC-KEY button (like a G-BUTTON but smaller) she is fed through a pump. She miraculously remained completely neurologically intact. Which is also astonishing. My point being....she goes around trying to "hook" up her food pump to her baby dolls. She often trys to "hook" them up to their belly buttons. I am looking for a doll with a MIC-KEY button and maybe even one with a heart surgery scar....so she can see that there are others like her. I told her yesterday that I liked her MIC-KEY button and she grinned and hugged me and said -- Thanks! She is three but older than her years.....so I think in my daughters situation a doll similiar to her would be very helpful. But thats just my opinion.
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Patricia McNeill 7-09-2008 @ 8:33PM
Dear Nicole ... I do agree with you!! My daughter is of mixed race, and I could not find a doll for her, that looked like her, to save my life! So I made a doll for her that would wear size 6 months old size clothes, and her doll became so popular with children at our Inter-racial Family Association meetings that I began making them (even for an 11 year old boy!) for children who expressed a need/wish! I can't tell you how many dolls I have made, no two quite alike! One family adopted two Korean girls, one with almond-shaped eyes, the other's eyes were more round .. and these little girls were thrilled with their respective 'babies.'!! At meetings I would set up a table full of dolls, and children would look for one that "looks like me!" These dolls with special needs just may fill that same need!! Piper
rhondav. 7-09-2008 @ 5:44PM
I am the mother of a 7 yr old special needs child. She has a feeding tube, a wheelchair, a heart surgery scar as well as other surgery scars and neurological disabilities. I think these dolls are fantastic! I would love to get one for my daughter.
I agree most children use their imaginations, just as I agree the dolls would be great with educating non-disabled children. I think it shows greater compassion of society in general for the disabled to manufacture a doll like this.
I think what the parents who are opposing these dolls need to understand is the spirit the dolls were created in. Even if they don't like them and refuse to purchase one for their child, doesn't mean other parents will make the same decisions. I know parents that refuse to buy their daughters Brats dolls because they are too "sexy". There are parents that won't purchase toy guns. I think the same should apply to these dolls. If you object to it for whatever reason, you don't have to buy it. But don't condemn those that do buy it. Each child is different and each family approaches their child's disability differently.
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cindyd 7-09-2008 @ 9:25PM
I agree, as a therapist who works with children, there are not enough dolls out there that portray this special population. I remember when Barbie came out with a doll that was in wheel chair. I bought it for one of my patients about12 years ago, and now they are no where to be found. I know that American girl dolls do make wheel chairs and crutches for their dolls, but I am not aware of a company that makes accessory for their dolls that may need braces, orthotics, hearing aids or prosthetic limbs. The only thing i would oppose is the fact that the doll with down's syndrome is not symbolic of all children's with downs. It would be nice if dolls could be custom ordered without being overly priced, God knows these parents pay a large enough price on other items that "typical" children don't need. I know the child life specialists at our local children's hospital do great jbb of making dolls with patients who are old enough when new surgeries arise, which helps the kids tremendously.
Julie Frein 7-09-2008 @ 8:21PM
If the dolls fit into the child's life without problem, I think that this type of product is wonderful. If a parent is uncomfortable with it, than they do not have to buy it. Certainly, because it is available, a child could accept "if they make a doll that looks like me, then I must be okay". If I had a child with a condition that had an outward effect on their appearance, I do think I would indeed purchase one of these dolls.
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deenahh 7-09-2008 @ 8:33PM
First I must state that I am not a parent of a child with special needs, but through my job as a school bus driver I have worked with many special children. As an example I will used downs syndrome...not all downs kids look alike...being that the syndrome supposedly causes the kids to have some physical characteristics that look "different", to me some downs kids look "normal" for lack of a better term. If the dolls were specially made for a particular child, with features, clothes, braces etc. that are specific to them only, maybe...but as a parent of African American children, I would always allow my child to pick what ever doll she wanted, skin, hair, eye color really didn't matter to her. Hair that she could "fix", cool clothes that she could change appeared to me to be the deciding factor(s). Needless to say we had dolls of all ethnicities, that ended up with bad hair cuts, tiny braides, majic marker makeup, painted nails, home made clothes etc...My point is that given the choice they will choose that doll that appeals to them rather then one that looks like them.
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Karen 7-09-2008 @ 8:33PM
How can one say that the doll is "one dimentional"? Isn't the whole idea of a doll to introduce personality? The child will only see the special needs doll as "limited" if they're told the doll has limitations. Otherwise, it's simply a fabulous doll with features that they see in other children...not a bad thing at all.
I'm a nurse at a Head Start program ( 3-5yrs old ). I actually had a Barbie in a wheelchair. She was "the school's yearbook editor" and had a camera. That doll went along with every other Barbie, albeit , in her wheelchair...but they included her in their play always and were quite astute to making accommodations i.e. ramps.... That Barbie received a little too much "love" and had to be retired, but I would not hesitate to introduce a special needs playmate again.
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Pat 7-09-2008 @ 8:34PM
I think the "Down Syndrome" doll shown is insulting to the parents of a child with the syndrome. I resent the expression on that doll's face and its outfit. My youngest sister, Lorraine, was born in 1955 and was called Mongoloid before the term "Down Syndrome" was known to any of us. Lorraine seldom had the facial expression of the doll shown. Most often she had the sweetest, warmest smile you would ever hope to see. She was warm and loving and considerate of all around her. She lived at home with my parents her entire life and loved all her nieces and nephews. Her smile would light up a room and we all loved her. That doll does not reflect the love in Down Syndrome children.
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caffin8 7-09-2008 @ 9:12PM
I agree with you. It's not that diversity was expressed, but a nicer expression and outfit would certainly send the message of acceptance to all, rather than perpetuate stereotypes of special needs individuals.
rohrscheibcroh 7-09-2008 @ 8:35PM
interesting post .i can see the child with the feeding tube they relate to it as how they are cared for so they do it . put the braces on the legs teaches as well. as for the heart not as important but if you think so.i think this would be good for i hate to say normal how about blessed to see how the other half lives sort a speak .an understand them
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MARY 7-09-2008 @ 8:36PM
I DO REMEMBER FEELING BADLY ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE WERE NOT TO MANY DOLLS WITH DARK HAIR DARK EYES AND OLIVE SKIN "IM 44 NOW" SO ALL MY PARENTS COULD FIND WAS A NATIVE AMERICAN DOLL AND IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES, IM NOT SURE IF THIS IS A GOOD THING OR NOT THEY WOULD HAVE TO ASK THE KIDS
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