lifestyle

Hearing aids, wheelchairs, canes... These dolls with disabilities are incredible.

Sometimes Barbie just doesn’t cut it.

The Facebook campaign Toy Like Me began as a group of parents with disabled children doing their own ‘toy makeovers’, in a call for better representation and diversity in the toy box.

Barbies were given hearing aids, Baby Borns were fitted out with NG tubes, Duplo characters got seeing eye dogs and even teddy bears received tummy tubes in a bid to highlight the need for toys that catered to children who didn’t fit the generic plastic mould.

Now, toy maker Makies has joined the party – and instead of just accessorising dolls, they’re offering a completely customised figurine to match any child.

Makies already offers an online customisation process that allows the buyer to choose the sex, skin colour, hair colour, eye colour, face shape and clothing of their doll. Soon, however, they’ll release a line of accessories catering to the disabled community, including hearing aids, canes and wheelchairs. They’ve even created a prototype doll with a facial birthmark.

Prototypes Makies dolls with cane, hearing aids and facial birthmark.

It’s no surprise that many parents of children with disabilities are thrilled at the news – and the suggestions for alterations are pouring in.

“Would be cool to see a diabetic doll with an insulin pump and a CGM,” one mother wrote on the “Toy Like Me” Facebook page. 

“Would be great to see a doll with a scar on the chest for children who have heart surgery (like my daughter),” said another.

 

Check out some of the inspirational toy makeovers from ‘Toy Like Me’. 

As for concerns over the cost of the dolls, which retail for $115 each, opinions are divided. But for some parents, the opportunity for their child to see themselves represented in a doll is priceless.

“I will happily pay $115 for a doll with Down Syndrome!” One happy parent gushed.

Read more: 

“I have a disability and a girlfriend. But when they see us, people assume she’s my nurse.”

“The top 5 worst things I’ve heard whilst disabled” will shock you.

Aspiring model with Down’s Syndrome is changing the face of beauty.

Would you love to see a toy with a specific disability? Would you pay $115 for a Makies doll?