Seems like little girls love dolls, even if they grow up not really playing with them. My Barbies tended to be broken and one had a green mohawk, hee hee. But, I liked having them. It seems like there are dolls for everything – including monster dolls, rock star dolls, dolls with wheelchairs, and dolls for boys. One category of dolls that is not well represented though is dolls for kids with Downs Syndrome.
My child doesn’t have DS, but I know people whose child or children do, so I found this project “Dolls for Downs” to be intriguing. The woman who started the project was shopping with her daughter, who commented there were no dolls that looked like her. So often dolls are marketed as a way for girls to identify with themselves and others, empower them to become whatever they dream of, or to encourage imaginative play. Well, when there isn’t a doll that looks like you, you might feel a little bummed out. As the Dolls for Downs website says “everyone deserves a best friend.” These dolls will be less expensive than an American Girl doll, although they won’t be as inexpensive as a Barbie doll. They are an 18″ doll, a fairly standard size for dolls right now, and they also have boy dolls. The doll clothing will also be specially designed to teach fine motor skills and independent living skills. While they were featured on the Pittsburg PA news, I am really surprised this hasn’t gone national.
Today I took a moment to pledge $25 to this project. It isn’t much for me, but to someone else it may make a difference between the ability to buy a doll and just wanting one. I hope you will also click through and learn about Dolls for Downs. They are working on getting the final funding to launch the doll line and make them available for purchase. Click the links below for more:
Notes from the Melody Maker 