It can be difficult to find dolls with Down syndrome, so in the post I’ll point you to some places to purchase them, as well as some information on why Down syndrome dolls are important.
This post, and yesterday’s on dolls with disabilities, were inspired by Merlene Davis’s column There’s more to diversity than color, in which she notes
But what about children with Down syndrome? What about children who can’t walk or are blind?
Why can’t they have dolls that reflect their image?
Well, truth be known, they can.
With just a few clicks of a mouse, I found dolls in wheelchairs, dolls with walkers and dolls with Down syndrome features.
Why shouldn’t those types of dolls be incorporated into this new diversity splash?
One of the big deals with the generic Kmart dolls is that they will be on the shelves everywhere, not just in neighborhoods with large minority populations.
And why do we think it is only one segment of our society that wants special dolls?
If my daughter, whose only social limitation was her heritage, could ask for a doll with special needs, why couldn’t some Hispanic child ask for an Asian doll?
Camp Venture offers soft Dolly and Danny Downs in African American, Latino, and white. Camp Venture also offers a curriculum kit to accompany the dolls.
The Pattycake Doll Company offers special needs dolls and ethnic dolls with Down syndrome. Updated 11/2009: When I first wrote this post a couple years ago, I didn’t find this doll either attractive or representative of children with Down syndrome, but I wanted to make parents aware of as many options as possible. I have seen criticism of this doll on other websites, but I have also heard the defense that young children–special needs or no–tend to see only a doll to play with. I also want to note that there are very few soft-form dolls with Down syndrome, and I’d love to see such dolls manufactured with features that might be more palatable to parents and to older children.
The doll pictured above, like all the Down syndrome dolls available from Pattycake, costs $27.50. Special needs dolls are $19.95, with guide dogs and wheelchairs also available. (Speaking of ethnic dolls with disabilities, such dolls and accessories appear to be on sale at bindependent.
The website DownSyndromeDolls.com offers a small but detailed selection of dolls with Down syndrome for $50 per doll.
Downi Creations talks up the authenticity of its dolls, which exhibit the 13 characteristics of Down syndrome, including pinky fingers that curve inward, slightly protruding tongues, a gap between the first and second toes, and even a (stylized) incision on the chest to indicate open heart surgery. They have a line of eight baby/toddler dolls with Down syndrome, but at $175, they’re priced more for the collector’s market than for play. Additional outfits are available for $15-$18.
If you feel your child is not interested in dolls with Down syndrome, why not ask if the local public school, hospital, crisis nursery, or community center would be interested in such dolls? Many schools and nonprofit organizations would appreciate the donations of such dolls because their higher-than-average prices don’t fit into these institutions’ budgets. Go ahead. . . Do your good deed for the month and purchase some ethnic dolls, dolls with special needs, and/or dolls with disabilities and donate them to a good cause.
