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First Dolls
Dolls have been around since the beginning of time. In early years, dolls were made from wood, bones, wax, clay and porcelain. The doll in this picture is from the 1900's and was made to look like the women of that day. Dolls that had disabilities were not created until much later. -
Polio Doll
Staff at hospitals used these everyday-looking toys to prepare and encourage children and their families who were battling polio. The dolls helped to personalize the process for children. -
Marybel Gets Well Doll
Venerable New York dollmaker, Madame Alexander, created Marybel, “the Doll Who Gets Well,” as a friend for little girls afflicted with a myriad of malaise. -
Hals Pals Dolls
Hal's Pals was created by real estate developer Susan Anderson. She was chatting with neighbors after "Handicapped Awareness Day" at a Fraser, Colo. elementary school, when her friend Audrey Boxwell asked: "What do you think about handicapped dolls?" -
Share a Smile Becky Barbie
The wheelchair using Barbie doll was released in 1997. She was not a version of Barbie herself but another character, Wheelchair Becky, a doll designed to be a friend of Barbie. -
Sign Language Barbie
Barbie was a teacher of sign language, coming with sign language accessories such as stickers depicting words in sign language. The National Center on Deafness assisted the toy company in developing the doll. -
Handicap Cabbage Patch Doll
Cabbage Patch Playtime Friends with Special Needs give little girls who use elbow crutches, leg braces or a wheelchair a doll who looks more like them, as well as providing children without disabilities with a doll to expand their awareness of diversity. -
Special Angel Handicapable Dolls
Karen Challender is the creator of Karen's Kids special angel dolls. She creates fabric dolls that match the special needs of children with physical disabilities. -
Sew Able Dolls
Sew Able Dolls by Sew Dolling are 18-inch vinyl-and-cloth dolls that are sold in a variety of combinations for kids with prosthetic limbs or who are undergoing physical therapy or chemotherapy. -
Betty Down's Syndrome Doll
Betty Down's Syndrome Doll was created by a pediatrician and distributed by Helga's European Specialty Toys for children facing medical treatments and Down's syndrome. -
American Girl with Hearing Aid
The company, American Girl, offers hearing aids to purchase as an accessory for their dolls. American Girl dolls can also be fitted with glasses, braces for the teeth, crutches or a wheel chair, and the company recently began to offer dolls without hair to represent those who have lost hair to cancer. -
Dolls with Downs
Connie Feda, 49, of Robinson Township, Pa., started Dolls for Downs in 2010, which has 16 dolls available for kids with Down syndrome. -
Hope Toys
Frustrated with the lack of options available to her own children, Maria Kentley, a mother of four, including two children with autism, began repairing old, discarded dolls and turning them into dolls with various disabilities and illnesses. -
#toylikeme movement
Rebecca Atkinson noticed that children with disabilities were grossly underrepresented in the toy market. So she messaged two friends with children with disabilities: Karen Newell, who has a son with visual impairment, and the deaf writer Melissa Mostyn who has a daughter with cerebral palsy. They began to make over their children's toys to include disabilities. They set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account and started using the hashtag #toylikeme. -
Makies Dolls with Disabilities
British toymaker Makies has released a line of dolls with disabilities. They were inspired by a social media campaign, Toy Like Me. The campaign encouraged parents of children with various disabilities to customise their toys, making them look more like real people.
