Clare Tawell thought of a wonderful way to bring representation to children through her toys.
For Clare, if a child with a disability or congenital condition can identify their features in their own toy, she develops much better.Clare knows this because she has a 4-year-old daughter, Matilda, who is deaf.
So this wonderful mother decided to use some of her free time to create baby and elf dolls adapted for various disabilities.
“I was very discouraged when I couldn't find a doll, or any toy with a hearing aid. I thought society didn't care about that.”, said Clare.
Success idea
Since she couldn't find a doll for Matilda, Clare then decided to make one! And the idea quickly spread among other parents.
The orders started coming in and Clare still used to assemble custom dolls, with other child characteristics, such as hair, skin color, eye color, etc.
Following the sales success, Clare created the NGO Bright Ears UK and sold more than 2,000 dolls in the UK alone.
In addition to dolls with hearing aids, she started producing with other disabilities as well, such as cleft palate, feeding tubes, insulin pumps, ventilators, heart surgeries, and much more.
And it looks like this is really working!
Clare managed to bring the idea into British schools, and some institutions are buying the toy to teach students about inclusion!
“I would love for children in the future to be able to walk into a store and see dolls with hearing aids and cleft lips alongside regular dolls, because that normalizes it rather than making it different”, explained Clare.
To order – or learn about – a custom doll, Clare is selling via Facebook and of a Etsy shop. There is no information on whether she ships to Brazil.
SOURCE:
Reasons to Believe
