From the [UK] Daily Mail:

Dolls with disabilities are “hugely controversial” in the UK. Manufacturers say they are designed to help build confidence in youngsters with disabilities, as well as to foster acceptance by other children.

While some parents have welcomed the dolls, like the Down syndrome model at left, others worry that they overemphasize difference and actually serve to isolate children with disabilities.

“To me, creating disabled dolls like these and giving them to a child pigeon-holes the disabled and turns them into something akin to a freak show,” said Sue Farren, whose 14-year-old daughter Rebecca uses a wheelchair.

“It seems as if the disability is being highlighted here, whereas most disabled kids just want to blend in and be accepted for who they are – Rebecca doesn’t even like her disability being referred to.

“Also, it worries me that able-bodied children might treat these dolls as a figure of fun. Life is difficult enough as a disabled child, as Rebecca will testify, without this unwelcome attention.”

Earlier posts:

• ‘Are disability dolls a blessing or a sick joke?’
• U.S. firm makes dolls with appearance of Down syndrome

(Daily Mail photo)

From ABC News:

Parents of children with Down syndrome are enthusiastic about a line of dolls that are intended to look like their kids. Downi Creations, an American company, manufactures the toys to help children with Down syndrome gain validation and acceptance. The dolls are also sold to colleges and universities as teaching tools.

Dr. Susan Anderson, director of the Down Syndrome Program at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital, was one of the first people to buy one. She says she uses it to teach pediatric residents about Down syndrome.

“I think this is an acknowledgement that this is an important group of children that we have in our community,” she says.

Down Syndrome Friends, a line of similar dolls from Europe, recently has been the target of offensive online comments and has posted a disclaimer on its website.

See also:
Maker says they bring out beauty, but to mom they’re ‘weird’, Chicago Sun-Times

Related post here.

(ABC News photo)

From the [UK] Times:

Doll manufacturers are starting to turn out all types of “disability dolls,” with prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, blindness and Down syndrome (left). In addition to reaping potential financial benefits, dollmakers say they are hoping to build the confidence of children with differences, as well as educate children about disability and help to remove stigma.

The chief executive of the Down’s Syndrome Association in the UK cautions parents, saying the dolls lack a research basis and vary widely in quality and accuracy. Other professionals worry that they will serve to further isolate and stigmatize children who have lifelong conditions like cerebral palsy or Down syndrome.

Parents’ opinions:

Rosa Monckton: [Daughter] Domenica’s childhood is as full of joy, pain and sorrow as any other. She should be defined by her common humanity rather than by her Down’s syndrome. She does not want to live in a parallel world peopled with Down’s syndrome dolls distinguishable from the rest. She does not want to be defined by her facial features, or by the gap between her big toe and the rest of her toes being wider than most, or that she is half the height of her peers. Still less would she want these differences portrayed in a series of sickly looking, politically correct mannequins.

Simon Barnes: People with Down’s syndrome are people, not syndromes. The more such people we bump into in our daily lives, the less of a big deal it becomes. The Downsie doll is just one more minor symptom of a major change. The doll is ‘orrible, but I like it. The thought behind it, anyway.

From the Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald:

Beijing Olympics organizers have apologized for offending disabled people and scrapped a training manual for volunteers which sparked a wave of protest.

The offending guide has been pulled while authorities revise “inappropriate language” applied to the disabled.

“Some mistakes were made in describing people with disabilities,” said a website statement from the organising body BOCOG.

The manual for volunteers said disabled people could be unsocial, stubborn, controlling, defensive and have a strong sense of inferiority. Earlier, the manual had been withdrawn without apology.

Associated Press report in the International Herald Tribune:

Olympic organizers said Thursday that they had withdrawn parts of an English translation of a guide for volunteers because of “inappropriate language” used to describe disabled athletes.

Zhang Qiuping, director of the Paralympic Games in Beijing, did not offer an apology and attributed the problems to poor translation. “Probably it’s cultural difference and mistranslation,” Zhang said.

The Chinese-language version of the text remained online and was nearly identical to the English, using essentially the same stereotypes to refer to the disabled.

The guide described people with disabilities as unsocial, stubborn, controlling, defensive and possessing a strong sense of inferiority. See earlier post: Disabled groups outraged by Beijing snub.

From DiversityInc.com, a publication about diversity in business, a list of seven things you can NEVER say to people with disabilities. (The emphasis is theirs.) Developed with the participation of the National Organization on Disability (NOD) and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the list is just the right length to be posted on the office bulletin board.

Take note:

1. “What’s wrong/what happened?” or “Were you born that way?”
2. “Oh, if you just have faith, you can be healed.”
3. Speaking slowly or loudly to someone who is in a wheelchair.
4. “I don’t even think of you as a person with a disability.”
5. “How do you go to the bathroom?”
6. “But you look so good.”
7. “Oh, you’re here, you must feel better.”

And that doesn’t even take into account the standard list of culturally insensitive words like “handicapped,” “retarded” and “slow” to refer to people with disabilities, or “compliments” like “you look so good.”

“These terms are unacceptable because they are linked to a history that the general public isn’t aware of,” says Nancy Starnes, vice president and chief of staff for the National Organization on Disability (NOD). “And just like there are terms that you don’t use for African Americans anymore, the same goes for people with disabilities.”

People actually say this stuff? Given that the Census Bureau reports that there are 11.8 million people with reported disabilities in the work force, surely we’ve got a lot of reliable correspondents out there. Readers, what have you heard? Tell us about your most memorable office interaction.

For inspiration, take a look at DiversityInc’s other lists of cringeworthy comments:

• 10 Things NEVER to Say to Black Coworkers: #1: “You’re so articulate.”
• 7 Things NEVER to Say to Asian-American Executives: #1: “You must be the IT person.”
  
• 10 Things NEVER to Say to Latino Executives
  
• 7 Things NEVER to Say to LGBT Coworkers
• 6 Workplace Myths About People With Disabilities

Lucy Hunter’s tall frame is due to a genetic disorder. Yet she refused screening for her sons, who both now have the condition. She explains why she has no regrets

A first-person piece from the [UK] Independent:

… After genetic counseling, I considered the options. Although a prenatal test for Marfan’s exists, the idea of aborting my own child because he is, well, like me, was absolutely abhorrent. I looked into the more palatable idea of having a “designer” embryo implanted using IVF. Then I decided to take my chances on nature.

I have never regretted my decision, despite the guilt when I realised that Rufus, and Oisín, now four, had both been affected.
(more…)