That insight is part of the value of having kids play with dolls that have disabilities, said Dr. Sian Jones, co-founder of the Toy Box Diversity Lab at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Jones and her colleague Dr. Clare Uytman study how playing with dolls and toys with a range of physical challenges can reduce systemic inequality for disabled people.
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It’s based on a theory of mirrors and windows by Rudine Sims Bishop, a professor emerita of education at Ohio State University. Bishop realized that having diverse characters in books was good for all kids: It helps children from minority groups see themselves mirrored in the lives of book characters, and it gives kids a window into the lives of others, helping them build empathy.
Jones says that when kids play with dolls that have mobility challenges, for example, it helps them identify and understand the struggles of people with disabilities whom they meet in real life.
“Barbie in a wheelchair cannot use the doll’s house in their kindergarten classroom, so they have to build a ramp in order for her to be able to access the door to their doll’s house, for example,” said Jones, who lives with cerebral palsy.
When she started her work incorporating disabled dolls into school curricula, Jones said, there were few available for purchase. She mostly had to make them herself. Now, she can buy them from big companies like Lego and Mattel, “which is wonderful.”
Mazreku says the work to design the doll was well worth it. She recently got to bring one home to give to her 3-year-old daughter.
“I brought Barbie home to her and gave her a chance to interact with her and see her things,” Mazreku said. “And she looked at me and she said, ‘She looks like Mommy.’ And that was so special for me.”
Her daughter doesn’t have type 1 diabetes, she said. “But she sees me every day, living with it, representing and understanding and showing the world and wearing my devices confidently, and for her to see Barbie doing that was really special.”