Dolls representing babies with Down syndrome.
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Morell / EFE / SIPA
The Spanish town of Onil, in the east of the country, has 7,500 inhabitants but is nevertheless home to… 38 doll makers.
Among them is Toyse, a company that announced in 2020 a future collection developed in collaboration with the Spanish national organization for Down syndrome.
In 2015, The Doll Factory Europe, also based in Onil, released its first model of a baby with the characteristics of a baby with Down's syndrome.
The company has expanded its offering and now offers six such dolls, says a
Guardian
article
spotted by
Slate
.
Another doll specialist based in this town in the province of Alicante has also been talked about for his creations advocating inclusion and diversity.
The company Miniland thus received last year the price of the toy of the year in Spain for its range of four infants suffering from Down syndrome.
Positive feedback
The models, two girls and two boys, have different skin colors.
“At the beginning we were apprehensive,” said Miniland Marketing Director Victoria Orruño.
But the reactions surprised us, it was very positive ”.
The same had happened at The Doll Factory Europe five years earlier.
“The feedback had been fantastic,” said company executive Francisco Herrera.
More and more manufacturers believe that children's games and toys can have an impact on the way they think.
Many companies therefore wanted to offer an offer that reflects the diversity of the world's population.
Gender neutral dolls, fitted with prostheses or moving in a wheelchair, for example, have multiplied on the market.
With toys of this type, children “are exposed to different realities and can then normalize them,” said Victoria Orruño.
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