Dolls with Disabilities in Stores to Represent Disabled Children; Feature Hearing Aids, Facial Birthmarks, Canes & More!

By Staff Writer | May 19, 2015 | 06:00 AM EDT

A toymaker from Britain has created a new line of dolls to represent children with disabilities.

Makies, a British toy maker, opened opportunities for customized dolls for children with disabilities. Each doll can be accessorized with walking canes, facial birthmarks, glasses, hearing aids and many more, according to Life & Style Mag.

The new line will be expanded to include wheelchairs as well. 

Each doll is created using a 3D printer, so each order can be personalized to suit the shape, size and hair color each customer wants. 

The product line was released this week and the company is overwhelmed by the number of requests for more types of accessories to be included in every order.

"In just the past few days we've received hundreds of suggestions and requests for Makie dolls with the new inclusive accessories, which is just amazing, and we're rising to meet that need," Matthew Higgins, chief technology officer for Makies, told Today.com.

"We're knuckling down now on making the whole range directly available to purchase from mymakie.com, as well as kicking off new development work that we hope will lead to many more happy kids and parents," Higgins added.

The doll set will fetch the same price as other dolls made by the London-based toy company and that's approximately $108 per toy. All accessories, such as the hearing aid, canes, and many more, are included in every set.

According to the company, the 3D printing technology allows them to cater to custom orders quickly and without additional cost.

"Unlike mass manufacturing abroad, which can involve expensive tooling and long development timescales, 3D printing allows for local and bespoke which enables MakieLab to serve its customers in this uniquely responsive way," Makies wrote on its official blog.

The new line by the UK dollmaker was initiated as a response to the Facebook campaign "Toy Like Me" by Rebecca Atkinson, according to Parenting.com.

It took Makies only two weeks to respond to the invitation of making all-inclusive toys. 

Meanwhile, an invite to join the campaign was posted on Playmobil's Facebook page, and it read:

"Oh, Playmobil, we really need to talk, about why we're having to make our own toys. Don't be shy, please come and say hello, we'd love to chat toys, fun and why kids need blind princesses and wheelchair wizards in their toy boxes. We could bring biscuits, you could provide the tea. We're very friendly. Please come out from your hidey hole and play. Love from Toy Like Me"

The campaign is still on its quest to have other toy companies heed to its cause. Lego, Playmobil, and Mattel have yet to respond to the campaign as of late. 

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