Dolls with disabilities spark off awareness about inclusion in this Canadian school

Diversity comes in all shapes and sizes and should be celebrated. That is the message being created by the disability dolls at the St. Andrew’s Elementary School in Newfoundland, Canada.

The dolls cover physical, sensory, and invisible disabilities, and teachers use them to talk about what disability means. There’s a doll with each type of disability, and each character represents a different type of disability. They remind the class to think differently about how to accommodate those with different abilities.

Teachers hope that the dolls, which accompany the students everywhere, will spark off conversations about how to include people with disabilities among the children wherever they go, be it field trips or the lunchroom. They are hoping to soon send them home with some students.

The characters are designed such so that students think about things like where it would be easier for a doll in a wheelchair.

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