The Argentine Chamber of the Toy Industry and the Down Syndrome Association of the South American country presented today in Buenos Aires the first baby doll with features of Down syndrome in Argentina, developed entirely by the national company "Casita de muñecas".
"Oli" has a male and a female model, dark hair, light eyes and can move arms, legs and head, at first glance no one would suspect that this is not a common doll, since it has the features of a baby with Down syndrome.
The event served as a showcase for a materialized idea that began with the story of a girl who did not want to play with ordinary dolls.
"It was born from an anecdote, when a person told us that chatting with a girl with Down syndrome asked if he liked dolls and the girl told him no. When asked why the girl told him she did not like dolls because there was not any like her, "Federico Galanterni, owner of the manufacturer, told Efe.
His company stands out for making dolls that favor diversity for a "more inclusive game", with dolls that reproduce with their gestures the reality of the movement of babies, not a simple smiling face.
Currently they produce around 60 ranges of dolls with which, as the director explained, they reach all audiences.
In Argentina there are, according to the executive director of ASDRA, Pedro Crespi, about 5 million people with disabilities, although there are no accurate statistics that indicate how many of them have Down syndrome, as the director said.
"It has the value of diversity, that children begin to play with dolls that have this type of condition and that children with Down syndrome find a doll with which they can identify themselves," said Crespi.
Another value that he wanted to emphasize was the word of mouth, those children will use "Oli" to play with other children, who in turn, will learn that in all games there is room for dolls of all kinds.
"If we start to naturalize this from the game since the kids are small, without a doubt we are giving them tools so that when they are adults they will be very useful to live in diversity",