Children have played with toys since prehistoric times. Research supports that creative play helps children develop social skills, empathy, compassion, kindness, and a greater understanding of themselves and others. Irrespective of these benefits, toy manufacturers have been slow to diversify their range to cater to social differences including culture, race, and disability. So, are calls for more positive representation of disabilities (and other differences) in the toy market finally being heard?

Remembering back to my youth, my most loved toys were my Barbie dolls and horses. Growing up with a disability, you can imagine my excitement when in 1997 Mattel released ‘Share-a-Smile Becky,’ Barbies’ friend who used a pink wheelchair. I thought Becky was the coolest Barbie ever and finally, there was a doll like me that fitted into the Barbie World! While I try not to get nostalgic over my childhood memories, I realise looking back that my dolls directly reflected my reality. I was a girl in a wheelchair who loved riding horses, playing with a Barbie doll in a wheelchair, who I made ride horses.

While Becky was wildly popular, Mattel received some complaints because her wheelchair didn’t fit into the Barbie Dreamhouse (accessibility issues I can relate to). A year later ‘Becky the school photographer’ in a red wheelchair was released, and in 1999 a rare ‘Paralympic Becky’ who represented Team USA at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics in her racing wheelchair, was the final in the series before Becky was tragically discontinued. 

A decade later, Mattel has finally revived Barbie with a disability, in the Fashionistas line which includes two dolls in wheelchairs (this time including a ramp to get into the Dreamhouse), and a Barbie with a limb difference and prosthetic leg. 

While it’s too late for me, I hope future generations will embrace dolls with disabilities and demand mainstream inclusion. These toys would be valuable in playgroups and kindergartens where not only kids with disabilities can see themselves represented, but kids without disabilities can develop an understanding of differences. My experience shows that when you are young, the toy world mirrors the real world. Therefore, toys with disabilities can create better awareness and inclusion of people living with disabilities, which are fundamental issues facing society today.

About the author:

Susan Seipel is a diverse para-athlete with a background in swimming, equestrian, and is a triple World Champion in the sport of Paracanoe.

She won a Bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and was the first Australian in history to win a medal in Paracanoe at Paralympic level. Currently, she training towards the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Outside of sport, Susan is a proud ambassador for the RSPCA Queensland and is passionate about animal welfare, as well as disability issues.