The ‘Baby Charlie with Down Syndrome’ dolls are soft, cuddly toys that come in both boy and girl versions. The dolls retail for $AU15.
“Encourage your little one to be empathetic and caring by giving them this special Baby Charlie doll with Down syndrome,” reads the product description.
The new dolls are the company’s latest endeavour in their “mission” to broaden the representation of diversity for young children.
It comes after Kmart released a line of fashion dolls with disabilities, which included a doll with crutches, one with glasses and a cane, an amputee doll and one with a cochlear implant.
At the time of the launch of the disability dolls, Kmart Retail Director Australia & New Zealand, John Gualtieri, said the company had named them ‘fashion dolls’ in order to “show they are just like their able-bodied friends”.
“We hope these dolls help children celebrate all of the wonderful things that make us different and unique; and that they can help remove some of the stigma around disability,” Gualtieri said.
Gualtieri hopes the dolls will help normalise disabilities for young children and help those with disabilities see themselves better represented.
“It’s so important for kids to see toys and dolls with disabilities; to have them play in their imaginary world and then normalise it for real life.”