The “Fashionista” blind Barbie has features designed to engage blind and low-vision children. Disability activist Lucy Edwards said the doll made her “so emotional.”
The most popular fashion doll in the world now has a line with a vision impairment.
Blind Barbie has the shiny hair, high heels and picture-perfect features typically associated with the doll. But she also comes with a red-and-white cane, sunglasses that provide additional eye protection for individuals who may be sensitive to light, and a slightly upwards-looking gaze that blind people may have. Her skirt is designed with a textured ruffle, and brightly colored high-contrast hooks to make changing outfits easier for people with vision impairments.
Toymaker Mattel on Tuesday launched its first blind Barbie in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind, an organization that advocates for individuals with blindness and low vision. From the Barbie’s outfit to its packaging, everything was designed to allow blind and low-vision children to find a doll that represents them, Mattel said in a news release.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/23/mattel-blind-barbie-disability-vision-impairment/
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