I know I'm a little late getting this post up, but where I live, we still have one hour left of National White Cane Safety Day, so I thought I would post a little about blindness, dolls, and canes. 

Why it's important:
I appreciate the movement of many doll companies to represent greater diversity in their dolls, including children with disabilities. However, I feel that most doll-makers aren't quite there when it comes to blindness. They have wheelchairs, hearing aids, and even service dogs, but no white canes. I found an excellent post here about why that is a problem. Most blind kids in the target age range are far more likely to use a white cane than a guide dog. I remember how empowered my newly-diagnosed daughter felt when she first met another blind child, and he gave her a white cane! Children need to know that there are others out there like them. 

How to make one:
Doll-sized canes are super easy to make. (I am surprised American Girl has not capitalized on that fact yet and started selling them at $30 a pop.) I found many great tutorials, and I've made several dolly canes of my own using dowels, balloon sticks, or even rolled up paper. Click here for an easy how-to, and a great blog about raising a young girl with progressive vision loss. 

Where to buy one: 
Cute as a Daisy is a great Etsy Shop selling cute, authentic doll canes for a good price. There are two different styles, $10 each. This shop also has great cloaks for dolls and girls. I did find a few other online sites that sold white canes for dolls, but most of them come with a guide dog, and they aren't very realistic. 

How to get or give a real white cane:
The National Federation of the Blind has a free white cane program for blind individuals to receive a free white cane. They have many sizes, including kiddie canes, and you can order a new one every six months (which is just about how long it takes my daughter to either break or grow out of her old cane). For a small donation, you can help the NFB provide free canes to others. They even list the name of the donor on each cane they send. I love reading the name on my daughter's new cane and talking about how someone made a donation to help out people like her.

As an early childhood educator, I understand the importance of doll play, but sometimes I underestimate its power, especially for children with special needs. My daughter, who has a degenerative eye disease along with several other health problems, goes to a special school. We are blessed that the school is not too far away, and she receives free transportation, but she has to get up early to catch the van an hour before school starts. Getting ready for school can be very difficult, and some days she just won't cooperate.

Today was one of those mornings. She didn't want to get up, and she would not do anything I asked. When I tried to give her an asthma treatment, she started kicking me and hiding under the blanket. I was just about to start yelling at her, but I know from past experience that this tactic doesn't work at all, so I tried to just stop and think how to best help her. Then I spied her American Girl doll across the room, and inspiration struck. I held the inhaler in the doll's tiny hand and adopted a small, high-pitched voice that I thought might come from someone 18 inches tall. "This is Saige. Can I give you your medicine this morning?" To my amazement, it worked. My daughter stopped kicking and allowed the doll to administer her inhaler. When Saige buttered her toast, she ate it right away. She even let Saige brush and style her hair. Giving my daughter her seizure medication is one of the most difficult parts of the day, but she took it with no fuss after a warning from Saige that if she got medicine in Saige's hair, it would get ruined. She didn't spill a drop, and Saige even gave her a high-five afterward.

I was skeptical if this type of pretending would work with a nine-yr-old, but it was like magic. Having the doll help her get ready took away the element of a power struggle. My daughter was refusing to obey me because she wanted to prove that she had control, but she didn't have anything to prove to an 18-inch piece of plastic. It kind of put a buffer between me and her. "Ok, I am doing this, but not because YOU asked." Even though she knows her doll isn't real, it's comforting to pretend that she has a comrade who's on her side. I was trying to make her get ready as her mother, but the doll was able to help her as a friend.

Fifteen minutes later, my daughter happily trotted out to the van after saying goodbye to her doll, and then it was my turn to give Saige a high five. Doll play is definitely a powerful thing for children with special needs, but it is because it gives children a sense of their own power in a world that is so often out of their control and leaves them feeling helpless. Who knew 18 inches of plastic could do that?

     I personally believe that all children can benefit from doll play, regardless of gender. I also feel that children need to explore male characters in a wider context than is currently offered by most common toy options. While female dolls represent a wide range of ages, characters, and roles, male dolls tend to be depicted as adults (fashion dolls and action figures) or babies/toddlers (baby dolls). American Girl includes some great, multi-faceted male characters in their historical books, so I am disappointed that none of them have been depicted as dolls. 
     Most major retailers offer limited options, but there are some nice boy dolls available online. Here are a few of the ones that stood out to me. I have not purchased products from any of these retailers, so my comments are just general impressions rather than reviews. 

If any of you know of other good doll lines that sell boy dolls, please comment below. I know there are several custom options on Etsy and Ebay, and a few of the major doll manufacturers have created boy dolls which can still be found on the secondary market. American Girl also offers their Bitty Twins line in a variety or hair and eye colors with different skin tones, but I didn't include them because I tried to pick dolls that look the same age as the main American Girl characters. Good luck to those of you seeking to add a boy to your doll family.

The other day at Toys R Us I saw some great FAO Schwartz stuffed animals on sale. This Shen the Panda really caught my eye, along with the Zylie and Friends bear from the same collection. These toys are a mix between an 18 inch doll and a Stuffed animal. They have plush fur and traditional animal faces, but they are slimmer and stand up more like a vinyl doll. I love the outfit on this one and think it would fit perfectly for my son's custom boy doll. It also comes with a book, a backpack, and some drumsticks and passport. The current sale price is about 30$, and the regular price is about $50.

These toys follow the adventures of Zylie as she travels around the world and meets friends from other countries. The Zylie toy was also available on sale, and you can purchase more outfits for these dolls online at the Toys R Us website. There is a great Chinese style dress for Zylie that could easily turn this panda into a girl, and it may fit other 18 inch dolls as well.

Another draw to this toy for me is that it reminded me of the Perkins Panda bear designed to teach young children Braille. You can purchase just the bear with his packpack for about $23 or the entire set with books and cassettes for $60). Last Christmas I purchased a Perkins Panda braille book for my blind daughter, but I didn't feel I could afford the bear, so I bought a mini plush panda to sub for Perkins. Shen would make a wonderful toy to go with the Perkins products. It even has a backpack like the "real" Perkins Panda. I think the clothing really enhances the play value as opposed to the naked Perkins Panda. Learning to dress this doll would be great for blind and sighted children to develop hand-eye coordination. The body style also makes it easy to mix and match with 18 inch doll clothing and accessories. I think it could also wear infant or preemie baby clothes. 

Either of these products would be fun and educational for children of all abilities. You can purchase Shen and Zylie at Toys R Us here, and you can get the Perkins Panda products from the Perkins online store here.