February 23, 2004

• oh wow. there is NO safe comment to be made on this post.
• I imagine their market is families with Down Syndrome children, to give the child a toy that they can identify with. It doesn't seem like a bad idea, but I'm having slippery-slope visions of conjoined-foetus dolls, now. Weren't there dolls out a few years ago that were amputee-dolls?
• These dolls always kind of weirded me out, too. I (maybe) can understand that certain people might like a regular preemie doll. But these are SPECIAL collector editions ones. That just seems a little strange to me.
• why shouldn't down syndrome kids have dolls that they can identify with...? every kid likes that sort of thing. when i was little i always cut my barbie's hair into a short bob like mine so she's look more like me. here's an item for tracicle's slippery slope - fetus soap on a rope. yikes!
• i'm not sure. while i can see the need for a doll that the kid can identify with, what's wrong with a normal-looking doll? there have been a ton of studies that show kids like normal-looking toys. the teddy bears with the big foreheads and tiny faces? yeah, kids hate them. they prefer teddies with normal, adult features, because that's what everyone they look at looks like. the big head, small face thing looks like a baby, and thus appeals to adults. if newborns bought the dolls, they'd get the ones with adult features. so, would a down syndrome kid want a down syndrome doll, or would they prefer one that looks normal to them? i don't know. i would guess they might have a preference for a normal doll. i would at least have tested the idea prior to marketing these, but maybe that's just me.
• tracy, I didn't mean I disagreed with the idea -- sorry if I gave that impression. And what sort of person comes up with foetus soap on a rope, anyway?? c_live frogs, maybe (and I'm certainly no psychologist) kids will feel more normal if they know there are toys out there that have their special features. I know very little about Down Syndrome but I imagine individuals with it would be aware from a fairly young age that they were different-looking to non-Down Syndrome kids (and the toys).
• well why can't children have all kinds of dolls...? i had dolls that were black, white, asian, and some that wore cultural clothing,such as saris (sp?). i even had a doll that was blind, with a cane and a dog (one of my dad's best friends was blind and hand made these dolls). it's a good way for kids to see that the world is made up of all kinds of people. anyway, i don't think it was suggested that "normal" looking dolls were bad, or out of the question. the little kid in me says the more dollies the better...! on preview, no tracicle, i didn't think you were disagreeing with the idea. my bad sentence structure. i'm actually a bit looped at the moment so you have to excuse me :-] *hic*
• I know I've read more than one account of the joy an African-American child felt when they first saw a doll that wasn't white. So I would imagine that while very small children might not want a doll like this, somewhat older children who are aware that they are different from "normal" kids might want a doll like this.
• I'm not actually opposed to Down Syndrome dolls, but all dolls in general. Clown dolls especially. I had an interesting discussion with a friend about why these would appeal to Down Syndrome kids. No consensus on whether DS kids prefer normal dolls or not. I suppose a lot of it depends on the kid.
• i am opposed to teddy bears with spleens.
• I am opposed to Down Syndrome itself. Does that make me a bad person?
• Besides the price, I don't have a problem with it. Down Syndrome dolls for kids with Down Syndrome. Makes sense. Just like black girls having black Barbie dolls.
• Uh, f8x, dude... This disclaimer is the result of a deluge of downloads and hypertext links to this web site that I do not condone and have not authorized any of those terrible links and apologize to my customers and ask them to ignore. The unauthorized downloads, and any resulting hypertext links to this site are strictly prohibited and are not condoned, or approved by HEST of Europe. Please note, this site does contain copyright material, and is the intellectual property of HEST of Europe d/b/a, DownSyndromeDolls.com. No material anywhere on this web site may be copied or further disseminated and/or used to create hypertext links to this site without the express and written permission of the owner. Furthermore, any violation may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986. Copyright
• Well at least they seem better quality than these.
• Nothing is worse than this doll.
• Of course, you also have the specially designed "show me where he touched you" dolls for police interviews of abuse victims. Once again, not to take the piss out of a serious subject, but they do look... well, terrifyingly deformed, don't they? I mean, they wouldn't provide me with a comforting and non-threatening environment if I was a traumatised child. They'd scare the living crap out of me. Hey ho. No matter how much gentle fun we may get from watching the efforts of worthy people which, innocently, end up looking like the worst possible taste, we can always be reassured that there'll be some twats who are just doing things in bad taste without any claims to innocence at all...
• There have been a ton of studies that show kids like normal-looking toys. This is a little off-topic, but kind of interesting. I used to work at an elementary school (kindergarten through third grade). Someone once did a sort of psychological study in the school cafeteria. The kids were given two choices for lunch. One was made up of classic little-kid foods (chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, juice and cookies, et cetera); everything was a little nicer than the usual cafeteria fare, though, and all was elegantly presented on very fine dishes. The other choice was placed on a brightly-colored tray. It consisted entirely of foods in very simple, bold shapes and colors: a cube of cheese, a hardboiled egg, milk in a white cup, vanilla wafers. Eight out of ten kids chose the second meal.
• Here are some real Downs Syndrome kids,and they' much cuter than the dolls. The first doll had the right separation between big and second toe, but I can't zoom in enough to see if they got the epicanthal fold or the lines in the palm right. I mean, if you're going to claim to be authentic, you ought to try to be. The stubby fingers were ok, but, on the other hand, they looked like generic doll fingers. And the shape of the faces and the mouths were all wrong. The Downs children I've known had faces that sloped much more extremely, and they had less taut lips that framed wonderful smiles. Paying $50 for this seems pretty wrong to me.
• awwwww! wookit em! jus' WOOKIT'EM!
• (i heard they're not dolls at all but actual little kids put under a spell by--wait for it--ralphie nader...)
• But, Diz, they look like really pissed off children. Be very afraid!
• Today in my inbox I received this: "I WAS UPSET ABOUT WHAT I READ ON MONKEY FILTER IT STILL AMAZES ME HOW SOME PEOPLE CAN BE SO JUDGEMENTAL ABOUT THINGS THEY OVIOUSLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT I AGREE THE DOLLS DO NOT RESEMBLE DOWN SYNDROME CHILDREN BUT MY QUESTION IS WHO DECIDES WHAT LOOKS NORMAL???????????????????????????????????PEOPLE SHOULD EDUCATE THEIRSELVES ABOUT DISABILITIES BEFORE THEY MAKE JUDGEMENT EVEN SO CALLED NORMAL PEOPLE HAVE VERY LITTLE SENSE THATS OVIOUS WHEN READING THOSE COMMENTS .IGNORANCE IS AT A HIGH LEVEL ON THAT PAGE IT DISCUST ME DOWN SYNDROME CHILDREN AND ADULTS HAVE TO LIVE IN A WORD WHERE SO CALLED "NORMAL" PEOPLE HAVE MORE LEARNING PROBLEMS THAN THEM.MAYBE EVERYONE ON THAT PAGE SHOULD SPEND 5 MINUTES IN A ROOM WITH A DS PERSON AND SEE THAT THEY ARE VERY CARING AND THEY ACCEPT PEOPLE NO MATTER WHAT ..OTHERS SHOULD LEARN FROM THEM." So apparently MoFi has a new member, one who pokes through old threads, gets offended by really quite innocuous comments and apparently has a keyboard with a stuck CapsLock key. Welcome, whoever you are.
• THANKS MR CAUTIONLIVEFROGS YORE NICE NOT MEAN LIKE THE OTHER RETARDS ON THIS SITE
• I too am discussed, TedFULLSTOP
• 
• I think anatomical Teddy is going to give me nightmares.
• Obvious your well-reasoned comment was the most offensive there, clf. Now can we get back to the foetus soap on a rope? Come on, people. Foetus soap!
• I couldn't get to the f[o]etus soap site. But I offer you the bessings of the Pope-on-a-Rope Soap.
• MonkeyFilter: IGNORANCE IS AT A HIGH LEVEL ON THIS PAGE IT DISCUST ME I am sooooo not going to comment on this comment.
• I'm not even looking at this thread.
• fetosoap They also have soap with razor blades in it.
• I like that it's "Hand-poured and hand-stirred in Houston, TX." If I'd gone to thr trouble of hand-stirring it, I wouldn't let some machine pour it out for me, either.
• And soap with dice in it! And...and...other things.