As the Rio Paralympics is in full swing, #ToyLikeMe launch their official website hub to connect Britain’s 770,000 disabled children to toys that look just like them.
After successfully crowdfunding over £16,400 the unique company, founded by journalist Rebecca Atkinson, have launched their online hub – a digital space that aims to promote diversity within the toy industry.
The website features all new images of #ToyLikeMe’s signature makeovers such as Hulk with a hearing aid and Storm Trooper with a prosthetic blade, as well as the world’s largest collection of deaf toys with hearing aids and cochlear implants all available to buy.
#ToyLikeMe/bethmoseleyphotography.co.uk
“It’s time diff:ability got a creative airing,” says Atkinson. “For too long diff:abled people have been portrayed in an unimaginative and boring light in the toy box. Wheelchairs are nearly always in the hospital sets and usually grey. At #ToyLikeMe we aim to use creativity to push the aesthetics of disability into the modern times and shake out the dust!”
Atkinson, who is herself partially deaf and partially sighted, established the #ToyLikeMe ‘toy box revolution’ in April 2015 to call on the global toy industry to positively represent 150 million disabled children worldwide. With over 40k followers in 45 countries, and fans including Stephen Merchant, Julia Donaldson and Katie Piper, Atkinson hopes the unique celebratory approach taken by #ToyLikeMe will help bust pervasive stereotypes and inspire change in the way that disability is presented to children, both disabled and otherwise.
#ToyLikeMe hope that the products featured on toylikeme.org will be enjoyed by all children, not just those with disabilities themselves. Atkinson adds, “Harper Beckham who was recently snapped with a toy wheelchair has shown that ALL children can enjoy playing with diff:abled toy.”
Have you checked out the new www.toylikeme.org site? Let us know what you think about it over on Twitter and Facebook!