For decades, children were not able to find dolls that looked like them because virtually all of the dolls on the market were made to look pretty much the same, just with different outfits. Thankfully, that is all changing these days, as toy manufacturers are finally taking diversity into account.

Even in these times, however, it’s difficult to find dolls that are inclusive to absolutely everyone. That’s why when pre-K and kindergarten teacher Genesis Politron saw that the students in her classroom were playing with dolls they could not identify with, she decided to take action herself.

Over the past four years, Genesis has worked as a teacher to kids who have hearing loss. Since she works with kids that are very young, Genesis often goes shopping for classroom toys so that her children have things to play with. Genesis wanted to find hearing-impaired dolls so that her students would be able to relate to them, but she was not able to find any that represented her students.

After turning to multiple companies, Genesis realized that if hearing-impaired dolls were not available, she would create them herself. Getting out her own craft supplies at home, Genesis drew hearing aids and cochlear implants on the dolls by hand.

The dolls were a huge hit with the children in Genesis’ class, and she posted photos of the toys to social media so she could share them with the world.

“I wish everyone could see their faces when playing with these,” she wrote alongside photos of the dolls. “No child should ever feel as if they aren’t ‘normal’ or as if they don’t belong. I want my students to be proud of such a special part of their identity.”

The photos of the dolls have quickly gone viral, with parents everywhere now wanting to get their hands on them! We hope that toy manufacturing companies will take notice, and start creating toys that are more inclusive to the hearing impaired community.