A deaf toddler is happier than ever after receiving a doll that came complete with cochlear implants and looks like him. Jasmine Mead, 27, gifted her son Harley, 21 months old, who is deaf, with a doll complete with cochlear implants in January 2022.
She found the doll on the website of BrightEars - a non-profit family run business that makes inclusive dolls for children, such as dolls with cochlear implants, cleft lip palettes or feeding tubes. Harley, who has profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, loves his doll 'Baby' and Jasmine has been thrilled to see inclusivity for children with different abilities finally being represented with dolls.
With Barbie releasing a Barbie doll with cochlear implants last month in a collaboration with Strictly Come Dancing's first deaf contestant, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, 27, Jasmine loves the idea of children feeling accepted with seeing dolls that look just like them. Stay-at-home mum Jasmine lives in Bedfordshire and has another son, Alfie, six.
