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SIGN LANGUAGE GETS BOOST IN TOY STORES, LIBRARIES

April 18, 2000

A recent fundraiser by Toys 'R' Us Inc., a new doll from Mattel Inc. and a successful video campaign from ASL Access are providing strong evidence that awareness of disability issues is on the rise. Toys 'R' Us is playing multiple roles, raising $6.1 million this month for children's charitable efforts, including Autism research, and acting as the exclusive retailer of Mattel's new Sign Language Barbie. Meanwhile, ASL Access is making it easier for children and adults to learn how to communicate with the new Barbie, as well as with real people with hearing difficulties.

Sign Language Barbie is the newest addition to one of the world's largest and most famous doll collections. Noting Sign Language is one of the most widely used languages in the world, Mattel is marketing the new doll as a teacher who "is doing her part to help hearing impaired kids learn to communicate." Sign Language Barbie is posed in a classroom setting, and one hand is molded to show the ASL sign for "I love you." Developed in consultation with the National Information Center on Deafness at Gallaudet University, the new Barbie comes packaged with a guide to teach children basic signs and the ASL alphabet. It sells for about $20 at Toys 'R' Us and is labeled appropriate for children ages 3 and up.

The new signing Barbie is part of a Mattel campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original Barbie by introducing several new, more diverse looks for the both beloved and maligned pop icon. Barbie dolls have often been criticized for their unrealistic physiques and alleged lack of sensitivity to diverse looks, cultures and roles women play. But now, Mattel says in its marketing pitches, "She's a successful businesswoman, a member of a rock band and a Women's World Cup Soccer player," among other things. When the Barbie makeover effort started last year, Mattel announced that "Barbie doll is further expanding her versatile and limitless roles to inspire girls' dreams as she prepares for the new millennium."

The Barbie line is sold in more than 150 countries, and Mattel says the average American girl under the age of 12 owns 10 Barbie dolls. Mattel's marketing muscle and Barbie's worldwide fame bring cachet to efforts to build awareness of children with special needs, the American Speech Language and Hearing Association says. ASHA, an organization for more than 98,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists and other professionals, applauded Mattel's move to "facilitate a better understanding about communication for both hearing children and children who are deaf."

In addition to actively promoting new and diverse Barbie dolls, Toys 'R' Us continues to look for ways to help children with special needs through its Toys 'R' Us Children's Fund. The organization set a record April 11 by raising $6.1 million at its annual "An Evening for Special Children" benefit gala in New York. The money raised this year will be distributed among more than 200 organizations, hospitals and foundations in the United States, including Cure Autism Now, the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Children's National Medical Center in Washington and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International.

Meanwhile, children and adults looking to move beyond Barbie's basic ASL lessons and get deeper into the subject can get instructional videos from school and public libraries through a program sponsored by the non-profit group ASL Access. The volunteer group provides ASL videos to any libraries that allow community members to borrow materials, such as regular public libaries and those at schools, universities and other service organizations.

Communities get help from ASL Access to raise funds for an ASL video collection, which costs about $7,000, and help procuring the collection when the funds are available. ASL Access has relationships with 45 different video publishers and can help put together a collection of more than 200 ASL videos, according to Founder and President Christine Wixtrom. The videos provide lessons for children, parents and the general public, interpreting demonstrations, children's literature and classic literature presented in ASL, original ASL literature, deaf history and other information. ASL Access also provides free guidebooks that describe each video.

The campaign has resulted in the placement of four complete collections to date, Wixtrom says, and ASL Access has received requests for assistance from communities from North America to the West Indies.8