Teacher creates hearing aids for dolls to make deaf students feel represented

Genesis Politron teaches preschool and kindergarten in a school for children who are deaf or heard of hearing.

Watching the kids play, she realised there was a problem as none of the toys were like them.

The teacher, from California, decided to use glitter glue to create hearing aids and cochlear implants to make the kids feel more represented.

Posting the images of her creations on Twitter, she said: ‘I teach preschool and kindergarten for Deaf/Hard of Hearing kids, and my students never see toys that resemble their hearing devices (Hearing Aids/Cochlear Implants), so I added some to our new baby dolls on my own.

‘I wish everyone could see their faces playing with these.’

A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound by directly stimulating the cochlea.

Hearing aids amplify sounds but cochlear implants are more complex and work directly with the auditory nerve and the brain.

People on Twitter loved the idea, and it had over 156,000 likes and 30,000 retweets.

Other parents and teachers shared their own stories of how showing kids things that look like them help them realise it’s ok to be different.

Joanna said: ‘This is the sweetest thing ever!!!! My friend has two deaf daughters and she got them custom American Girl dolls with hearing aids… to see their faces light up was priceless! Nice job teach!!! You’re a hero!’

Rhi added: ‘I bought an American Doll insulin pump for a Type 1 child who was a friend to our little one.

‘Her mother was so happy, and the little darling went around for the next six months showing everyone in our town. Just a little thing but it made such a difference for her.’

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