#ndss

Oh, look! It's the 2026 World Down Syndrome Day campaign!!

Mattel Inc. announced a new Barbie doll with Down syndrome. It was created to give more children an opportunity to see themselves in Barbie, the company said.

Mattel

The first Barbie doll representing a person with Down syndrome was released by Mattel "to allow even more children to see themselves in Barbie," the company said.

"We are proud to introduce a Barbie doll with Down syndrome to better reflect the world around us and further our commitment to celebrating inclusion through play," Lisa McKnight, the executive vice president and global head of Barbie & dolls at Mattel, said in a statement.

In the past, Mattel's Barbie has been criticized for spreading unrealistic beauty standards for the children who play with the doll. In recent years, the company has moved to deviate from that reputation by offering more diverse dolls. It started making Barbie and Ken dolls with wheelchairs, vitiligo, hearing aids, and prosthetic limbs. The company unveiled its "most diverse doll line" in its 2023 Fashionistas lineup, which includes the doll with Down syndrome.

"Our goal is to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like themselves. Doll play outside of a child's own lived experience can teach understanding and build a greater sense of empathy, leading to a more accepting world," McKnight said.

Barbie worked with the National Down Syndrome Society in order to accurately represent a person with Down syndrome. That included shaping the doll's body to include a shorter frame and longer torso and a round face that features smaller earsand almond-shaped, slanted eyes, the NDSS said in their announcement.

The doll wears a yellow and blue dress with butterflies, all symbols associated with Down syndrome awareness, according to NDSS.

Even the doll's pink necklace has special meaning. Its three upward chevrons are meant to represent "the three copies of the 21st chromosome, which is the genetic material that causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome," according to the organization.

NDSS President and CEO Kandi Pickard said in the group's statement, "This Barbie serves as a reminder that we should never underestimate the power of representation. It is a huge step forward for inclusion and a moment that we are celebrating."

Ellie Goldstein, a British model with Down Syndrome, took to Instagram in a partnership with Mattel to share how important seeing the doll was to her.

"When I saw the doll I felt so emotional, and proud. It means a lot to me that children will be able to play with the doll and learn that everyone is different. I am proud that Barbie chose me to show the dolls to the world," she wrote on Instagram. "Diversity is important as people need to see more people like me out there in the world and not be hidden away, Barbie will help make this happen."

I was cleaning out my inbox and saw that I was still getting Tumblr e-mails after not posting for like, a decade. Decided to stop in and see what has changed. Considering I didn’t post anything except things that might make me look more hirable, I can’t tell much of a difference. 

Updated my info anyway; it’s weird to see how much different my life was 11 years ago. No kids, no job (yet), just pure optimism and a general lack of experience not being a student. 

If you’re wondering what happened in those 11 years, let me catch you up to speed:

Got that job at CLS. 

Left that job at CLS to move back to NorCal with the birth of my eldest, got a job at my old high school.

Fired from that job (mid-year!) because the school’s money management was poor. 

Got a new job at the local high school, had kids #2 and #3, ‘not renewed’ after working there three and a half years. Class management is hard.

Got a job at the local community college, not teaching for the first time since ... well, my last post. But it’s steady and I’ve been here over four years.

            I just got back from that conference the sad sack from the last entry wrote about. It was actually nice. I feel sort of rejuvenated. Like, maybe I’m not such a fuckup. I got published in NDSS. That’s sort of a big deal… right? I think so. Whatever.

            I had an interesting day today. I unplugged from my usual routine. Normally, from the time I leave the house to just before I enter a classroom I’ll be listening to some audiobook or something, not paying the slightest bit of attention to the world. But today for some reason, I decided to unplug and try to really notice everything.

            When I got off the train, I unplugged and tried to really see and hear everything going on around me. I pulled out my noise cancelling, world-muting headphones, paused Kingdom of Fear by H.S. Thompson (which, by the way, pretty nice. I’m digging his whole insane writing style. It’s like the stream of thought nonsense that I write here. At least, I hope so. I don’t refer to “pussies” (i.e., vaginas) or cocaine as often (but perhaps drinking almost as often), but I feel like I relate somewhat… anyway) and tried to engage with the world. Here’s what I saw:

            When I left the train, I was greeted with approximately 80 dB of pure aural pain. Not just like loud static sounds, mind you. It was musical—sort of. A gentleman of possibly homeless, certainly busker persuasion was passionately, and I mean really giving his all to a Whitney Houston song about 2 octaves out of any human male’s range. There was this strange, corporate-sounding piano accompaniment for maybe a karaoke bar blaring out of a speaker behind him, and his 30-halfsteps tuned down arrangement of the R&B vocals. It was bad. His upturned hat had some coins and scant dollars crumpled within, but I can’t imagine who put them there.

            I crossed the street after passing him and not a few other buskers. Buskers who’s games included: chess hustling, selling weird sequined t-shirts of ebony celebrities I’m unfamiliar with, and your run-of-the-mill pan handlers. On the opposite side, I saw a fellow completely nodding out on heroin. I’m no expert, but this guy was deep into his high. Frankly, it looked preferable to the final exam I was heading towards, but I digress. Before I could take said final, I had to take a COVID test. No fun, but at this stage, at least not too painful.

            In the early days of the pandemic, COVID tests consisted of ramming a Q-tip type device so deep into your sinuses, I’m convinced it swabbed brain cells. I never had to take that version of the test, but from what I hear it was quite unpleasant. It’s been referred to, in more contemporary times, as “the brain tickler”. Not something I’m terribly interested in. These days, COVID tests take no more effort than picking your nose… literally. You take a long cotton swab, and swish it around both of your nostrils, taking care to get it at least an inch up (which sounds a lot worse than it is). It feels like a pleasant scratching of your nostrils. I don’t mind it, really. What I do mind is I’m required to take this test every two weeks. It’s absurd. But, since I was on a plane not 3 days ago, and completely across the country in San Diego I didn’t mind. May as well be safe.

            Anyway, as I was walking to the COVID test center before my final exam, scheduled approximately 20 minutes ahead, I saw someone in a car, blasting 90’s gangster rap, openly smoking a joint. Now, I’m no narc. I’ve smoked my fair share of grass in my day, but damn. I’m surprised that people are bold enough to just spark a j in their cars. It’s crazy. In my day we were still under ganja prohibition. If you wanted to smoke some green, you needed to hide out in a parking garage, or, more often, the woods, or do it from the comfort of your home—assuming you weren’t living with your parents. But this guy was just out and about, sitting in his car, waiting for something or other, or so it seemed to me.

GRAMMY® AWARD WINNING MUSICIAN MARK TREMONTI –FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE BANDS ALTER BRIDGE/ CREED/TREMONTI – PARTNERS WITH NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY (NDSS) FOR NEW CHARITY INITIATIVE INSPIRED BY HIS DAUGHTER STELLA

GRAMMY® AWARD WINNING MUSICIAN MARK TREMONTI –FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE BANDS ALTER BRIDGE/ CREED/TREMONTI – PARTNERS WITH NATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY (NDSS) FOR NEW CHARITY INITIATIVE INSPIRED BY HIS DAUGHTER STELLA     Album Tremonti Sings Sinatra – Scheduled for Release On  May 27th Through Mark’s New Charity Organization  Take A Chance For Charity – Now Available For…

i've really enjoyed getting to know you and making your gift, hope you like it :) <3