#ToyLikeMe campaign inspires first ever LEGO toy in wheelchair

LEGO has released its first mini-figure in a wheelchair after a Change.org petition launched last year called #ToyLikeMe received over 20,000 signatures. Journalist Rebecca Atkinson, co-founder of the petition, argued that LEGO was excluding ‘150 million disabled children worldwide by failing to positively represent them in its products’. The figure was spotted at the Nuremburg and London toy fairs wearing a beanie, hoodie and with a small dog. Australian academic Katie Ellis stressed the importance of ‘toys which mirror the values of the society that produces them.’ Atkinson praised the Danish toy pioneers for using their platform of power in a positive way, noting that the presence of the toy is a ‘seismic shift in a toy box’.