Disabled Toys: “A World Apart”, Part 3

Disabled Toys: “A World Apart” is part of a series exploring disability, inclusion, and the social distance that can exist between disabled and nondisabled people. The series consists of pairs of toys: one altered to represent a disability and one left in its original, nondisabled form. By using ordinary toys and materials I already had, I transform familiar objects into representations of experiences that are often overlooked in everyday society.

In Part 3 of A World Apart, the monkey on the left has been given a wheelchair and is missing its legs, while the monkey on the right remains physically able-bodied. Although the two toys are positioned close to one another, there is a noticeable sense of separation between them. The disabled monkey makes an effort to participate and remain alongside its peer, but its disability creates physical and social barriers that make it more difficult to feel included.

The wheelchair is not meant to symbolize weakness, but rather the ways in which society can make participation more difficult when environments and attitudes are not designed to accommodate everyone. The distance between the two monkeys represents the emotional isolation that can result when disabled people feel separated from their nondisabled peers, despite wanting the same sense of belonging and connection.

Through Disabled Toys, I use toys as a simple and familiar medium to communicate a more serious idea: disability does not inherently create isolation—social barriers, lack of accessibility, and exclusion can. By placing a disabled and nondisabled version of the same type of toy side by side, the series asks viewers to consider how easily differences can become divisions, and how inclusion can help close that distance.