A range of new Lego sets will include minifigures wearing Sunflower lanyards, to indicate that they have a hidden disability.
When Lego minifigures first appeared, 46 years ago, they were very simple affairs, with yellow hands and faces and usually just single colours for the torso and legs. Over the years they’ve evolved to include much more complex printing and to reflect many different ethnicities, with realistic skin tones instead of just yellow.
In recent years, Lego has also been doing their best to represent people with various physical disabilities, with the introduction of wheelchairs, as well as minifigures who are blind or are amputees. Their latest introduction is minifigures with Sunflower lanyard designs, which in real-life are used to indicate someone with a hidden disability, such as autism, anxiety or dyslexia.
As well as regular Lego System toys there’ll also be characters wearing the lanyard in the Lego Friends and Duplo lines, which have different styles of minifigures for each of their audiences.
The new toys have been made in partnership with the British organisation Hidden Disabilities Sunflower and Lego stores in Europe will become Sensory Inclusive Certified by KultureCity by the end of March next year.
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Metro spoke to Martin Moxness, who is an autistic adult Sunflower lanyard user and Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Ambassador, and currently working with Lego to increase awareness of non-visible disabilities.
‘Sometimes, I have a lot of verbal ticks, so I’ll make a lot of different sounds, and sometimes gestures,’ says Moxness. ‘Sometimes it won’t show at first and it may take people by surprise when it does, but having the Sunflower indicates that I’m different beforehand – so I don’t have to necessarily explain myself and people will just kind of go along with it, just realising that I’m different and accepting me in a different way.’
A variety of different sets will feature the sunflower lanyard, including the Duplo set First Time at the Airport, which is aimed at children aged 2+ and has a child with the lanyard, as well as a pilot figure and an aeroplane.
Meanwhile, the Friends Heartlake City Airport and Airplane set is aimed at kids aged 8+ and includes a character called Ryan who is wearing a Sunflower lanyard (and noise-reducing headphones), amongst eight other characters, an aeroplane, taxi, and the airport itself.
It isn’t just kids’ sets which feature the lanyard though, as the newly announced Tudor Corner modular building includes a neurodivergent female character. The set is already highly anticipated amongst adult fans and not only features a British style inn but also a haberdashery, watchmakers’ studio, and the flat where the neurodivergent character lives.
None of these sets are out until January 1, but they’re just the first wave and all 55 Lego factories around the world will be producing Sunflower lanyard characters for these sets and others in the future.
‘If you have a very creative mind, which I think a lot of neurodivergent people do have, I think Lego can really help to trigger something as far as creativity goes. But also, it can be a sensory thing, where there’s lots of colours and small details that you might get lost in and really hyper focus on. It grabs your attention in a really fun and engaging and creative way,’ says Moxness.
‘It’s become a very digital world, where hands-on experience with something like a Lego set is something that’s a bit elusive sometimes. It’s very easy to go to the phone and be entertained by the easy clickbait, whereas Lego offers a very physical and tactile experience.’
Since they are all made of Lego, any of the minifigures can be customised to create unique characters, with customers also able to create their own from scratch at select Lego stores, Legoland locations, Lego House in Denmark, and, in the US, the Lego website.
Lego employees in Denmark and the UK will also be offered a free Lego-branded Sunflower lanyard, with special training for leaders planned, as well as online courses for employees to learn more.
‘1 in every 6 person lives with some form of disability and 80% of them have a disability that is non-visible,’ said Paul White, CEO of Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. ‘HD Sunflower is excited to partner with the LEGO Group on raising awareness and acceptance across their fan and colleague base and can’t wait to see the impact that this will create.’
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