Mattel has made an effort to celebrate all types of diversity with its Barbie Fashionistas Collection, featuring a range of diverse hair textures, body types, and disabilities, including Down Syndrome, vitiligo, and Type 1 diabetes. Now, the line is expanding to include the first-ever Barbie doll with autism spectrum disorder.
The autistic Barbie doll was developed in close collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to accurately represent the various ways autistic people might process, experience, and interact with the world around them. By including this doll in the lineup, Mattel invites even more kids to see themselves reflected in Barbie, helping foster the community of kindness, inclusivity, and friendship that the character has always championed.
Autism encompasses a wide array of behaviors and characteristics, so the Barbie design team focused on capturing some of the common traits that autistic people might experience. For example, the doll’s gaze is shifted slightly to the side, representing how some prefer to avoid direct eye contact. The elbows and wrists feature extra points of articulation, allowing the doll to stim and hand-flap, which helps many autistic people process sensory information or express themselves.
The doll represents some of the ways many people with autism experience and communicate with the world. | Source: Mattel/The Toy Insider
Each Barbie includes a pink fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones, and an AAC-equipped tablet. | Source: Mattel/The Toy Insider
The doll wears a flowy, sensory-friendly pinstripe dress and comes with a variety of accessories, including a pink fidget spinner finger clip, pink noise-canceling headphones, and a handheld tablet featuring symbol-based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps. These tools help numerous people navigate everyday situations with greater ease and comfort. Rounding out the look is a pair of purple sneakers, complete with flat soles for extra stability.
To celebrate the launch, Mattel is teaming up with advocates from the autistic community — such as mother-daughter duo Precious and Mikko Mirage, entrepreneur Madison Marilla, and fashion designer and visual artist Aarushi Pratap — to share their unique stories and capture their reactions to seeing themselves represented as a Barbie doll for the first time. Families can watch the heartwarming video now on YouTube.
Mattel will also donate more than 1,000 Barbie dolls to pediatric hospitals across the U.S. that specialize in providing care to autistic kids, including Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), and Rady Children’s Hospital Orange County.
The doll is now available at major retailers, including Amazon, Target, and Walmart, as well as shop.mattel.com.
BARBIE FASHIONISTAS AUTISTIC BARBIE DOLL
Created in collaboration with the Autism Self Advocacy Network, this Barbie accurately reflects some of the traits many autistic people experience, from a shifted gaze to extra articulation for stimming. The set also includes a fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones, and an AAC-equipped tablet accessory.
