Mattel adds autistic Barbie to doll line devoted to showcase diversity, inclusion
NEW YORK—Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie on Monday as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo and other models the toymaker added to make its fashion dolls more inclusive.
Mattel says it developed the autistic doll over more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights and better media representation of people with autism. The goal: to create a Barbie that reflected some of the ways autistic people may experience and process the world around them, according to a Mattel news release.
That was a challenge because autism encompasses a broad range of behaviors and difficulties that vary widely in degree, and many of the traits associated with the disorder are not immediately visible, according to Noor Pervez, who is the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s community engagement manager and worked closely with Mattel on the Barbie prototype.
Like many disabilities, “autism doesn’t look any one way,” Pervez says. “But we can try and show some of the ways that autism expresses itself.”
For example, the eyes of the new Barbie shift slightly to the side to represent how some people with autism sometimes avoid direct eye contact, he says.
The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.
The development team debated whether to dress the doll in a tight or a loose-fitting outfit, Pervez says. Some autistic people wear loose clothes because they are sensitive to the feel of fabric seams, while others wear figure-hugging garments to give them a sense of where their bodies are, he says.
The team ended up choosing an A-line dress with short sleeves and a flowy skirt that provides less fabric-to-skin contact. The doll also wears flat shoes to promote stability and ease of movement, according to Mattel.
Each doll comes with a pink finger clip fidget spinner, noise-canceling headphones and a pink tablet modeled after the devices some autistic people who struggle to speak use to communicate.
The addition of the autistic doll to the Barbie Fashionistas line also became an occasion for Mattel to create a doll with facial features inspired by the company’s employees in India and mood boards reflecting a range of women with Indian backgrounds. Pervez says it is important to have the doll represent a segment of the autistic community that is generally underrepresented.
Coming to market
Mattel introduced its first doll with Down syndrome in 2023 and brought out a Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes last summer.
The Fashionistas also include a Barbie and a Ken with a prosthetic leg, and a Barbie with hearing aids, but the line also encompasses tall, petite and curvy body types and numerous hair types and skin colors.
“Barbie has always strived to reflect the world kids see and the possibilities they imagine, and we’re proud to introduce our first autistic Barbie as part of that ongoing work,” Jamie Cygielman, Mattel’s global head of dolls, says in a statement.
The doll is expected to be available at Mattel’s online shop and at Target stores starting on Monday for a suggested retail price of $11.87. Walmart stores are expected to start carrying the new Barbie in March, Mattel says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last year that the estimated prevalence of autism among 8-year-old children in the US was one in 31.
The estimate from the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network says Black, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander children in the US are more likely than white children to have a diagnosis, and the prevalence more than three times higher among boys than girls.
