Mattel Inc. introduced a Barbie doll with autism on Monday as the newest member of its line, intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes a Barbie with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, and a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, among other models the toymaker has added to make its fashion dolls more inclusive.
Mattel says it developed the new Barbie in partnership with a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights and better media representation of people with autism. Their goal is to create a Barbie that reflects some of the ways autistic people may experience and process the world around them, according to a Mattel news release.
“The doll, designed with guidance from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, helps to expand what inclusion looks like in the toy aisle and beyond because every child deserves to see themselves in Barbie,” said Jamie Cygielman, Mattel’s global head of dolls.
The doll encompasses a range of behaviors and difficulties associated with the disorder, such as an eye gaze shifted slightly to the side to avoid direct eye contact. It also features articulated elbows and wrists to accommodate the gestures some autistic individuals use to process sensory information.
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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.
Mattel has steadily expanded the Fashionistas line in recent years, introducing dolls that represent type 1 diabetes, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, and a wide range of body types, skin tones, and hair textures.