Barbies with Type 1 diabetes, Down syndrome, and blindness have all hit cabinets in recent times because the doll’s father or mother firm, Mattel, strives so as to add increasingly inclusive toys to their iconic Barbie lineup. And to begin off 2026, Mattel simply unveiled their first-ever autistic Barbie doll, designed in collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN).
In a press release revealing the doll, Mattel mentioned she was developed over an 18-month interval “with steering from the autistic neighborhood to characterize widespread methods autistic folks could expertise, course of, and talk concerning the world round them.” The model labored with the ASAN, a non-profit incapacity rights group run by and for autistic folks. As a result of the autism spectrum is large and consists of a wide range of experiences, the doll has a number of distinctive options and equipment to create essentially the most genuine illustration attainable.
This Barbie has articulated wrists and elbows, “enabling stimming, hand flapping, and different hand gestures that some members of the autistic neighborhood use to course of sensory info or specific pleasure,” says the press launch. Her gaze is shifted barely to the aspect to replicate how some folks with autism could keep away from eye contact.
And since no Barbie is full with out the correct equipment, this doll comes with some necessary ones: a pink fidget spinner (sure, it actually spins) to make use of for stress discount and focus, noise-canceling headphones to scale back her sensory overload, and a pill with symbol-based Augmentative and Different Communication apps (AAC) on its display to assist her talk. Even her outfit was made with consideration to element, that includes a loose-fitting costume that minimizes skin-to-fabric contact and flat-soled footwear to advertise stability.
This new Barbie is a part of the Barbie Fashionistas line, which provides dolls in a big selection of pores and skin tones, eye shapes and colours, hair textures, physique sorts, and different variations — all designed to assist youngsters see themselves of their Barbies.
As a part of the launch, Mattel additionally teamed up with advocates throughout the autistic neighborhood, like mother-daughter duo Valuable and Mikko Mirage, inventive entrepreneur Madison Marilla, and dressmaker and visible artist Aarushi Pratap, to doc their reactions to seeing the brand new Barbie for the primary time. (Truthful warning, the video is actually lovely and I’ll have teared up.)
“As proud members of the autistic neighborhood, our ASAN staff was thrilled to assist create the first-ever autistic Barbie doll. It’s so necessary for younger autistic folks to see genuine, joyful representations of themselves, and that’s precisely what this doll is,” mentioned Colin Killick, government director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Community (ASAN), in a press launch. “Partnering with Barbie allowed us to share insights and steering all through the design course of to make sure the doll absolutely represents and celebrates the autistic neighborhood, together with the instruments that assist us be unbiased. We’re honored to see this milestone come to life, and we’ll hold pushing for extra illustration like this that helps our neighborhood in dreaming large and residing proud.”
The brand new autistic Barbie doll is available now on Mattel’s website and at main retailers nationwide.
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