Mattel Launches First Autistic Barbie in Fashionistas Line

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Mattel on Monday launched its first autistic Barbie, the latest addition to the toymaker’s Fashionistas line and part of a broader push to make the world’s best-known doll reflect the diversity of the children who play with it.

The doll arrives barely six months after Mattel introduced its first Barbie with type 1 diabetes. The company said the new doll is intended to help more children see themselves in Barbie and to encourage all children to play with dolls that reflect the world around them.

Designed With Autistic Advocates

Mattel developed the doll in collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a U.S. nonprofit run by and for autistic people. The design aims to represent some of the ways autistic children may experience, process and communicate with the world.

The doll’s eyes gaze slightly to one side, reflecting how some autistic people avoid direct eye contact. She has fully bendable elbows and wrists to allow repetitive movements such as stimming and hand-flapping, which help some autistic people process sensory information or express excitement.

Sensory and Communication Tools

The doll comes with a pink fidget spinner on her finger to help reduce stress, pink noise-cancelling headphones to reduce sensory overload and a pink tablet displaying symbol-based augmentative and alternative communication, a method some autistic people use to communicate, according to The Guardian.

About Autism

Autism is a form of neurodivergence that shapes how people experience and interact with the world. Its characteristics vary widely among individuals. According to the World Health Organization, more than one in 100 children is believed to be autistic, and U.S. health officials have reported rising rates of diagnosis in recent years as awareness and screening have expanded.

Mattel’s Inclusion Push

Over the past decade, Mattel has steadily broadened the Barbie lineup to include dolls with different body types, skin tones and disabilities. The Fashionistas range now features dolls with hearing aids, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs, as well as a Barbie with Down syndrome introduced in 2023.

The strategy has helped revitalize the brand, which also received a major boost from the 2023 film “Barbie,” directed by Greta Gerwig. Mattel Studios has an animated Barbie film in development.

Reaction

By working with an autistic-led organization on the design, Mattel sought to ensure the doll’s features reflected autistic people’s own descriptions of their experiences. Autism presents differently from person to person, and the accessories are meant to represent some common experiences rather than a single profile.

The autistic Barbie is sold through major retailers alongside the rest of the Fashionistas collection.