Mattel 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 said it developed the autistic doll over more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a charity that advocates for the rights and better media representation of people with autism.
The goal was 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 behaviours and difficulties that vary widely in degree, and many of the traits associated with the disorder are not immediately visible, said Noor Pervez, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s community engagement manager who worked closely with Mattel on the Barbie prototype.
Like many disabilities, “autism doesn’t look any one way”, Pervez said. “But we can try to 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 said.