Mattel Adds an Autistic Barbie

Mattel is adding an autistic Barbie to its Fashionistas line on Monday, expanding its effort to make its dolls more inclusive and reflective of real-world diversity. The new doll joins a growing collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, and other dolls designed to represent a wide range of abilities and appearances.

The company said the autistic Barbie was developed over more than 18 months in collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization focused on disability rights and accurate media representation of autistic people. According to the Associated Press, the goal was to create a doll that reflects some of the ways autistic individuals may experience and process the world.

Designing the doll presented challenges because autism exists across a broad spectrum, with traits and experiences that vary widely and are often not immediately visible. “Like many disabilities, autism doesn’t look any one way,” said Noor Pervez, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s community engagement manager, who worked closely with Mattel on the project. “But we can try and show some of the ways that autism expresses itself.”

To reflect those experiences, the doll’s eyes are designed to shift slightly to the side, representing how some autistic people may avoid direct eye contact. The doll also includes articulated elbows and wrists, acknowledging behaviors such as stimming, hand flapping, and other movements used to process sensory input or express excitement.

Each doll comes with accessories including a pink finger-clip fidget spinner, noise-canceling headphones, and a pink tablet modeled after communication devices used by some autistic people who have difficulty speaking.

Mattel has steadily expanded its inclusive lineup in recent years. The company introduced its first Barbie with Down syndrome in 2023 and released a Barbie representing a person with Type 1 diabetes last summer. The Fashionistas line also includes dolls with prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, and a wide range of body types, hair textures, and skin tones.

“Barbie has always strived to reflect the world kids see and the possibilities they imagine,” said Jamie Cygielman, Mattel’s global head of dolls.

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