Inclusivity has all the time been on the coronary heart of the Barbie Fashionistas Assortment, from celebrating various physique varieties and hair textures to representing youngsters with disabilities. Now, Mattel is welcoming the first-ever Barbie doll with Autism Spectrum Disorder to the road.
The autistic Barbie doll was developed in shut collaboration with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) to precisely signify the various methods individuals with autism course of, expertise, and work together with the world round them. By together with this doll within the lineup, Mattel invitations much more youngsters to see themselves mirrored in Barbie, serving to foster the neighborhood of kindness, inclusivity, and friendship that the character has all the time championed.
Autism encompasses a wide selection of behaviors and traits, so the doll’s design group targeted on precisely representing a few of the commonest methods individuals with autism course of, expertise, and work together with the world round them. For instance, the doll’s gaze is shifted barely to the facet, representing how some members of the autistic neighborhood keep away from direct eye contact. The elbows and wrists function further factors of articulation, permitting the doll to stim and hand-flap, which helps many autistic individuals course of sensory info or categorical themselves.
The doll represents a few of the methods many individuals with autism expertise and talk with the world. | Supply: Mattel/The Toy E-book
Every Barbie features a pink fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones, and an AAC-equipped pill. | Supply: Mattel/The Toy E-book
The doll wears a flowy, sensory-friendly pinstripe gown and comes with quite a lot of equipment, together with a pink fidget spinner finger clip, pink noise-canceling headphones, and a handheld pill that includes symbol-based Augmentative and Different Communication (AAC) apps. These instruments assist many individuals with autism navigate on a regular basis conditions with higher ease and luxury. Rounding out the look is a pair of purple sneakers, full with flat soles for further stability.
“It’s so vital for younger autistic individuals to see genuine, joyful representations of themselves, and that’s precisely what this doll is,” mentioned Colin Killick, Government Director of ASAN. “Partnering with Barbie allowed us to share insights and steering all through the design course of to make sure the doll totally 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 preserve pushing for extra illustration like this that helps our neighborhood in dreaming large and dwelling proud.”
To have fun the launch, Mattel is teaming up with advocates from the autistic neighborhood — equivalent to mother-daughter duo Valuable and Mikko Mirage, entrepreneur Madison Marilla, and dressmaker and visible artist Aarushi Pratap — to share their distinctive tales and seize their reactions to seeing themselves represented as a Barbie doll for the primary time. The video is now out there to observe on YouTube.
Mattel will even donate greater than 1,000 Barbie dolls to pediatric hospitals throughout the U.S. specializing in offering care to youngsters on the autism spectrum, together with Kids’s Nationwide Hospital in Washington, D.C., Kids’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), and Rady Kids’s Hospital Orange County.
The doll is offered now at main retailers and on shop.mattel.com.
Trending Merchandise
