Mattel have made an autistic Barbie

[IwishIwasacaterpillar]

I find this quite odd. Autism doesn’t have a look.
my child is autistic and I would not have bought them one when they were young

It seems incredibly short sighted to make one doll, why not make 4 variants of ND. Its such a broad spectrum it can't possibly be relatable to everyone. Everyone gets annoyed when someone tries to portray autism in any way. Its such a sensitive thing, every person i know with autism or an autistic child feels they are not accurately represented. Either show a variety or don't bother.

Could have just made the doll as Barbie Fashionista #whatever.

So it’s just a regular Barbie with ear defenders and a fidget spinner? Nothing like stereotyping autism is there?

Good to see yet another thread about autism reduced to the same people bickering over the same arguments and the same "I'm like that"... "I'm not" shite that goes on all the time.

I'm autistic - I do not look like fucking Barbie - so what? I don't tend to wear ear defenders - so what? I tend to have very subtle things to fidget with and not a spinner - so Mattel didn't perfectly nail that.

It's a step in a positive direction and the more our kids (I have two autistic daughters although neither were particularly into Barbies - thank fuck - too many small bits to stand on in bare feet) see autism as something that just exists out there in the world - the better it's going to be in the long run.

I actually appreciate the intention behind the eye gaze as well - although she does look more slightly drunk - again, it's an open avenue for discussion about people (and it's generally females) who mask socially and things like eye contact where my personal strategy tends to be to look at someone's ear.

95% of kids are going to put it in the box with all the other Barbies, give the "headphones" to whichever doll has to listen to music that day and the fidget spinner will be in the hoover in a few weeks - but at least it's a step.

How was the film vile? It represented one person with autism, people similar to the character absolutely do exist and deserve representation as much as anyone else. The issue was the massive lack of education around autism, that's hardly the films fault. Criticism of those who try to represent autism is part of the reason it's so massively underrepresented.

Aside from the premise of the film, one brother kidnaps the other with the intention of stealing his inheritance. It very much gave the myth, that all people with Autism are savants in a time where there was very little balance and alternative information. The raised awareness, was secondary for the terminology being used mainly as an insult throughout the 80s and 90s, and was at the forefront of public consciousness when Andrew Wakefield entered the picture.

If Mattel is interested in showing a diverse range of women, I wish they’d bring back Midge, Barbie’s friend who’s married and the mother of young children. I understand the appeal of keeping Barbie herself perpetually unmarried and without her own kids, but it would be nice for them to do a few different gift sets with Midge and show that mothers of young children can do fun and fashionable things too. Maybe a swim-themed one with Barbie, Midge, Midge’s kids, and Chelsea - Barbie and Midge take the kids to the beach. Or one where Barbie, Midge and Skipper all have girls’ night out.

Lmao my loops have to stay in meds bag otherwise yep same 🤣

Rainman is very nearly 40 years old where the character was supposed to be in his maybe late 30s and institutionalised . It was supposed to be the realisation of Tom Cruise's character that his brother was an actual viable person and not for him to exploit, nobody watching Rainman in 2026 think all Autisim looks like this, i don't understand why you are quoting it.

Scroll down and you will see the posters that I was replying to, My original comment was about negative stereotypes being counter productive to inclusivity. I'm old enough to remember the film coming out and the Rain Man 'jokes'.

@YankSplaining yes Mattel really missed out by not re releasing pregnant Midge and Allan after the film.

Rainman was based on an actual person not a negative stereotype its just a portrayel of how autism affected that paticular person.

Well said!

Exactly!

But autism does often present physical differences. The more inclusive the better

It’s a nice idea but I think a better one would be to make fidget toys and ear defenders accessories for any Barbie.

that argument (taken to its logical conclusion) means that no film can be made about anyone other than NT people all the time, though.

As i said Rainman was nearly 40 years ago and about a specific person with Autisim it was about his brother trying to scam and exploit him, i worked with disabled children mid 80s and the Children with Autisim their traits and how they presented was severe, it would take a few more years for "milder" forms of Autisim to become recognised as not just "a bit quirky".

I actually watched the film again over Xmas, I thought it was a very good portrayed of how autism impacted him
They actually said he was considered high functioning, but despite his extraordinary talent, he was clearly very disabled .

I think it is a bit odd to have a barbie for something that doesn't have physical features or supports such as a hearing aid. But it's also not aimed at me, so I hope it makes little autistic girls happy.

I also do think that representation is a great thing. I have a stoma and am thrilled that a lego friends mini figure does too.

And boys..

Autists don't always 'want to be recognised for it's. What absolute nonsense.

I find it a bit weird because her props seem to be things that I see more for children rather than with autistic adults. And in my experience, kids use Barbie to play at being adults.

I think this is probably the truth, even with the most basic variants like "short Barbie." It's about creating collectable sets, like they do with holiday Barbies.

They could try Virtue Signalling Barbie, I wonder what her props would be?