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

I completely agree with you here. I’m quite horrified that someone claims to be able to see ‘it’ in their eyes. That’s absolute nonsense that likely stems from the misguided claim that the first signs of autism are lack of eye contact and lining up cars.

I was a Sindy girl myself.

They do have a wheelchair barbie

Autism is wildly different though, my two with it are nothing alike in fact they are EXACT opposite pretty much.

My DC1 is very shy/quiet he struggles being around others as in he can't work out what people mean/want so spends most his time alone, hype logic/fact driven (no creative side at all but great with maths, history, science anything 'provable') and his key thing that was his 'tell' is he outwardly expresses no emotion (including pain).

My DC3 however always wants to be around us and touching us, very imaginative/creative/artsy (always loves to be writing stories, making things, drawing) and very expressive but hyper sensitive to certain words and spiral/meltdown and need to shut down and 'reset'.

They literally could not be more different... neither wear ear defenders, neither have any noticeable issues with eye contact or have any interest in fidget spinners. I don't think theres any 'obvious' thing you could do to a doll to represent my two.

I think having add on accessories you can buy that represents all different 'aids' that are available would be great but they should be retro-fittable to all dolls so you can mix and match dolls and aids to make the one that suits you. Many people with disabilities have more than one condition too, its not wild to think someone might be in a wheelchair, be autistic and have hearing aids etc...

Be horrified all you like. There will always be the odd person who masks very well (Drama training can help with that too) but the majority of people we can just tell.

I cannot comprehend how it takes so long for some people to be diagnosed (my husband was almost 50 before he got his diagnosis) when it is so obvious most of the time. Ironically it was my daughter who was the first in the family to be diagnosed - she had a very experienced teacher at school & her school had good referral systems in place. My son went through hell and even after diagnosis many refused to put adjustments in place

I have a child with T1 diabetes & they have the Barbie with an insulin pump.

Thank you- I'm glad to hear your son is in remission.

My daughter's issues are bowel related so she will keep the stoma for now (she's 15)- it's pretty well behaved It was life changing operation at the time!

No-one in my family wear ear defenders although dh and dd wear noise cancelling ear pod type things. I detest the feel of any kind of headphone/earpod.

We all present very differently, ds and dh's PDA profile is challenging! but on the other hand we are similar in many ways too.

The world is fucking mad.

I think it's to be applauded. The issue is that it's incredibly difficult when the disability is not visible. If they modelled it on my dd on a bad day like today, they'd have to have it lying in a den under her bed, still in PJs, dishevelled look, unbrushed hair, bags under her eyes. I don't think they'd shift many of those though.

But it's just labelling people as different. I don't get it. We are all different with different issues..

Having a Barbie with a fidget toy or ear defenders may help a child to feel better who has been told by a teacher that they can't have one because "everyone else will want one too"/they will just use it as an excuse/it will single them out or who have had classmates laugh at them for using such aids.

But not all people have disabilities and it would be silly to pretend otherwise.

Yes, everyone is different and it's recognising that, which is why there are billions of different models of Barbies. There's no label on this one that says 'different' any more than there is on pregnant Barbie.

I think there's a danger of stereotyping, for sure, and for projecting visible signifiers where there aren't always any.

I love this! My autistic dc will too I think.

Oh my lord
Give me strength
I am diagnosed autistic
This incredibly offensive
Another reported post

My daughter wouldn’t appreciate this. She has autism. She isn’t ashamed of it but would rather blend in and no fuss made. This doll doesn’t represent her. I do think it gives the idea that autism has a look to it when it doesn’t. I’m not comfortable with the idea reinforcing the idea you have to look like you have autism. Each to their own though. I’m sure some people will love this doll.

The first two already exist!

I have autistic DDs although they are older.
You wouldnt necessarily know they are autistic and many people didnt believe it when they were diagnosed .
So autism is definetely a spectrum,some are more obviously autistic than others but that may be more down to co concurring needs/diagnosis than autism?
Anyway I think the outfit,the headphones and fidget toy are fine as is the slightly offset gaze. Its basically a normal barbie with accesories.
I dont think there was such a fuss about deaf barbie who just has a hearing aid-or maybe there was!
Mattell consulted before release and you cant please all of the people all of the time.
Both my autistic and non autistic DDs would have just chosen a barbie purely based on their favourite outfit tbh but i think headphone and fidget spinner are a good idea accessory wise.

It would have helped my dd massively. She refused to accept her diagnosis because she was ashamed and didn’t want to be different. She had huge MH battles as a result.

Well the title I thought ridiculous. But reading the comments it sounds like they have done a really good job!

I had Sindys but even as a child I thought she was a bit dull and prissy with her upper middle class pony lifestyle and huge forehead. I related more to low self esteem tits-and-arse Barbie.

If this doll helps children feel a bit more represented in the mainstream world I’m all for it.

As someone with 2 autistic children, representation matters. Watching Cat Burns on Traitors talk about being autistic was so, so positive for one of mine. Seeing ND actresses and characters in shows as well is great for my kids.

One of my children would be fairly represented by this doll's appearance, the other not so much (aside from the fidget) but just to see that autism is recognised within such a popular toy brand would have been great for them when they were young enough to play with them.

It's like seeing other ND people in real life - everyone who is autistic is affected by it differently and they know this but it's the fact they can see an autistic person on the TV - it's inclusive.

I do agree that it would be good to get the accessories separately though so that our Paramedic Barbie or Entomologist Barbie could likewise have benefited from them if they'd have wanted.

There is wheelchair Barbie, not sure about amputee but DD has a Lego figure with one arm (meant to be like that not broken). I don't think those things are wild or weird. Why would you not have a wheelchair Barbie?

I understand wheelchair barbies or down syndrome barbies or prosthetic limb barbies or deaf barbies because they are visible disabilities.

I even understand fat barbies.

But autistic barbies? Autism doesnt always change appearance unless its a genetic form like down syndrome...and a lot of kids who arent autistic have fidget toys ipads and headphones.

As a mum with a girl suspected of having pda mattel are taking the piss