Autistic Barbie sparks debate over what representation should look like

Mattel's new autistic Barbie has been widely praised online for giving representation to the community. But not everyone, including some autistic people or their family members, is sold on the new doll.

USA TODAY exclusively revealed on Jan. 11 that Barbie would be launching its first autistic doll in an effort to show how autistic people experience the world around them.

The doll's accessories include items that some autistic people use, like noise-canceling headphones, a fidget spinner and a tablet with augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC apps, which are used to help people communicate. It also has intentional design choices like flexible joints for stimming, which refers to repetitive body movement behavior to process sensory information, Mattel said.

Mattel said the doll, which is now available for purchase at the Mattel Shop and Target, was in development for more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, or ASAN, a nonprofit disability rights organization.

While some support Mattel's endeavor, others argue that a condition with a vast spectrum of needs can't be properly portrayed in one doll.

'I love the message that it sends to children'

Although autism is not a physically visible condition, Barbie's new autistic doll includes certain items and types of clothing that may be used by some autistic people.

"We wanted to make sure that autistic kids could see those aspects of themselves represented if they use those ‒ which not all autistic people do, but many do ‒ and that those who weren't autistic could see those things and learn about them in a fun and creative way," Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told USA TODAY.

Emily Katy, an autistic author and content creator, said she became emotional when she found out about the autistic Barbie.

"I love the message that it sends to children," Katy told USA TODAY. "Like it tells autistic children who might see themselves in the Barbie that they aren't alone and that their existence matters and that there's nothing wrong with who they are."

On social media, many others said they shared Katy's feelings.

Chloé Hayden, an autistic content creator with more than a million followers on TikTok, cried while talking about the new doll.

"Seeing a doll who is so cool and so beautiful using these devices, I think it's gonna make a lot of kids feel like they're able to use them too," Hayden said in a video, adding, "I hope y'all understand how genuinely important this doll is."

@LewisEmpire6, a TikTok account with nearly 900,000 followers run by a family with an autistic daughter, was gifted the autistic Barbie from Mattel and shared a video opening it, which has been viewed more than nine million times as of Jan. 16.

"Do you know what this is? The first Barbie that represents autism," mom Ashley Lewis says in the video to her son, who beams with excitement for his sister.

"No words can truly describe what we felt opening this," Lewis wrote in the comments of the video.

Critics argue you can't see autism

Others, though, said while they understand the importance of representation, they take issue with trying to portray autism physically.

In addition to the autistic Barbie's accessories, the doll is also designed with an eye gaze shifted slightly to the side, which "aims to reflect how some members of the autistic community may sometimes avoid direct eye contact," Mattel said in a release.

Kristyn Sommer, a psychology researcher and autistic mother in Australia, said in an Instagram post that the doll "turns autism into something you can see, which it is not."

"Headphones, AAC devices, specific clothes, specific body language ‒ yes, they create representation, but representation does two things at once: it can affirm some people and define the boundaries for others. This is where we need to be careful," Sommer said in a reel that has been viewed more than 200,000 times as of Jan. 16.

In a post on X that has been viewed more than seven million times as of Jan. 16, Jessica Taylor, an author and psychologist, called the Barbie "aesthetic labelling."

"This is so-called 'autism' with the sharp edges removed. Autism that doesn't disrupt anything for anyone. Autism that doesn't challenge institutions or social norms. Autism that doesn't make anyone uncomfortable," Taylor wrote.

Emma Bagnall, a clinical psychologist, called the autistic Barbie harmful in an Instagram post.

"Autism doesn’t have a look. Neurodivergence isn’t a visual category," Bagnall wrote, later adding to the post, "While I am glad for the girls who feel seen, I can't help but think of those girls who feel that they are not represented by this Barbie."

What should representation look like?

While opinions have varied, the widespread response to the new autistic Barbie sparked discourse about how to authentically represent autism.

James Hunt, a father to two autistic sons and the creator behind the social media pages Stories About Autism, wrote on Facebook that concerns about stereotyping are valid, but the new Barbie still feels like "a huge step forward."

"This isn’t about saying this is what all autistic people look like. That would be impossible. This is about representation, and about starting conversations that reach far beyond the autism community," Hunt wrote.

The autism spectrum is broad − meaning, autism may have significant impacts on one person's life, and little on another's.

Some, for example, may have intellectual disabilities or co-occurring conditions, while others may have much less need for support, Dr. Carol Weitzman, a pediatrician and co-director of the Autism Spectrum Center at Boston Children's Hospital, told USA TODAY.

"There's, at least to my understanding, very few other disorders that have as wide a spectrum as autism does, which is why it makes it very difficult to try to capture this in a doll," Weitzman said.

James McPartland, the director of the Yale Developmental Disabilities Clinic and the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, emphasized the wide-ranging diagnostic meaning of the autism spectrum.

"If the diagnosis of autism itself doesn't even say the same thing about everybody, how could a piece of plastic doll manage to capture all of that diversity?" McPartland told USA TODAY. "And so maybe, if people are critical of the elements of autism the doll fails to acknowledge, that is probably a recapitulation of the nature of the diagnostic category itself."

Killick, ASAN's executive director, acknowledged the impossibility of representing every autistic person in one Barbie.

"The goal of this was not to represent every autistic person. The goal was to represent certain aspects of autistic identity that are more visible, that people maybe know less about, and help to destigmatize and indeed celebrate those," Killick said.

Highlighting a tool like an AAC tablet, for example, can be an opportunity to celebrate differences, Killick said.

"The goal of this really, again, is to look at that difference and to celebrate it and to say, this is fun. This is interesting. This is something that makes this person distinctly who they are. And that's something to celebrate, not to be ashamed of, not to hide. It's a celebration of autistic visibility," Killick said.

Weitzman said she sees both a positive side − making people feel seen − and the risks, that autism is perceived as a heterogeneous condition − around the new Barbie. But either way, it can serve as a launching pad for more.

"The best way this doll can be used is to sort of open conversations and help lots of little kids understand the diversity, again, of the human experience and if that happens − that it's an educational tool, that it starts conversations − then Mattel will have done a good thing," Weitzman said.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at [email protected].