Aka how can we sell more dolls without actually designing and building anything new. As the article says there are now blind and diabetic Barbies too.
Mattel ❤️ invisible disabilities
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
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I don't know how popular Barbie dolls are now but I will never knock the availability of more representative dolls or diminish the emotional impact of seeing oneself represented in toys, media, etc.
there are now blind Barbies
emotional impact of seeing oneself
I'll leave
You missed the opportunity
"See yourself out"
There's a lot of language that uses expressions that have something to do with sight. I noticed that when I used to drive this one blind kid to school.
Insomnia Barbie and Allergy Season Barbie waiting in the wings
Crohn's Barbie
IBS Barbie
ADHD Barbie
Oh man please tell me that is a typo and someone isn't trying to rename it
No, ADHS is just the German term for ADHD. Maybe it got autocorrected.
I just wasn't aware for a moment.
This is the tricky part of representation, and it goes beyond just Barbie here. How do you represent an autistic character without just having them turn to the camera and tell the audience, "I, [character name], am officially and canonically autistic"? That often feels ham-fisted and shallow, pandering even, but anything less than that and you'll have endless debates over whether a character that could be read as autistic-coded but never explicitly says it out loud counts or not.
Medical History Barbie with Character References, we can do differential analysis
It's Not Lupus Barbie.
It’s really important for kids to see themselves reflected somewhere in the world. This is nice.
It's more important to see a trend and capitalize on it while appearing progressive and inclusive.
Don't ever be fooled into thinking corporations are your friend, or that anything they do doesn't have selfish motives behind it. But we can acknowledge that being seen as a profitable demographic worth marketing to is... something. It is a sign of social progress.
What is borderline exploitation for 100, Alex?
Sure kids need representation but wtf? Other than the box saying so, which is promptly trashed how are these any different than any other barbie? Kids with autism can just apply that attribute to any doll. This is just a cash grab.
Jolanta Lasota, the chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, said: “Theoretically any Barbie can be reimagined as autistic, because autism doesn’t have one look. But representation is powerful and Barbie is an iconic toy, so we hope many autistic children feel pride at seeing some of their experiences reflected in this new doll.
Per the article, they tweaked the eyes so they look away slightly, made sure to use one of their fully articulated sculpts so she can move her arms to allow role-play of stimming, dressed her in clothes that would be loose and comfy, and gave her a fidget spinner, noise-canceling headphones, and augmentive-communication tablet.
To a certain extent, every Barbie is a cash grab, but this doesn't seem any worse than average, and not every family is going to take it as their mission to rise above every consumerist influence in their lives.
Hoo boy is this gonna make some arseholes pucker with rage ..
Autistic chicks need body image issues too...! Jesus, while it's good there's more inclusiveness it'd be nice if that inclusiveness was real and not a transparent cash grab from the incredibly sexist doll company...
Marketing wise, great choice. This will get loads of attention of both haters and people embracing inclusiveness, whilst requiring little product development.
Wasn’t the point of Barbie to use your imagination?
Same with Lego, but we're seeing more and more Minifigs with clear and visible disabilities (which isn't a bad thing).
Now there are face prints with hearing aids, Minifigs with prosthetics limbs, more wheelchair (and new crutches) accessories being included in sets, etc.; and the main character in the new Dreamzzz theme has vitiligo, along with another character in the theme wearing braces (the big full-face kind).
No the point of it was to enforce cultural norms
Honestly, seems quite tasteful and quite good too.
As an autist, i'm not mad at it.
I don't understand the point of it to be honest. Why not take any barbie and make her the autistic one?
I guess because the idea is to give visibility
Yeah, back in the day we used to call that "playing".
Countdown to MAGA outrage...
Next up is vaccinated Barbie.
But what about ugly barbie, for those ugly kids who wanna be included too?
What the fuck is going on with the feet?