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Autistic Barbie

TheCatWoman

They've just launched autistic Barbie, with pink noise cancelling headphones, tablet and clothes that don't irritate the skin and other features.

Do you find it good, bad or indifferent?

I'm not sure what to think, on the one hand anything that makes people feel included and to have toys that "look like them" is a good thing, but on the other it seems a cynical marketing ploy.

Parents

  • I had mixed feelings about this, but having considered different perspectives here, I think that Autistic Barbie is probably a good thing for many.

    Some reservations remain. I would like to know the background and numbers of individuals in the research group that Autism Self-Advocacy Network have drawn from. I usually favour decisions working for the needs or desires of the majority, so I wonder how the research group was demographically represented and with autistic individuals being such a diverse group, I wonder if it is even possible to do such a thing. For instance, would autistic individuals with/without noise hypersensitivity be more/less likely to work with the Autistic Self-advocacy Network? Would autistic people with low support needs be less/more likely to be involved in the research? If say 49% of autistic people who fed into the design of the Barbie agreed on pink headphones, is that detrimental to the 51% of people who had negative feelings about her and if so, does it matter? How will this affect non-autistic people’s perception of autism?  Is it even important to have a majority consensus on an autistic Barbie?

    Some of these things are unlikely to be neatly resolved, so for now, I tentatively support her, but would feel better if retailers displayed her on a colour wheel platform along with Autistic Barbies that have different traits. Then people could spin the colour wheel round and choose their favourite.

Reply

  • I had mixed feelings about this, but having considered different perspectives here, I think that Autistic Barbie is probably a good thing for many.

    Some reservations remain. I would like to know the background and numbers of individuals in the research group that Autism Self-Advocacy Network have drawn from. I usually favour decisions working for the needs or desires of the majority, so I wonder how the research group was demographically represented and with autistic individuals being such a diverse group, I wonder if it is even possible to do such a thing. For instance, would autistic individuals with/without noise hypersensitivity be more/less likely to work with the Autistic Self-advocacy Network? Would autistic people with low support needs be less/more likely to be involved in the research? If say 49% of autistic people who fed into the design of the Barbie agreed on pink headphones, is that detrimental to the 51% of people who had negative feelings about her and if so, does it matter? How will this affect non-autistic people’s perception of autism?  Is it even important to have a majority consensus on an autistic Barbie?

    Some of these things are unlikely to be neatly resolved, so for now, I tentatively support her, but would feel better if retailers displayed her on a colour wheel platform along with Autistic Barbies that have different traits. Then people could spin the colour wheel round and choose their favourite.

Children
  • in reply to ArchaeC

    I think all Barbie accessories are pink and many wouldn't know it's a Barbie without it being pink. It would be good if they could make them more representative of all the traits on the spectrum, but I guess it would be to complicated and not commercially viable. But then I think that about NT Barbie too