"The American toy manufacturing giant said it developed the autistic doll in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit group, over 18 months. The nonprofit, headquartered in Washington, advocates for better media representation of people with autism. The main challenge was creating a single doll to represent a condition where behaviors vary widely among individuals, according to Noor Pervez, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's community engagement manager, who worked closely with Mattel on the Barbie prototype."
"Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental condition that affects how people interact with others, learn and behave. Autism is viewed as a spectrum, meaning each person has a unique set of characteristics. The presence and visibility of these characteristics differ, and they can change over time. A spectrum is not a straight line with people being "more" or "less" autistic, as was once believed."
Mattel introduced a Barbie designed to represent autism, developed over 18 months with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. The nonprofit advocates for better media representation of autistic people and helped guide design choices. Designers aimed to reflect some ways autistic people may experience and process the world while acknowledging behavioral variation across the autism spectrum. The doll has eyes that shift slightly to the side to suggest occasional eye contact avoidance and wears an A-line dress with short sleeves and a flowy skirt to reduce fabric-to-skin contact. Accessories include a pink finger-clip fidget spinner, noise-canceling headphones and a pink tablet modeled on communication devices.
Read at www.dw.com
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