A University of Cape Town autism researcher has cautiously welcomed the launch of Mattel’s first-ever autistic Barbie, saying that while research on inclusive toys remains limited, the doll could play a valuable symbolic role in promoting awareness, empathy and conversation around neurodiversity.
Nola Chambers, a senior research officer at UCT’s Centre for Autism Research in Africa (CARA), said there is currently little conclusive evidence that inclusive or representative toys on their own influence children’s empathy, social understanding or attitudes.
“Inclusive toys and their impact on empathy, social understanding and attitudes among children is not my field of expertise,” Chambers said. “A brief search, however, suggests there is not a lot of research on this and the few studies show very varied responses of children towards inclusive toys.”
She said stronger evidence exists around inclusive play — where children with and without neurodiversity play together — but stressed that outcomes are shaped by several factors.
“There is a lot more research on the positive impacts of inclusive play … though other factors play an important role, such as the quality of friendship between those with and without developmental differences,” Chambers said.
Despite the limited research on toys themselves, Chambers said the symbolic significance of an autistic Barbie should not be dismissed.
“Despite the lack of research, we feel that symbolically, an attempt to create an autistic Barbie is a good thing as it is in line with current trends in promoting awareness and acceptance of neurodiversity,” she said. “Importantly, it has the potential to encourage conversations both with and among children about autism, neurodiversity and other differences and is therefore likely to have many positive benefits.”
Her comments follow last week’s announcement by toy giant Mattel that it had unveiled its first autistic Barbie, developed over more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). The doll features sensory-related accessories such as noise-cancelling headphones and a fidget toy and forms part of the Barbie Fashionistas range, the brand’s most diverse collection to date.
Chambers, however, warned that commercial representations of autism also carry risks.
“There is a risk that an autistic Barbie could oversimplify the complexity of autism, or over-glamourise autism, which can be very stressful for families,” she said. “It is also impossible to represent the range of autism in one doll and this will have to be borne in mind.”
She noted that autism is largely an invisible condition, making visual representation particularly challenging.
“It is very difficult to represent autism in a doll, as autism is essentially not a visible condition — any or all of the other Barbies could in fact have autism,” Chambers said. “Having said that, the external accessories, such as headphones and a fidget spinner, have been thoughtfully used to reflect the internal differences or variations in autistic individuals.”
Chambers also welcomed the involvement of an autistic advocacy group in the design process.
“It is to their credit that the designers worked with an advocacy group in the design of this Barbie to enhance legitimacy and authenticity to this one representation,” she said.
Provided its limitations are clearly understood, Chambers said the doll could still play a constructive role, particularly for autistic children and their families.
“As long as these limitations are considered, an autistic Barbie could be very helpful for leading to helpful conversations, especially with young girls with autism, families and the community, to promote talking more openly about autism and thus promote empathy, awareness and acceptance,” she said.
She added that perspectives from autistic self-advocates remain essential to the broader conversation around representation, recommending that further commentary be sought from autistic voices within the community.
Originally published on Cape Argus.
