The doll features a gaze that is shifted slightly to the side, to “[reflect] how some members of the autistic community may avoid direct eye contact.”

Available starting on January 12, 2026, at Mattel Shop and Target is the first-ever autistic Barbie doll. Mattel’s Global Head of Dolls, Jamie Cygielman, says the doll “helps to expand what inclusion looks like in the toy aisle and beyond because every child deserves to see themselves in Barbie.”

Barbie is launching its first autistic doll in an effort to represent how individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience the world around them, USA TODAY can exclusively reveal.

Mattel, Inc. unveiled today its first-ever autistic Barbie doll created with guidance from the autistic community

For years, we've thought of autism as lying on a spectrum, but emerging evidence suggests that it comes in several distinct types. The implications for how we support autistic people could be profound

Mattel has introduced its first autistic Barbie, developed over 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

Even as a practitioner who works with autistic women, and as an autistic woman myself, understanding what exactly autism spectrum disorder is can be difficult. We tend to think of spectrums in terms of a linear progression—from high to low, moderate to ...