Overview
- The doll is available now through Mattel Shop and at Target, with distribution to additional major retailers expected in the coming months.
- Features include an averted gaze, articulated elbows and wrists to allow stimming, sensory-friendly clothing, noise-cancelling headphones, a fidget accessory, and an AAC tablet.
- Mattel says it is donating more than 1,000 of the dolls to pediatric hospitals that serve autistic children.
- Responses from autistic people and parents are varied, with praise for representation alongside concerns that a single depiction could encourage stereotyping.
- A conservative account criticized a “pronouns” label on the AAC screen, while supporters note pronouns are a standard element of communication tools used by non- and minimally speaking people.