Written by Tom Black, who attends our Community Hub group for autistic people
In some ways the new autistic Barbie shows good representations of autism, such as with the fidget spinner, PEC (picture communication) book and headphones. And autistic people designed the Barbie.
However, autism itself doesn’t have a distinctive look: There’s a lot more to it than that. Autism affects everyone differently and needs are subjective to every autistic person. You can’t just look at someone and tell they’re autistic. Autism is described as an invisible condition. Even in assessments, it’s all done by questions, traits and activities, and not by how someone looks.
What concerns me most is how authorities and those in position of power will respond to it, such as the CEOs or managers of companies.
What worries me are those people who pretend to care, like people who do it to boost their reputations. If people pretend to care to make themselves look good or to take the moral high ground and give themselves credit.
When, at the same time, they know nothing about autism. I’ve had bad experiences before with Learning Disability Confident employers in the past, for instance.
I also don’t want autism to turn into a trend with this Barbie.
I don’t like being celebrated for being autistic. I didn’t ask to be autistic. This is who I am and I just accept that. Being celebrated for it is like I chose to be autistic.
All I want is to be understood and accepted by those who genuinely care and are authentic about it.
Thank you for sharing your opinion, Tom.
Find out more about our group for autistic people here. You can contact Iman to find out more: imerdel@ldnlondon.org.
