Mattel’s Autistic Barbie – Fidget Spinner and All – Draws Fire from Critics as Fans Rave: ‘So Cool and So Beautiful’

There’s no bigger name in toys than Barbie, and there’s little Barbie can do that doesn’t draw a big controversy.

When Mattel unveiled its new autistic Barbie earlier this month, the goal was to “represent common ways autistic people may experience, process, and communicate about the world around them,” the company declared in a news release.

But for some critics, the result was actually more restrictions.

The doll — the latest iteration of a franchise that first appeared on the market in 1959 ...