Broadcast Retirement Network’s Jeffrey Snyder discusses Mattel’s new autism barbie with Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services’ Lisa Sheinhouse.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Lisa Sheinhouse, great to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning.

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

Thanks for having me.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

And I see you have a little friend with you. Is that Autism Barbie with you?

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

This is Autism Barbie, yes.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

You know, I have to say she doesn’t really look different than regular Barbie with the exception of maybe the headphones. But you saw the announcement just like I did. I want to get your visceral, your first reaction to seeing the announcement of this new Autism Barbie doll.

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

So when I first found out that they were doing this, I was like, oh, cool. Let’s see. They actually have a Down syndrome Barbie, a Barbie with type 1 diabetes, a Barbie that is, you know, seeing problems, a blind Barbie.

So I thought, OK, cool. You know, let’s see how this looks. And then this Barbie came out.

And I was actually a little more upset than I thought I was going to be. I can’t really see it so well, but her eyes are a little slightly off center, just a little. And that’s because they say children with Autism don’t make eye contact.

But that’s not true. Many do. And then she has lots of accessories.

She has headphones in case she’s having some sensory overload. She has a fidget spinner with her in case she needs to spin. And it actually does spin, which is, I guess, cute.

A communication device. And her arm is flat because many children with Autism have some stereotypical behaviors of flapping arms.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

So let me just follow up on that, because I think I know people that are neurodivergent, part of that community. I can’t really tell them by looking at them. And they’re very differently for me from you or anyone else.

So when I saw that there was an Autism Barbie, it kind of struck me as a little odd, to be honest. And because I think it’s actually, I don’t want to speak for you, but it actually kind of constrains or segregates a portion of the population. But so you had this reaction.

And Autism, the spectrum ranges from, they’re all different types of Autism. It’s not just one diagnosis, right?

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

Right. And I think that’s what got to be, is that you look at this doll and you think every single kid with Autism or adult with Autism needs all these things. And that’s not true.

And in my mind, it was just putting stigma where stigma didn’t need to be. Not every person with Autism needs a communication device. Not every kid with Autism doesn’t make eye contact.

And as you said yourself, Jeffrey, it’s such a spectrum. And in my mind, this was more segregating a child than it is including a child. So it’s nice to have a conversation about Autism so that people with Autism are more included.

This didn’t do it for me. This is not inclusion. This is segregation.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Well, you work with a lot of families. So I would imagine you got some feedback from the family members that of neurodivergent children or adults. Did you get feedback?

And what was that feedback around Autism, Barbie?

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

When I first wrote my blog and I put out this, you know, visceral feeling that I had of, hey, I don’t love this. I thought I was going to get a lot of negative feedback. And I really, you know, I was concerned the people that I work with, the staff that I work with, and everyone was going to disagree with me.

And in fact, that’s not the case. People, my colleagues, the families that we work with, they all said the same thing. One kid with Autism is just one kid with Autism.

This is not representative of every single child with neurodiversity out there. And more people actually felt me and understood what I was saying versus people who were against what I had to say, which actually was a really nice feeling for me.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, I think it’s a nice feeling overall when people aren’t hypercritical. In today’s environment, you post something on social media that you think is innocuous, excuse me. And then, you know, you’re hit with like, oh, this or that, completely outside the realm of what you were thinking.

And maybe says more about the poster of the comment versus what was originally posted. Let me put aside Autism, Barbara, for a second. Let’s talk a little bit about the diagnoses.

What’s the process, if I’m a family member, and I think that maybe someone is neurodivergent, what’s the process for being diagnosed as part of this community?

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

The best thing to do is have a conversation with your pediatrician or with somebody at your school. They will set up testing for you. Most departments of education around this country actually do testing.

And then once the testing is done, there is, you know, because of IDEA, the Individualized Education Act, there’s different things that you can have for yourself in school and assistance. And so many children will go the Board of Education route. The school will diagnose them with autism, and then they’ll get some extra help in school, which is really necessary.

And some kids will get some help after school hours as well, whether it’s ABA therapy, or here in New York, where I live, there’s the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities that will provide some respite to families, as well as certain skill building activities, and, you know, people that can work with your child after school. So really, go ahead.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

I’m sorry, I was going to just, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I was going to ask. So it sounds like there are a lot of resources, no matter what state, you live in the great state of New York. There are people that watch the show that may be in Iowa, that may be all over the country.

There are probably local resources that people can tap into, one for diagnosis, but also for assistance to help people, depending on the different degree of neurodivergence that is existing.

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

That’s correct, Jeffrey. And the best place to start is your child’s school, because the teachers, the guidance counselors, the social workers there, they have the most resources, and they’re really something that you can utilize to help yourself, to help your child in the school setting and outside the school setting.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

And, you know, just going back to autism, Barbie, do you think that maybe based on some of the feedback, maybe Mattel, again, I can’t remember who owns Barbie. I think it’s Mattel. Do you think maybe they’ll digest the feedback and maybe alter things a little bit so that the product maybe better reflects this community?

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

I don’t know what Mattel is going to do. I just want to say this one thing. You know, when I was a little girl and I was playing with Barbies, I had my Barbie, my favorite one was the day to night Barbie.

She was a businesswoman by day and party girl at night, but there was astronaut Barbie and veterinarian Barbie and doctor Barbie. And that’s how I look at children with neurodiversity. They can do all of those things.

They don’t need to have autism, Barbie. You just need to have Barbie. Every child should look at Barbie and say, hey, I have the ability to do this in my life.

And a child with autism has the same dreams and hopes. They should get to be businesswoman Barbie who gets to party at night. He should get to be an astronaut.

All those things are the same for a child with autism as they are for any child.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, very well said. And look, I’m jealous that I don’t have an autism G.I. Joe or an autism transformer. You know, that’s what I grew up with as a kid.

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

But you might because they’re all every Barbie, every G.I. Joe has the potential to be a neurodiverse G.I. Joe.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Very well said. We’re going to leave it there. Thanks for joining us.

Enjoy playing with the Barbie doll, by the way. And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.

Lisa Sheinhouse, Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services

Thanks for having me, Jeffrey. Thank you.