r/DisabledBarbies

Hey Doll Friends,

I have a question for you. I have gotten a few more followers in my insta, and I really mean a few. But I’m trying to decide how to do the glowup relaunch I’m planning. Since I do have a number of dolls whose identifies and disabilities are not going to change over the course of the series I was thinking of doing one post per dayish (pain and sleep have been complicated recently so it might take a few days between postst) of a photo(s) of one and a bit about them. That way people know I’m actually taking photos and maybe they will get pumped for the unnecssarily giant story I’ve created to start things off - a small local fashion show where the dolls are going to be doing accessiblity audits and planning for people with different disabilities. I’m very excited to share this story because it will show a lot about accessibility but is also fun. A lot of my posts won’t be fun because they are related to my blog on health care ownership by the patients - not their doctors.

I don’t know if I should introduce those characters early just so that new posts are showing up on the account, or if I should wait and introduce them during the big complicated story.

Since the disabled Barbies community reflects my target audience for the insta I want to know your opinions.

The introductions would be one to a few photos of the individual character. Jules for example would be shown in his normal work clothes (with a much better backdrop) and I’ll add alt text and captions.

Jules is shown on his wheelchair on what is clearly a bed with big furniture and a bureau behind it. He is black with green extremely short hair and has purple eye makeup, lip color, and a purple manicure. He is wearing an orange tank top with white sweatpants that have orange cuffs. His feet are in gold shoes. (I feel like this is too much alt text normally but Jules breaks the normal Ken mold enough that I think it’s worth spending two lines on his particular look - what do y’all think? I know I’ve seen professional influencers describe themselves with far less text who also look distinctive).

I bought myself the Autism Barbie and she is already such a good addition to my home office.

I am in my mid-30's and loved Barbies as a kid. They helped me express my creativity and process things going on in my life. My childhood was a chaotic one at times, so being able to disappear into a story with my dolls provided me stability.

I never stopped loving Barbies and wanting to collect them, but I stopped engaging with them in my early teens because I thought it would be seen as too childish. I was diagnosed with autism a couple of years ago, which was an incredibly life-changing and validating diagnosis. Having that represented by Barbie, who shows you that you can be anything... there are no words to express how beautiful it is to me.

So, I had to bring her back into my life to celebrate all that she did for me, and still does. She is especially fitting with my latest ADHD book (I am a doctor who diagnoses and treats adults with ADHD).

i was at the toy store for pokemon cards but of course i had to get the autistic barbie when i saw her