The Barbie doll features aspects meant to represent traits of some individuals with autism, according to Mattel. This includes an eye gaze shifted slightly to the side to avoid eye contact; elbow and wrist articulation for stimming, hand flapping and other hand gestures for expressing excitement or processing sensory information.

A 52-year-old autistic woman said she "finally feels like she is represented" by a Barbie doll launched on Monday.

Developing the doll took over 18 months and was done in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization that advocates for increased representation for those in the autis...