{"id":61566,"date":"2026-01-23T18:30:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=61566"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:30:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T23:30:42","slug":"seu-alumna-featured-in-launch-of-first-autistic-barbie-doll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/01\/23\/seu-alumna-featured-in-launch-of-first-autistic-barbie-doll\/","title":{"rendered":"SEU Alumna Featured in Launch of First Autistic Barbie Doll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SEU alumna Aarushi Pratap<\/a> was recently featured in the launch of the first-ever autistic Barbie doll by Mattel, Inc. Pratap is a Barbie Role Model on the new doll\u2019s advocacy team, representing the autistic community through her work as a fashion designer and visual artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pratap will serve as a spokesperson for press and public-facing opportunities related to the autistic Barbie, such as engaging with media outlets from around the world, sharing her lived experience and helping amplify conversations around authentic autism representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was featured in the launch video for the new Barbie on Mattel\u2019s YouTube channel alongside other prominent autism advocates, including creative entrepreneur Madison Marilla from Netflix\u2019s \u201cLove on the Spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis Barbie can help autistic people feel understood,\u201d emphasized Pratap. \u201cWe can do amazing things, and I want others like me to feel proud and express themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past several years, Pratap\u2019s work as a fashion designer and autism advocate has allowed her story and voice to reach a wider audience. She has showcased her work at New York Fashion Week, designed for the Special Olympics, and has been recognized globally for redefining fashion through a neurodivergent, sensory-sensitive lens. As one of the very few autistic fashion designers working professionally at this level, Pratap naturally aligned with Barbie\u2019s vision of authentic representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbie has also fueled Pratap\u2019s artistry. \u201cAll kinds of Barbie movies inspired me \u2014 seeing the fabrics, colors, and details helped shape the designer I am today,\u201d she commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pratap is a graduate of SEU Link, the university\u2019s inclusive, post-secondary education program focused on increasing independence and employability in young adult students with a specific Intellectual Disability Diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Pratap\u2019s journey here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about SEU Link here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This release is also available on the SEU Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About SEU<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southeastern University (SEU) is a Christ-centered institution of higher learning. Founded in 1935 and located in the Central Florida community of Lakeland, SEU offers more than 115 degree programs, including associate, bachelor’s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degrees. SEU\u2019s reach expands beyond the Lakeland campus, with a comprehensive online learning program and more than 250 partner site programs worldwide. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Learn more at SEU.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SEU alumna Aarushi Pratap was recently featured in the launch of the first-ever autistic Barbie doll by Mattel, Inc. Pratap is a Barbie Role Model on the new doll\u2019s advocacy… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"33","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDFcL0FhcnVzaGktTWF0dGVsLTEwMjR4NTc2LTEud2VicD9maXQ9MTAyNCUyQzU3NiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlNFVSBBbHVtbmEgRmVhdHVyZWQgaW4gTGF1bmNoIG9mIEZpcnN0IEF1dGlzdGljIEJhcmJpZSBEb2xsIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJoaWdod2F5IiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.ZLLwD_SjZ_sXhk3DcydpgUqtvBiciz7z3diWLb3du3UMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":61569,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aarushi-Mattel-1024x576-1.webp","type":"image\/png"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[33],"tags":[13318],"class_list":["post-61566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seu-news","tag-seu-alumna-featured-in-launch-of-first-autistic-barbie-doll"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61570,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61566\/revisions\/61570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}