While we wait for updates on 2023's Girl of the Year, I figured I'd ask you all a question: who is your dream Girl of the Year? There are many interests, hobbies and cultural backgrounds that a Girl of the Year can hold, and I personally think AG could be stretching a bit more with their choices of interests, even though there's only a couple that have been chosen in the past.
Personally, a doll I'd want to happen from American Girl is a Girl of the Year with autism. I'd want the book to be written by an autistic author and be researched by experts with autism in addition to neurotypical people with high knowledge of autism, and I'd want AG to partner with a charity that helps people with autism (aka not Autism Speaks). She'd be really smart, creative and funny, and have an interest in something creative. There are so many things from my life I could apply to this doll- filmmaker, screenwriter, social media influencer, blogger, the list goes on- but I'd probably make her interests more down to earth than my real life. She'd have an autism service dog as well.
Who would you want to be Girl of the Year?
As someone married to someone on the spectrum, I 100% agree with this. I actually made my own doll with autism from Truly me 25. Her name is Sydney because my husband loves Australia. I imagine her living in the 90s so she wears the Perfectly Plaid outfit. My husband helped me come up with her special interests - bird watching and puzzles.
I think a more hands-on creative hobby like needlework, sewing, knitting, etc would be so fun because it would give us different types of accessories and those are the hobbies I enjoy :)
So I know I'm late to this post but I have a couple ideas so I thought I'd share them.
I think we need more dolls with disabilities. I would love to see a blind doll, A doll who uses a wheelchair, or really any sort of disability.
A theatre kid doll. maybe she's upset that she didn't get the lead in her play, and has to learn to be a team player, and be happy for the other cast members.
as many other people mentioned I think we need a doll who is homeschooled.
Dolls with more unique pets. there are way too many cats and dogs and I think it would be really cool to see a doll…
Hmm...lots of good suggestions here! I was thinking (and this might be hard for a 9-10 year-old, as it is usually diagnosed in early teens) of a girl who is diagnosed with scoliosis-curvature of the spine. Perhaps she is very passionate about playing a sport (insert sport AG hasn't beaten to death here), and struggles with the possibility of having to quit the team, or learn how to no longer be the star player gracefully. Perhaps she is new to her school, and is self conscious of the back brace and goes to extreme lengths to hide it from her classmates to avoid being bullied. She feels like her new-found acceptance at her new school is fragile and relies o…
I would also like to see an autistic girl of the year. I think it would be great if her diagnosis was part of the story, as girls often get a diagnosis later, so aged 9 or 10 isn't unrealistic. Maybe she's just been diagnosed and she and her parents have to figure out "what next?" in terms of supports, adjustments and so on. I think it would be a great opportunity for busting some myths about autism and giving autistic girls some visibility and representation.
We need a North Carolina girl!! Maybe from the Appalachian mountains, she can white water raft, fish, hike, forage
She could be into animal rescue. And maybe every summer she spends 2 weeks at the NC coast and learns about the Wright Brothers, sea turtles and other marine life. NC is such a well rounded state, would be cool to see it represented!!!
Ohh or I saw military families mentioned, we could have her living in Ft Bragg too!!