Who doesn’t love Sesame Street? Last year, the groundbreaking children’s television program gave us another reason to love it when digital Sesame Workshop introduced its first character with autism, an adorable orange Muppet named Julia. Now, just in time for National Autism Awareness Month 2016,Sesame Workshop announced, in a press release, that it has unveiled the second phase of its Emmy-nominated autism initiative, Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children.
Phase Two will include the release of 12 new videos featuring children with autism and Muppet, Abby Cadabby, plus a new animation featuring Julia.
“The new content is part of a suite of free resources for families, teachers, providers, and caregivers available on the Sesame Street website and as an app for iOS and Android,” the press release said.
In case you missed it, Julia arrived on Sesame Street in Oct. 2015, as part of a new initiative created to address the misconceptions and stigma around autism spectrum disorders, which according to CDC estimates, affects one in 68 children in the U.S.
“The lack of understanding around the condition contributes to discrimination, verbal abuse, even physical violence,” according to Sesame Workshop’s website. “A recent study reveals that children with autism are five times more likely to be bullied than their peers—treatment no child should endure. While the differences between people with autism and their peers may seem significant, children share something far more important: unique qualities and talents that make the world an interesting place.”
In a way, it’s a no brainer that Julia should come to live on Sesame Street, a place that has embraced diversity for the past 47 years. In fact, some people are wondering why it took so long for an autistic character to appear on Sesame Street.
As it turns out, the folks at Sesame Workshop spent three years researching and consulting with experts in the autism field, to be sure that their portrayal of Julia was realistic. That’s a tall order since, as anyone familiar with autism spectrum disorder knows, autism presents differently in every person who has it. Julia, described by Sesame Workshop’s Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, in an interview with ABC News, as having a “moderate degree of autism,” flaps her arms when excited, has trouble making direct eye contact, is bothered by certain noises, and takes longer than her peers to process information. She plays “a little differently” than her pals as well. For example, while Elmo likes to use blocks to build towers and then knocks them down, Julia likes to set up her blocks in a row. While Elmo likes to play games with toy cars and trucks, Julia likes to watch the wheels of her toy vehicles spin around and around. But it’s all good. That’s the message of the Sesame Street and Autism initiative, as well as the message of “The Amazing Song,” music video, a Phase Two addition to the initiative’s website.
“We all want to laugh and we all want to play, we’re all amazing in our own way.”
