World Autism Awareness Day is around the corner, and Sesame Street has a new kid on the block just a few days later. In the post excerpted below, puberty and adolescence educator Leslie Dixon addresses the importance of representation on Sesame Street and the importance of educating autistic kids about puberty and their bodies.
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Sunday, April 2, 2017, is World Autism Awareness Day. Also happening in April: Sesame Street, the long-running and much-loved television series, is welcoming Julia, a young Muppet with red hair, green eyes, a toy rabbit– and autism. The character already exists in print and digital storybooks as part of an initiative called Sesame Street And Autism: See Amazing In All Children. One in every 68 children in the United States is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Sesame Street wishes to expose the topic to young audiences.
“The big discussion right at the start was, ‘How do we do this? How do we talk about autism?’” Sesame Street writer Christine Ferraro told the CBS News show 60 Minutes. “It’s tricky because autism doesn’t present as one thing; it’s different for every single person who has autism.”
Introducing Julia is intended to help children to become familiar with the different characteristics associated with autism and better prepare them to interact with a similar child.
In her debut episode on April 10, Julia will demonstrate some common autism characteristics. When Big Bird is introduced to her, she will ignore him. Big Bird will be confused and think “that maybe she didn’t like me.” However, the other Muppets will tell him, “She does things just a little differently.”
“Just as we look at all children as being unique, we should do the same thing when we’re looking at children with autism,” states Ferraro.