"Sesame Street" introduces Julia, an autistic muppet!

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CBRVA83
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21 Oct 2015, 4:02 pm

"Sesame Street" has created its first muppet character with autism named Julia!: http://www.people.com/article/sesame-st ... _peoplemag

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22 Oct 2015, 7:26 am

Hey-hey, looks like we're big time!!

My husband says he thinks it will help, with uncomfortableness and with the bullying of autistic kids being acceptable and encouraged.

I hope so. If the next generation can spend more time learning to socialize and less time dodging rocks, get a little more empathy and a little less condemnation, I'm happy about that.

Somehow I have a feeling that "Julia" will just be one more nasty playground epithet.

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22 Oct 2015, 9:12 pm

Frankly, I'd never thought I'd see the day they would actually label a children's character. Even in adult television, producers, writers, and the like are very skittish about labeling show characters. Not that they haven't, but it is somewhat uncommon. Wow.

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DevilKisses
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23 Oct 2015, 2:48 am

Why did she have to have the same name as me?!

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andrethemoogle
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25 Oct 2015, 6:11 pm

A$ partnered with them, don't be too happy about that.

What a joke. They squandered a good opportunity and tainted their reputation.

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25 Oct 2015, 8:03 pm

andrethemoogle wrote:

A$ partnered with them, don't be too happy about that.

What a joke. They squandered a good opportunity and tainted their reputation.

ASAN also partnered with them. Let's see how the character is actually depicted. So far it has been about accepting differences. If it ends up Julia is getting normal because of ABA that would be bad.

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Ganondox
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30 Oct 2015, 1:11 pm

andrethemoogle wrote:

A$ partnered with them, don't be too happy about that.

What a joke. They squandered a good opportunity and tainted their reputation.

Autism Speaks also partnered with Alex Plank for Autism Talks Tv. Just because the organization is corrupt and evil doesn't mean nothing good ever comes from them.

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PhoenixFalcon
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02 Nov 2015, 10:16 pm

Autism Speaks may be one of the greatest threats to the autism community as a whole, but so far, Julia and Sesame Street's autism awareness campaign seem to be very positive and not fear-mongering in the slightest.

I would still prefer if they weren't supported by such an organization, but besides that, they get a tip of the cap from me.

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redrobin62
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22 Mar 2017, 10:42 am

I'm glad Julia exists. I just hope that people don't watch her and think that all autistic kids should exhibit the same behaviours as her.

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Sarahsmith
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23 Mar 2017, 6:01 pm

Woah. What are the odds. I just got done watching a segment on tv about the sesame street character and this is the first time I saw it then I came here and saw this topic. I just think it odd how that synchranized. What a coincidence. What does it mean? Lol

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25 Mar 2017, 6:47 pm

GCHQ made a telling and cool post on twitter a few days ago about it.

https://twitter.com/GCHQ/status/844205312735395840

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IstominFan
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22 Apr 2017, 11:56 am

It's kind of weird that Sesame Street would use a puppet character with autism instead of a real person with autism. Years ago, they featured a young actor with Down syndrome, Jason Kingsley. I don't know why they couldn't have a real person with autism.

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21 Apr 2018, 2:12 am

How a Sesame Street muppet is changing the world for people with autism

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Julia started as a character in Sesame Street’s “See Amazing In All Children” initiative, aimed at fostering inclusion among children and their grownups. She made the jump from the digital Sesame universe into the real, honest-to-goodness Sesame Street to hang out with Elmo, Big Bird and all the rest because Sesame executives saw how much positive impact her character was having.

“We hear from parents that their children (with autism) have more play dates from others watching Julia. We hear from teachers that their classrooms are more inclusive after watching segments with Julia,” said Sherrie Westin, executive vice president of global impact and philanthropy for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street.

Westin told TODAY.com that one mother used a digital “We’re Amazing 1-2-3” storybook featuring Julia to explain to her daughter that she had autism just like Julia. At the end of the story, the mother said, her daughter asked, “So I’m amazing too, right?”

After Julia’s introduction on the Sesame Street broadcast, a national survey found that half of adults in America had heard of Julia. A separate study, conducted by Georgetown University Medical Center and Children’s National Health System, looked at the “See Amazing” digital initiative and found that more than 50 percent of parents of children without autism reported feeling more accepting of children with autism after exploring the website.

TODAY Parents teamed up with Sesame Street to make a video exploring some common questions about autism. We turned to parents in our own community who have children with autism — Ronnie Koenig, Carrie Cariello and Eileen Shaklee — as well as Kerry Magro, who shares his experiences as an adult with autism on his blog. They shared questions for Julia, Alan and Elmo based on their own experiences with autism.

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13 May 2018, 1:22 pm

I saw the clip of the character’s introduction. Could they have teamed her up with the Cookie Monster & Oscar the Grouch instead of Elmo and Big Bird. It would make the scene more interesting.

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14 May 2018, 8:47 pm

Amazing how far has Sesame Street progressed since the 60s.

If this was aired today there would be riots in the streets, def would have been banned :

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04 Apr 2019, 1:39 am

Julia is Sesame Street's first character with autism. Now we meet her family

Quote:

Now, in honor of Autism Awareness Month, Sesame Street has introduced Julia's family and launched new resources for those impacted by autism, which is approximately 1 in 59 American children, according to the CDC.

"Showcasing Julia is an incredible way to share and demonstrate how Julia shares so much in common with all children," said Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, who helped bring Julia’s family to life for Sesame Street.

"That's our main thing, is to reduce the stigma, but more importantly show the commonality that Julia shares with every child and that is, for us, a changing view of autism."

Growing Julia's world was a response to parents' and viewers' feedback, Betancourt said.

While Julia's family won't be appearing on Sesame Street just yet, the website for the show's autism initiative "Amazing in All Children" offers three new videos featuring the family, an interactive game and articles with tips for parents, families and friends.

In one video called "Starfish Hug," Julia and Samuel teach Abby Cadabby a new kind of hug because Julia doesn't like big wrap-around hugs.

Also, in response to feedback, Betancourt said, a new Sesame Street episode follows Julia as she goes for a haircut – something that many parents say is challenging for children on the spectrum.

Julia's friends Elmo, Abby Cadabby and Alan help Julia feel less scared by playing "hair salon" and pretending to be hair stylists.

The show airs Monday on HBO and PBS KIDS.

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