Sesame Street adding an autistic character

[Darren Dirt]

LOS ANGELES -- There's a newcomer on the Sesame Street block, a preschooler with autism named Julia.

The Sesame Workshop said Wednesday that the character is being introduced as part of an initiative to take the stigma out of autism. The initiative also is aimed at helping those who deal with the developmental disorder.

Julia will be included in digital and printed story books featuring Sesame Workshop characters including Elmo and Abby.

She will be portrayed as a girl who "does things a little differently" when playing with her Muppet friends, the workshop said.

The new initiative, called "See Amazing in All Children ," will provide educational resources about autism to teachers and others. It also will offer tools for handling everyday activities to families touched by it.

http://autism.sesamestreet.org/storybook-we-are-amazing/

In this interactive storybook, Julia plays with Elmo -- and her different ways of doing things are handled with class, imo.

Thorin, thoughts?

[Thorin]

I hope that they treat Julia as just another kid, rather than pointing out a bunch of times how Julia has this abnormality "but is still normal" because that's a mixed message.

...

Okay, just read the interactive storybook and it's bang on the mark: sometimes kids are a little different so just adjust to their differences.

Jeebus, it's almost like a Louis CK lesson.

[Darren Dirt]

I hope that they treat Julia as just another kid, rather than pointing out a bunch of times how Julia has this abnormality "but is still normal" because that's a mixed message.

...

Okay, just read the interactive storybook and it's bang on the mark

Jeebus, it's almost like a Louis CK lesson.

Cool! I kinda felt that too, but since I have no direct experience as a parent of autistic children, the only judgement I could make would be to compare the way it is actually presented to what I would imagine a more obviously insensitive approach would be like.




PS:

Okay, just read the interactive storybook and it's bang on the mark: sometimes kids are a little different so just adjust to their differences.

^ also true about adults. Heck, most of the "Quora" topics on this subject = people who as adults** are frustrated sad lonely etc. and have posted questions really just expressing unhappiness about how the mostly-neuro-typical business/personal world = so rigid and close-minded in their expectations of behavior if not actual THINKING (and therefore full of swift rejections and/or punishments if you don't "fall in line" with the status quo ... instead of appreciating your differences might actually be beneficial to the rest of the community in which you find yourself ). [ see https://www.quora.com/Autism-Spectrum , https://www.quora.com/Asperger-Syndrome ]



** or even as teenagers, sadly. School-age kids can be assholes.