*Editors Note: The video version incorrectly spells the puppeteer’s name as ‘Stacy Gordon,’ and is corrected in the transcript as ‘Stacey Gordon.’
For the first time in a decade, Sesame Street is adding a new muppet to the block: Julia, a young muppet on the autism spectrum.
Read the full version of Sesame Street’s Newest Resident Is Julia, a Muppet on the Autism Spectrum.
Transcription:
For the First Time in a Decade, Sesame Street Is Adding a New Muppet to the Block.
Meet Julia, a young muppet on the autism spectrum.
“For years, families of children with autism have asked us to address the issue.” – Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop
“So many partners, advisors, and organizations have contributed to the success of this initiative.”
In 2015, Sesame Workshop launched Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children.
This online initiative introduced Julia as a digital character in a storybook called “We’re Amazing, 1,2,3.”
Sesame Workshop has spent five years consulting with 250 organizations and experts within the autism community.
Julia will be played by Stacey Gordon, a puppeteer whose son is on the autism spectrum.
“I really wish that kids in my son’s class had grown up with a ‘Sesame Street’ that had modeling [of] the behavior of inclusion of characters with autism.” -Stacey Gordon, NPR interview
Julia will make her debut April 10 on PBS Kids and HBO.
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