Hi, Julia!

Sesame Street is an all-time child favorite. Ages can range but Sesame Street is a go to television show for kids. Sesame Street recently debuted a new character that is special to our hearts. Julia is a little girl with autism who is just like the other kids but different in her special ways. Her friend, Elmo, makes a point to help her out any way he can. Sesame Street’s plan with this character is to bring awareness about autism. They have done this once before. They premiered a Muppet who was HIV-positive to bring awareness.

The makers of this initiative launched the character on an online app and website that features videos and storybooks. The storybooks that feature Julia and her friends. Elmo helps explains Julia’s behaviors to Abby such as not liking loud noises. The videos that are available pertain to both people with autism and people who want to become educated on it as well.

People may be curious to ask why they decided to make Julia a girl and not a boy. Studies show that 1 in 42 boys have autism compared to the 1 in 189 girls who have autism. The reasoning behind this is simple. Misconceptions can often be taken with autism, one being that it is only shown through boys. The aim with making the character female is to prove that misconception wrong.

This is a great initiative that Sesame Street has slowly put into action. Hopefully they will decided to premiere Julia as a character within the television show and keep her as a permanent cast member