Claudia Anthony "‘Sesame Street’ adds Julia, an autistic character, to its cast"

This week, Sesame Street added an autistic character to their digital storybook called "Sesame Street and Autism: See All in Amazing Children." The characters name is Julia, and the point of her character is to raise awareness and teach children about autism. The program will help children  to understand how to treat and interact with children that have autism. Sesame Street worked together with 14 organizations to make sure the show is accurate. It is also very important that this is a female character, because it is less likely for girls to have autism, so this program is relating to families with female autistic children.

I think it is wonderful that they are adding this character to help children be more aware of autism. I know that I grew up without knowing very much about autism because nobody ever talked to me about it or explained it to me. This increasing awareness of autism is similar to Dorthea Dix researching mental disabilities and helping to make sure people who had them got proper treatment. America has progressed significantly with the study and awareness of mental illnesses since Dorthea Dix's research and I think this Sesame Street character will take the country even farther in the right direction.

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