Before you read this, PLEASE make sure you are not:
- Wearing heavy eye make-up that will run.
- In a public place, like on a bus, or at uni or something.
- In a meeting at work.
Why? Because this story is so beautiful and wonderful and it will make you feel so many emotions and then all of a sudden you’re gonna be a sobbing in the middle of a bus or in front of your boss, possibly with eyeliner running down your face. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Sesame Street have added a brand new character to their cul-de-sac – meet Julia.
HI JULIA!
Julia has autism, and has been added to the cast to hopefully spread awareness about it in a way that young children can understand.
Her addition to the cast goes hand in hand with ~tha Street’s~ new online program, Sesame Street & Autism: See All In Amazing Children, which offers daily routine cards and bunch of other different resources that can help kids to learn how to empathise with children who are on the autism spectrum.
For example, Elmo is playing with Julia on the playground, and explains to his other friend Abby why Julia plays a little differently to them.
In another part of the storybook, they go into Hooper’s Store for a snack, and there is a blender turned on inside. Julia gets scared, and covers her ears with her hands.
Giving examples of how to befriend and understand kids with autism, or assist them if they are reacting negatively to something, is so incredibly helpful and important. Simply re-enforcing the idea that some people are different, and that’s cool, is beyond wonderful.
Not to mention that children with autism finally get to see a Sesame Street character that is similar to them on their TV screens. So, so dope.
(By the way; we realise you guys are adults and everything, but if you want to cry all the happy creys, you can read the storybook about Elmo, Abby & Julia, ‘We’re Amazing, 1, 2, 3!’, here: autism.sesamestreet.org/storybook-we-are-amazing/)
via CNN.
Image: Marybeth Nelson/Sesame Workshop via CNN.
