"Sesame Street" Just Introduced The First Autistic Cast Member...Her Impact Will Be Huge
Julia is the newest member of the Sesame Street cast, and she serves a very special purpose. She's been brought on the help fight the stigma associated with autism.
While the diagnosis is common, public understanding of autism is not. The lack of understanding around the condition contributes to discrimination, verbal abuse, even physical violence." states the initiative behind this new character. The idea of this is to highlight what these children have in common, and not their differences.
She looks so happy!
Her introduction to the cast is the first step in a much bigger effort known as the Sesame Workshop, which is aiming toward helping children grow up to be stronger, smarter and kinder.
An understanding of autism is important, because the prevalence of autism in the U.S. has risen to 1 in every 68 births in 2014,  compared to the rate of 1 in 125 in 2004–according to Centers for Disease Control.
Luckily for Julia, she's got Elmo and company to well, keep her company. Hopefully, the message is received loud and clear by audiences and more children with autism can get the social support they deserve, like Julia.
If you'd like to know more about the efforts that Sesame Street is making in this initiative, visit the official website here.
We know this effort will start the long-overdue dialogue on this subject that is desperately needed. And, again, welcome to Julia! We're so excited to see her cameos in the coming weeks.