Introducing Julie: A Muppet with autism

The new kid on the block arrives on “Sesame Street” today.

Julia, a 4-year-old Muppet with autism, will join the gang in her first episode of the series, debuting at 8 a.m. on HBO.

Pam Hudson, director of Signal Centers’ Chattanooga Children’s Program, says she knows Julia only by reputation, but she’s already a fan.

“That’s a great breakthrough,” she says, not only for parents of children of autism but for society in general.

“It takes some of the stereotyping out of the thought of ‘What is autism?’” she says. “It takes away the unknowns, the scaries, when you see there’s a Muppet that has autism being broadcast worldwide.”

Autism is more accurately described as autism spectrum disorder, with neurological symptoms that can range from mild to severe. The disorder impairs a child’s ability to communicate and interact with others, affecting social, occupational and other areas of functioning, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Julia’s debut is part of a larger educational effort by Sesame Street. The TV show rolled out the news of the character’s arrival on its website and released a series of YouTube videos featuring her. A series of Tweets led up to her segment on the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes.”

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that puts out “Sesame Street,” also has announced plans to expand its autism offerings to include new videos, e-books and books, released in English and Spanish. The media blitz heralding her arrival has brought attention from outlets ranging from NPR to The Huffington Post to The New York Times.

What’s known about Julia so far is that she loves to sing and can memorize lyrics better than her young peers. But she struggles with loud noises like sirens, which can cause her to become upset.

In one online video, Julia plays peek-a-boo with Elmo. In another she sings along with her fellow Muppet Abby to the “Sesame Street “theme song, “Sunny Days.”

“Sesame Street” first introduced the character in a digital storybook released in fall 2015.

“We wanted to demonstrate some of the characteristics of autism in a positive way,” Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s vice president of outreach and educational practices, said in a 2015 interview, after the character’s unveiling, noting that creators made Julia a girl in order to break down “myths and misconceptions around autism,” such as that it only affects males.

Stacey Gordon, a Phoenix-based puppet artist who plays Julia, is the mother of an autistic child. She said in her interview on “60 Minutes” that she was immediately intrigued

by the character when she heard of it.

“As the parent of a child with autism, I wished that it had come out years before, when my own child was at the ‘Sesame Street’ [age].”

While Julia may give autistic children a character to identify with, Hudson explains that Julia’s real gift is her ability to teach others about autism.

“The majority of children who watch ‘Sesame Street’ do not have autism. The majority of the world does not have autism,” she says.

Seeing Julia interact with the other characters on the show can help typically developing children know how to react to a classmate with differences. As in: “It’s OK. You’re like the kid on ‘Sesame Street.’

“It’s an immediate connection,” Hudson says.

It’s the same with Big Bird. Children who’ve never seen the gangly, yellow bird might be frightened by his appearance at first glance if they suddenly saw him at the mall, she explains.

“But if they’ve seen him on the Muppets, they want to go see him and learn from him. The same things will evolve with Julia.

“This is very deliberate planning by the CEO of Muppetville,” she laughs.

Chattanooga’s Kids on the Block, which uses Bunraku puppets to teach children about social concerns and differences, has a program on autism, though it’s not part of the current core curriculum.

“We kind of cycle through different programs,” says Wendy Davis, an educator and Bunraku specialist for the agency, which serves 16 counties in the tri-state area. “It’s a by-request program, not one we offer as a focus topic. But with any of our Accepting Differences programs, our main focus is that we’re all different.”

Information from NYTimes News Service was used in this story.

Seeing Julia interact with the other characters on the show can help typically developing children know how to react to a classmate with differences.