What disability does Elmo have?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKCdV20zLMs?wmode=opaque&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&wmode=transparent

Meet Julia

Meet Julia, an old buddy of Elmo’s and the newest friend on Sesame Street. Julia has autism…and she and Elmo share an amazing friendship.

Sesame Street is known for its diversity. The show started in 1969, and very intentionally showed a mix of Black kids and white kids living together on the same street, according to Newsweek.

Now, the children's show that so many of us grew up watching is even more diverse. A new Muppet will join the cast for the first time in 10 years. Her name is Julia, and she has autism.

Stacy Gordon, the puppeteer who will be playing Julia, has a son on the autism spectrum and used to do therapeutic work with people who have autism, she told NPR. She understands the mannerisms that will go into acting this character sensitively and accurately.

Julia often echoes what she hears from Elmo and the other Sesame Street characters. It can be difficult to get her attention, and sometimes she sees things the other Muppets don't see.

When she explained these differences to NPR staff Abby Cadabby, a Muppet on the show, said, "That's just Julia being Julia."

It's incredible for both children and their parents to watch, and will hopefully help them understand when classmates act differently from them — whether or not they have a disability like Julia.

"Man, I really wish that kids in my son's class had grown up with a Sesame Street that had modeling [of] the behavior of inclusion of characters with autism," Gordon told NPR.

Hopefully, Julia gets it right and is instead a resource for parents and children.

The show spent three years developing Julia's character, according to NPR, and she's been a character in the books and online since last year. She'll officially join the cast for two episodes this season.

Preschool character “does things a little differently when playing with friends”

Since it began in 1969, Sesame Street has always led the way in depicting diverse characters, including several with disabilities. In 1982, Sesame Street introduced a blind monster named Aristotle who could read Braille. In 1993, a human cast member named Tarah used a wheelchair, and, in 2004, animated segments featured a character named Traction Jackson, also in a wheelchair.

Rosita, one of the newer muppets, has a father, Ricardo, who uses a wheelchair, although he has only been featured in the special Talk, Listen, Connect series and not the main Sesame Street television series. Talk, Listen, Connect is a targeted series, created and aired specifically for children who have family members in the military. In an episode entitled “Changes,” Ricardo returns home from combat deployment in a wheelchair.

Some other examples include Jason Kingsley, who has Down syndrome—he appeared in over 50 Sesame Street episodes. And, Linda Bove, who is deaf, appeared on the show from 1971 to 2003.

So Julia joins a long line of Sesame Street characters with disabilities, but she’s the first to have a disability that can’t be easily recognized. She’s described by the Sesame Workshop as “a preschool girl with autism who does things a little differently when playing with her friends.” A wide-eyed little girl with a big smile, Julia was first introduced in the fall of 2015 in her own digital storybook, We’re Amazing, 1,2,3, by Leslie Kimmelman. She’s a regular on the Sesame Street television show, which airs its first-run shows exclusively on the HBO network. Public television stations across the country still run the show, but episodes air nine months behind the HBO schedule on local public television stations.

To develop Julia’s character, Sesame Street worked with organizations such as Autism Speaks and Autism Self Advocacy to help reduce the stigma associated with autism spectrum disorder. As part of the campaign “See Amazing in All Children,” muppet Abby Cadabby explains in one YouTube video, “Lots of kids have autism and that just means their brains work a little differently.”

Julia is not the first fictional media character with autism. But Michael Robb, Director of Research for Common Sense Media, an organization that rates and reviews media aimed at children, says Sesame Street’s move is “pretty groundbreaking.” He explains, “It can be difficult to start a conversation about children with disabilities. It’s even harder when that difference isn’t visible.”

Robb says the show helps children be more understanding of how Julia is different. “It’s very real, in terms of talking in simple language. It spells out these things in concrete ways that kids can understand. It shows the ways in which she’s just like other kids. It shows how making simple accommodations can help Julia.”

Look for Julia on Sesame Street on both HBO and your local public television station.

07 April 2022

There’s a new Muppet on the Sesame Street block, and she uses a wheelchair.

The producers of favourite long-running children’s television show Sesame Street are introducing Ameera to their Middle East and North Africa show - a little girl who uses a wheelchair in an effort to spotlight children with disabilities around the world.

Bright green Ameera, a Muppet with a spinal cord injury, relies on forearm crutches or a bright purple wheelchair to get around.

According to Disability Scoop Sesame Workshop describes Ameera as “everyone’s favourite comedian” and “a natural leader who encourages others with her bright personality.”

The new Muppet will make her debut next week on Ahlan Simsim, or Welcome Sesame in Arabic, the version of Sesame Street that airs in the Middle East and North Africa.

Ameera will also appear in Sesame Workshop’s Watch, Play, Learn animated videos, which are designed to help kids learn about maths, science, health, safety, child protection and social-emotional issues.

Sesame Workshop said that in addition to highlighting children with disabilities globally, Ameera will appear in videos offering playful learning and support to kids affected by conflict, crisis and displacement.

“Thoughtfully designed to challenge stereotypes and reflect children’s lived experiences, Ameera brings visibility to the more than 12 million displaced persons and 240 million children worldwide estimated to have a disability as well as to the important role of girls in STEM,” said Sherrie Westin, president of Sesame Workshop.

Scott Cameron, head of international production at Sesame Workshop, said Ameera was developed over the course of two years with input from inclusion advisors to ensure that her “identity, movements and equipment were representational.”

Ameera is the latest in a line of more than half a dozen Sesame Street Muppets with disabilities over the years since the show first hit our television screens in 1969.

Currently, the show features Ricardo, Rosita’s father who returns from a military deployment using a wheelchair, and Julia, who has orange hair and a fondness for her toy rabbit - she also has autism.

Julia, who is best pals with Elmo, was introduced in 2015 as part of the Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children initiative.

Sesame Workshop is also releasing a handful of new autism resources in April 2022, a month associated with promoting awareness of the developmental disability.

The nonprofit said it will offer new videos and activities featuring Julia that are focused on the themes of friendship and belonging.

Sesame Street recently welcomed their newest character, Ameera. Ameera is an 8-year old Muppet who has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair. She does not always use her wheelchair, and is also seen using arm crutches.

Her character was in development for over two years, with Sesame Street producers seeking a lot of advice from inclusion experts to ensure that Ameera’s identity, movements and equipment was representational of a person with spinal cord injury.

With nearly 240 million children worldwide living with disability, the inclusion of characters with disability in children’s shows is vital. More and more, we are seeing disability represented in mainstream media and entertainment, raising awareness and improving education for children and parents with and without disability.

Raising Dion follows the life of Dion, an 8 year old boy with chronic asthma and ADHD who has just lost his father. Starting a new school, he feels on the outer and initially struggle to connect with anyone until he meets Esperanza,

Every superhero needs an amazing team, and Dion has one of the best by his side! Esperanza is smart, cheeky, kind, and she’s usually the brains behind his many schemes and plans.

Sammi Haney, who plays Esperanza, uses an electric wheelchair because she was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type III or “Brittle Bone Disease”. The crew behind Raising Dion have done a fantastic job raising awareness and normalising the starring of actors who have a disability as the heroes, highlighting them navigating a once inaccessible world and making it accessible.

Both seasons of Raising Dion can be streamed on Netflix.

This is one of the most popular shows on Netflix. Atypical follows the life of Sam, a teenage boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who is navigating his high school years. It is funny, quirky and endearing, and focuses heavily on Sam’s insistence that he can do all of the things that he wants to, despite preconceived notions that may tell him he can’t.

Whilst the actor who plays Sam is very good in his portrayal and did spend a lot of time researching, it’s good to note that he himself is not on the autism spectrum and many people in the disability community may find that to be an inaccurate or inauthentic representation.

Where to watch?

All four seasons of Atypical are available on Netflix.

The Aussie show, Hardball, features a character called Jerry who lives with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The actor who plays Jerry is Logan Reberger, who himself lives with Minicore Myopathy, a rare congenital disorder that causes muscle weakness and wasting.

The character of Jerry was introduced into Hardball to represent diversity and the show said it was important that they cast an actor who had a disability to ensure that the representation was authentic. However, Logan’s disability was not the focus and it was his humour, and ability to bring to life a character that was funny, interesting and textured.

Where to watch?

Hardball can be viewed on ABC iView – 2 full seasons are available.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a multi award winning animation and has gained critical acclaim for its storylines and characters. It focuses on subject matters that aren’t often touched on in children’s entertainment, such as imperialism, war, genocide and disability. One of the main characters is Toph, who has been blind from birth and is one of the most powerful earthbending masters of her time. The show follows Toph’s initial struggle with overprotective parents and patronising treatment from others, watching her overcome this to become a famous warrior and champion.

Where to watch?

You can watch all episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender on 10play or Amazon Prime.

Peppa Pig welcomed a new character in 2019 – Mandy Mouse! Mandy Mouse is a 4 year old mouse who uses a wheelchair. When Mandy Mouse was introduced to the show, there was no fanfare or hype around the fact that she moves around using a wheelchair. This was celebrated by parents and fans of Peppa Pig, thanking the show for bringing visibility and representation of children with disabilities in a simple way that mirrored everyday life and championed inclusiveness.