Mon, 20 March 2017 at 11:38 am

'Sesame Street' Introduces New Character with Autism

Sesame Street is continuing its trend of groundbreaking TV – the show is introducing a character with autism.

The four-year-old character, named Julia, will be introduced next month!

Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s senior vice president of U.S. Social Impact, spoke about the addition to the popular children’s show.

“In the U.S., one in 68 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder,” Jeanette said (via the Chicago Tribune). “We wanted to promote a better understanding and reduce the stigma often found around these children. We’re modeling the way both children and adults can look at autism from a strength-based perspective: finding things that all children share….Just as we look at all children as being unique, we should do the same thing when we’re looking at children with autism.”

The first episode to introduce Julie – titled “Meet Julia,” airs Monday, April 10 on HBO.