Meet Julia – Sesame Street’s Amazing New Muppet with Autism!

Have you ever heard of autism?  Do you know someone who has autism? Well, if not, you are about to meet someone who does!  A muppet!

For the first time ever, Sesame Street is adding a muppet who has autism to its cast! Julia is just like most 4 year old kids.  She loves to play, have fun and run around.  And like all of us, Julia also has a few things about her that are very unique.

One of these differences is her autism.  It makes her brain function a little different than most other people.  It can make her scared of loud sounds, move her arms and legs over and over again and say the same thing repeatedly.

Autistic children, like Julia, have different strengths and weaknesses than a typical kid, but it does not make them any less.  They may be friendlier than most kids.  They may have a great talent in music or art.  They may be very creative. They may be a great bother or sister. In other words, children with autism may be different, but they are not less! In fact, they are amazing!

So, now, go ahead and meet Julia and welcome her to the Sesame Street family and think about what you can do to be a friend to children with autism. First, here are a few videos that taking you behind the scenes at Sesame Street to see how Julia was made!

Now, check out some of the other muppets playing with Julia:

Lastly, here is a video showing all of the amazing things about some real life kids with autism: