Julia, a four-year-old with bright orange hair, a pink dress and a favorite toy rabbit called Fluffster, will make her debut on 10 April in an episode called “Meet Julia”. She has already appeared in Sesame Street cartoons and books, but this will be her first appearance on the famous children’s show.
"We wanted to address autism in general because of the growing number of children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder," Sherrie Westin, EVP of global social impact and philanthropy at Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind Sesame Street, told the Guardian.
"We felt that creating a character who was autistic would allow children to identify her but equally important, it would allow us to model for all children the differences and commonalities of a child with autism.
"It was an opportunity to help explain autism and to help increase awareness and understanding."
Responsible for the sound of Julia's voice is a mother of an autistic son, she believes that this role is significant, even when the friend of her son can watch from the TV earlier to understand autism, they may not feel fear when see her son.
The current number of children with autism in the world is rising. In Hong Kong, it is more than 100,000 patients with autism. Autism is no way to cure, but if they can find the treatment in early, it can make a significant improvement in obstacles.
Source：the guardian
