• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

March 27, 2017 Child Development

Sesame Street's Julia: Changing the Way We See Autism

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Jake Miller

Mr. Jake Miller is the 2016 National History Day Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, a 2017 NEA Global Fellow to China, and a former candidate for county-wide office. Miller has written more than 500 articles, most of which have appeared on The Educator's Room. He's the opening contributor to TER's book When the Fire Is Gone. Learn more about Jake at www.MrJakeMiller.com
  • The Student-Teaching Model Is Outdated: Here's How We Can Do Better - September 15, 2021
  • Visualize: How Seeing What's Coming Changed My Teaching - August 16, 2021
  • 10 Lessons About Teaching from My Youngest Son - June 24, 2021
  • Ending the Epithet “Try-Hard” Once and for All in Classrooms - June 18, 2021
  • From STEM, Let's Pivot to the BRANCHES of the Humanities - May 25, 2021
  • Would Education Collapse If Teachers Stopped Working for Free? - May 20, 2021
  • 10 Ways to Teach Like Ted Lasso: Part II - April 21, 2021
  • 8 Tips So Your Substitute Plans Don't Suck - April 14, 2021
  • 10 Ways to Teach Like Ted Lasso: Part I - March 12, 2021
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers: Habit 3 - First Things First - February 26, 2021

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  

This quote from women's rights advocate and cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead - could also be Sesame Street's mission statement. Since its premiere on November 10, 1969, Sesame Street has brought the fundamentals of learning to all homes with a television set, and helped broker academic increases in many of its viewers, with its largest gains felt by low income children. Indeed, the show's creators finally were able to push forth real improvements in learning for the group many stakeholders still fight over today. Now Sesame Street is seeking to negotiate another misunderstood population of students: those with autism.

So what's the big deal with autism? According to The Autism Society's website (and cross-referenced by multiple sources), the following is true about autism:

  • About 1% of the world is on the autism spectrum
  • 1 in 68 American births are of youth on the spectrum
  • Autism has increased 6-15% each year between 2002 and 2010 and has doubled overall in that time
  • An autistic student typically costs $8.600 more to educate that the average student
  • The cost of serving autistic Americans is approximately $250 billion

Now, more than ever, it's important for us to understand how autistic children operate, which includes so many similarities but some notable differences.

60 Minutes's Leslie Stahl recently interviewed the creators of Julia, the 4-year-old Muppet girl who is on the spectrum. One of the writers said that they "struggled with how to portray" their newest character, but noted one incredibly important altruism of students with autism:

"If you met one person with autism, you met one person with autism."

Now, more than ever, it's important for us to understand how autistic children operate Click To Tweet

Julia is certainly constructed uniquely, as are all our autistic students. Viewers are taken behind the scenes to the Muppet creation center. Here we see she's equipped with two different sets of arms, one the standard fare for any character, while the other pair are used to flap her arms when she's upset.

The show's creators certainly have made Julia's inclusion a significant lesson in her role on Sesame Street. Rose Jochum, director of internal initiatives at the Autism Society of America, sees Julia as "one of the kids, she's one of the gang." 

We educators find this very much applies to our classroom as well. In my 11 years of teaching, I've seen the increasing numbers of students on the spectrum. And while it's something worth noting, they, too, are simply "part of the gang."

Indeed.

That doesn't come without its difficulties, however. In Julia's debut episode, Big Bird becomes upset with Julia and himself because he feels neglected and rebuffed by Julia. When he attempt to say hello, he is ignored. This is difficult territory for the 8'2" face of the show, as it is for the others, including Elmo (who has slowly replaced Big Bird as the epicenter of the show since I was a kid).

But Big Bird, Elmo, and the others simply learn that Julia has some eccentricities. She's very much like them, but when there's noise (in this case it's an approaching ambulance siren), she gets incredibly worked up. She often travels into her own world when at play. And she tends to "bounce" when she has fun. And that's all part of Julia being Julia.

As the characters learn of Julia's differences, they, like most children, showcase their resilience. During that interview with Leslie Stahl, they simply explain that she sees things a bit differently because she has autism.

While I was watching the 60 Minutes segment with a few students to see their response, one of my 7th graders asked, "Couldn't this be rude at the same time as it's trying to be helpful?"

"Indeed," I explained to him, "but we cannot navigate around something that's as present in our lives as autism is. Note that the show's creators aren't trying to sugarcoat what autism is. It simply..."

"Is." He completed my statement before I had the chance. "I see what they're doing here. They're teaching the rest of the world what we already know - that there are kids who are different because they have autism. And there's nothing wrong with that."

As the teacher who teaches next door to the low- and high-functioning autistic students, I cannot stress how important it is for my students to make this connection. But the lesson doesn't just end there. It continues. And it's one that all of us educators - myself included - need to continually update.

How big a deal is Julia? According to Muppet Wiki, HBO - who has an exclusive agreement to air episodes 9 months before they appear on PBS - is debuting Julia concurrently on both networks.

Come April 10th, we'll all get to observe and connect with Julia, Sesame Street's newest character. When that happens, many people's suppositions and stereotypes of those on the autistic spectrum are going to be shattered and rebuilt in a beautiful mosaic.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world."

Indeed, Sesame Street. No need to update your mission statement now - or ever.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Integrating Trends in Education: Lesson Plan Development for the 21st Century The Importance of Communication For IEP Students and Parents Band-Aiding The Mental Health of Our Children Respect in the Classroom: Earned, Not Expected
« Watch from the Balcony, Lead on the Floor
4 Ways to use the NCAA Tournament to Enhance your Math Classes »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • How to Incorporate SEL Into Any Content Area
  • A Q&A with Baltimore Teachers Union President, Diamonté Brown
  • 6 Reasons to Use Read-Alouds Daily
  • The Secret Ingredients of Lesson Planning

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.