Sesame Street characters Elmo and Cadabby have a new playmate, Julia, a little girl with autism. The University of Washington's Wendy Stone, an autism expert, played an important role in developing the character and getting the “See Amazing in All Children” initiative off the ground. Autism, a developmental disorder, affects one in 68 American children.
A 2010 background paper, co-authored by Stone, who directs the Research in Early Autism Detection and Intervention Lab at the UW, and Vanderbilt University’s Evon Bately Lee, helped Sesame Street Workshop decide whether or not to introduce autism to its audience. Then, she and 11 other advisory board members from universities and autism organizations around the country reviewed materials for the initiative as they were being developed.
The initiative includes a free iPad app, instructional cards and digital and printed storybooks. Some of these materials can also be found online.
