From Sunny Day to Blue Day: Sesame Street Debuts Female Muppet with Autism
NOTE: I've been a Sesame Street fan since I watched the first episode in 1969. My children adored the program until it left PBS to move to HBO for first run episodes. We don't have HBO and it was time to say goodbye when the Surgeon General teamed up with Elmo to promote vaccinations. Preschoolers pick their noses, not their friends. I can promise the parents who think that Sesame Street will make a long term difference that it will not - and I'm sorry to say that. By middle school the gap is a chasm, by high school it's a canyon and after high school, it's another continent. At least for those with moderate to severe autism like my own girls. Boys are affected 4:1 over girls, so I don't understand the female muppet. I do know that Sesame Street has struggled to have female characters - Abby Cadabby was supposed to add to Zoe and Rosita. I hope Julia does indeed help start a conversation, although I'm afraid it will go like this, "Gee, that doesn't look anything like what Chase at school has, Mom...." Kim
By Anne Dachel
Julia is a Sesame Street character with autism. Big Bird and the other characters on the show are learning how to understand her. Julia is meant to teach children how to get along with someone with the disorder. Julia is proof that autism will never be a crisis for this country. Somehow we're going to have adjust to a significant population that has recognizable symptoms and special needs. From the tone of the discussion on 60 Minutes, we understand that having a child with autism is now normal and acceptable. (The Pfizer ad on this video is a not-to-subtle reminder that pharmaceutical is a controlling influence over what 60 Minutes will cover.) View video here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/julia-sesame-street-new-muppet-autism/
Christine Ferraro: I think the big discussion right at the start was, “How do we do this? How do we talk about autism?”
Christine Ferraro has been a writer at Sesame Street for 25 years, during which time the frequency of autism diagnoses has multiplied.
Lesley Stahl: The chances of a little kid two, three, four years old having some kind of a relationship with another kid with autism is pretty high.
Christine Ferraro: Exactly. Especially once they hit school age, because they’ll be in their classrooms.
Abby: Julia, you’re so creative!
Julia: [laughs and flaps]
But how to portray autism?
Christine Ferraro: It’s tricky because autism is not one thing, because it is different for every single person who has autism. There is an expression that goes, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”
“Sesame Street” has always based its characters and content on extensive research. They regularly bring in educators and child psychologists. In the case of Julia, they also worked with autism organizations to decide which characteristics she should have and how best to normalize autism for all children.
...
And of course every Muppet needs a puppeteer. But not every puppeteer has the connection Stacey Gordon does to the role. Gordon is the mother of a son with autism. She traveled all the way from Phoenix to audition for the part.
Lesley Stahl: The idea that there will be a child with autism on Sesame Street—
Stacey Gordon: Yeah.
Lesley Stahl: Tell me what that means to you.
Stacey Gordon: It means that our kids are important enough to be seen in society. Having Julia on the show and seeing all of the characters treat her with compassion—
Lesley Stahl: And like her.
Stacey Gordon: And like her.
Lesley Stahl: That’s big.
Stacey Gordon: Yeah, it’s huge.
The truth is, America’s children HAVE TO BE EDUCATED ABOUT AUTISM. Our schools are filled with students on the spectrum. Children today are checked for the signs of autism at well-baby check-ups by their pediatricians. What Leslie Stahl, 60 Minutes, and Sesame Street are doing here is to call for inclusion and acceptance of those with a disorder that wasn’t even around fifty years ago when Sesame Street first aired.
While I agreed that this a positive thing for understanding a disability that has become a fact of life for America’s children, no one can explain why we are doing this.
Stahl notes that “the frequency of autism diagnoses has multiplied” over the last twenty-five years, without telling viewers what the staggering rate really is. If the number of autism diagnoses has risen, does that mean more children actually have the disorder, or are they just diagnosing it more often?
This is clearly a new phenomenon. We’re all going to have to learn to live with autism everywhere. Right now, it’s children and young adults that make up people on the spectrum. Stories about autism training for teachers, doctors, air line personnel, EMTs, librarians and police are regularly in local news coverage across the U.S. Autism-friendly movies and “Sensitive Santas” are signs of the changes we have to make because we have no choice.
Every April we make a worldwide effort, complete with blue lights, walks, and fundraisers, to convince ourselves that nothing is wrong with having two percent of our children with a disorder that doesn’t exist in a comparable rate in middle aged and elderly adults.
While I sincerely hope that children do learn to understand and accept those among them with autism, I worry about the image of autism shown on Sesame. Julia is a sweet little girl with milder symptoms of autism. She can interact with others and she looks like a typical child. It’s easy to think that autism isn’t really a serious disability. It’s easy to believe that kids have always been like this, we just didn’t call it autism.
The type of autism that isn’t included here is the severe kind where kids have violent meltdowns, seizures, wear helmets, and can’t relate to their environment. We won’t be seeing those who are non-verbal, still wearing diapers when they head off to school, and in need of constant watching because they could wander into traffic. That side of autism won’t be seen on Sesame Street, and those children will be even more marginalized and ignored.
Footnote: We have already seen Sesame Street and the Surgeon General (2015) using Elmo to promote vaccines to four year olds. http://www.ageofautism.com/2015/04/dachel-media-update-the-neurologist-is-a-person-in-your-neighborhood-elmo-hawks-vaccines.html How fitting that this same show should be calling for acceptance for the vaccine-injured generation.
Susan,
"For vaccine injured kids it's like their neurons are not connecting enough to give them the thoughts needed to form a rich imagination. For schizophrenics it's the opposite, their neurons seem to be in a frenzy of activity giving them ridiculous thoughts. They are the exact opposite of each other (IMO)."
I agree with you and I think that's an excellent description.
Lack of imagination is one of the triad of impairments (1) and it certainly seems to me that schizophrenic children have over-active imaginations. (2)
My son, like yours, stopped playing appropriately with his toys after his vaccine injury and yes he would stack and re-stack blocks over and over again, for hours if we let him, day after day. In time, he would name the letters and numbers on their faces, but the blocks never became castle towers, fences for his farm animals, or garages for his cars. Twenty-three years later, it is still groundhog day for us although the blocks have been replaced long ago by other obsessive narrow interests.
It sounds like our sons were both mainly stackers and not line-uperers, but this new Sesame Street show gives the impression that children with autism line up their blocks to be different, as if it is their choice, and that they are making something when they are not. Pretending something is something else requires imagination - and language.
Julia does not line up her blocks because she's choosing to be different, and she's not making a wall as Elmo says she is. She lines them up because that is what Julia always does with blocks, and if she really were a real child with autism and not a muppet, she would fly into a rage if anyone touched them or moved them, even slightly.
As ""Julia is a deliberate attempt to change the perspective of autism with the idea that people with autism have many interests and strengths, similar to their peers; they are just wired to think differently" (3), I guess Sesame Street won't be allowing Julia to fly into the kind of rages with aggressive and violent behaviour that most of us have had to deal with.
(1)
http://www.autismbedfordshire.net/about-autism/triad-of-impairments/
(2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb-6IzGAI1I
(3)
http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article42747207.html
Posted by: ATSC | March 23, 2017 at 07:41 PM
ATSC, I completely agree with you !
In my opinion autism and schizophrenia are the opposite of each other.
I majored in psychology many years ago, and after graduating I worked at a small group home where one of the men was schizophrenic. From what I've seen and read schizophrenics have feverish imaginations....whereas a lot of autistic children barely have an imagination at all, they can't even engage in pretend play.
Before my son's MMR injury he loved playing with every toy put in front of him, he found all of them interesting. After his vaccine injury he didn't like toys very much anymore, he played exclusively with mega-blocks, stacking them and re-stacking them over and over. The next day he'd get up and play with the blocks again, stacking them over and over. It was like groundhog day. He didn't get bored because his imagination was gone. I thought he'd never get it back but with medical intervention he has re-gained a lot of brain function, but he still has narrow interests.
For vaccine injured kids it's like their neurons are not connecting enough to give them the thoughts needed to form a rich imagination. For schizophrenics it's the opposite, their neurons seem to be in a frenzy of activity giving them ridiculous thoughts. They are the exact opposite of each other (IMO).
Posted by: Susan | March 23, 2017 at 10:15 AM
Lisa,
"Vaccine injured children are not vaccine injured. They all have schizophrenia "
From what I have read, the main differences between schizophrenia and autism are the age of onset and the hallucinations, delusions and remission of symptoms which people with autism do not have. They do not suffer from paranoia or believe that their minds are being controlled by some device.
Both of the schizophrenics I knew years ago appeared to be absolutely fine on their meds but when they stopped taking them they become fanatically religious. One believed he was Jesus, the other, believing that his family who lived in another city was being assailed by demons, commandeered a car to try to reach them in time to save them. Terribly sad, but this is not autism.
Dr Bernard Rimland:
"One might say that the autistic child is as lost in his forest of unmarked trees as is the schizophrenic child in his forest where every tree is blazed." (Infantile Autism p167)
Posted by: ATSC | March 22, 2017 at 09:51 PM
Talking about the Sesame Street autism character, I would like to see some segment to, at least, show what her day at school is like when she is in a special ed class. That would open people's eyes to the reality of all the different types of autism, i.e. boys and girls. I am not sure just seeing this one girl gives a proper perspective.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | March 22, 2017 at 06:18 PM
A Facebook share by Jan Randall of this article received this comment by Kim FAucher: "It is opening the doors for conversation and seems positive."
Kim FAucher, I agree. Now, Sesame Street has a history to explore, for example, to decide how Julia and her family approached and arrived in her group. How will Julia grow with her group and on her own? Sesame Street often has their characters pondering their own thoughts.
I wish the writers and the show the best in the growth of their bold step in Public Television because "the Public" still get trapped in too many rigid institutionalized "programs." Many Programs themselves "become autistic" in their rigid isolation. Yes, Sesame Street has offered a "door for conversation and seems positive." Will it PROVE positive? For "Julia," I have faith, because Sesame Street MUST PROVE that THEIR door IS positive. Why? Because they know of many doors that are traps and only "seem positive," such as perhaps the most famous deceptive door, and slogan, "Work will make you free," at the entrance to Auschwitz. http://www.history.com/.../main-entrance-gate-at-auschwitz
Posted by: Martin Sawzin | March 22, 2017 at 05:46 PM
Surely people realize that AspieAdult is a paid troll.
I mean, if you need more than the fact that he properly capitalized AspieAdult.... look at how ridiculous his near flawlessly written arguments are.
Time to listen?? How about time to call bullshit.
Posted by: Barry | March 22, 2017 at 05:43 PM
Lisa,
Another thing is that autism was first seen in the 1930s, after mercury was put into the diphtheria vaccine as a preservative, long after schizophrenia was first described. And the age at which little children are diagnosed with autism is usually years before they have any mercury in fillings. My daughter has never gotten a filling so far, but has fairly severe autism.
Posted by: ciaparker | March 22, 2017 at 05:06 PM
Lisa,
If you believe that mercury in dental work can cause schizophrenia, then why do you believe that vaccines containing mercury cannot do so? Birgit is right: they are both types of mercury-induced brain damage, but they are not the same. I don't know if the only difference is the age at which mercury exposure occurred. I'd like to know if chelating all or most of the mercury out might cure both conditions, and if there's any similarly straightforward cure for encephalitic autism. My daughter reacted to a mercury-containing Recombivax at less than one day old (given without permission) with both mercury-toxicity symptoms (rash, sweating all over her head, and drooling) and with the screaming syndrome of vaccine encephalitis. How can you just say that vaccines do not cause autism?
Posted by: ciaparker | March 22, 2017 at 03:07 PM
I have to agree with Aimee that if Sesame Street wanted to have a muppet that legitimately represented autism, they would have used a boy muppet. Frankly, I want done from that point alone. It seems they were more interested in putting on display political correctness than fact.
@Lisa
Although childhood schizophrenia and autism may both have a similar cause from toxic load, they are not the same. Dr. Bernard Rimland knew this way back in the '60's, when he wrote the autism "bible" "Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior". He talked about the observance of hallucination, seen in childhood schizophrenia, that is not seen in autism. He also talked about how a child with schizophrenia could still demonstration conversational language, which was not generally observed in autism. Echolalia is not a symptom of schizophrenia. The blending of childhood schizophrenia and autism have too often been used by the governmental, medical and Pharma talking heads to deny the autism epidemic. They say that these kids were always with us, diagnosed as schizophrenic, and suddenly, in the late '80's through the '90's, we just changed the label. They are wrong, and I won't participate in their lie. I have personally work with children for over 30 years with both diagnoses, and they are not the same.
@AspieAdult
Please understand what the phrase "divide and conquer" means, as it relates to the autism community. Parents of children who are low verbal, non-verbal, medically affect are not your enemy. Our job is not to obstruct anyone from accessing the services they or their children need - our job is to parent. We are advocating for what are children need in order to reach the most fulfilled life that they can have, just like any other loving parent does for their children. Your enemy is again the government, medical and Pharma autism epidemic deniers, whose lies have delayed the appropriate response needed for everyone and every age across the autism spectrum. Unfortunately (fortunately for adults), as the babies of the '80's and '90's age out of the school system, there will have to be more services made available to adults. This is both a good thing, and yet a very sad commentary on how long the effects of this epidemic will be felt!
Posted by: Jeanne J | March 22, 2017 at 02:49 PM
Lisa! The word autism in schizophrenia was used as a symptom. It was not what was later described by Kanner and Asperger an actual diagnosis. There is quite a bit of a difference in how autism was described by those two experts, and how schizophrenia was described as early as the middle of the 19th century. Sigmund Freud's schizophrenia cases were all of mercury-exposed individuals. I can't go into the differences here. It is very highly plausible that schizophrenia and dental amalgams are connected. The connection of mercury and mental illness has been documented since the early use of mercury dating back to at least Caligula, one of the Roman emperors. His exposure came about because he owned a lighthouse. The reflecting pool used in it was an object of fascination to the clearly deranged man. But to say "Autism" is the same as schizophrenia is plainly wrong. Wait for Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill's forthcoming book regarding this issue.
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | March 22, 2017 at 01:46 PM
Aspie Adult,
I think your complaint about being unable to emigrate to another country because no one wants to admit high-cost autists is disingenuous. There is no clinical diagnostic test for autism. That means that, since you are able to use language to communicate, all you would have to do is NOT MENTION on the forms that you believe you have Asperger's. If you didn't, no one would bring it up.
Posted by: ciaparker | March 22, 2017 at 12:28 PM
CiaParker:
You misunderstood my post. I actually do believe it is entirely possible that both autism and its ugly stepsister, schizophrenia, are both primarily caused by mercury poisoning. However, the epidemic of schizophrenia took root in the 1850s. So, you have to go back to that time period to see what forms of mercury poisoning existed on a wide scale. Dentists starting using mercury amalgams to fill cavities in the 1830s, and because sugar became cheap in the 1800s, humans started getting cavities in large numbers during that century. So, it is entirely possible that schizophrenia is caused by dental amalgams. Shockingly (or perhaps not so much, at least for those of us here at Age of Autism), not a single study has ever been published comparing schizophrenia rates in those with and without dental amalgams.
Posted by: Lisa | March 22, 2017 at 09:13 AM
The outrage expressed here is excellent! My 54-year-old autistic son began watching Sesame Street when it first aired in 1969. The only other autistic children I knew back then were, like my son, patients on the children's unit at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Language development was the most urgent problem for all of these children.
The federal committee established in 2001, the IACC, to investigate increasing prevalence of autism continues to ignore comments submitted by parents.
"We're smart people. We keep seeing the same comments over and over," head of the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) yelled at the last meeting.
Keep sending comments and demand more than categorization and summary of our ideas. Sesame Street is, like the IACC, one more aspect of the coverup of the medical establishment. Outrage is the only appropriate response at this point!
Posted by: Patience (Eileen Nicole) Simon | March 22, 2017 at 08:45 AM
I need to take the time to check ma spelling it's an embarrassment .Sorry Heinrich .your name should spell Heidinger.
Posted by: Morag | March 22, 2017 at 08:14 AM
"Goodness gracious,I'm a bit speechless about this article."
I can certainly understand family and individual responses to this ie, Paternalistic/Patronising /Condesending presentation, in puppet form ,which does not often reflect the family situation .
Available to read online,
Student Nurses Supporting Children with Learning Disabilities-citeseerx by Heinrich Heidigner 2009
"Rock on Heinrich !" Has been a work moving forward for the past 30yrs at least .
Aspergers Ascent to an official diagnosis
Asperger Syndrome was made "official "in DSM-1V 1994
Don't let 19th century antiquated institutionalized [Labels] define you or your present or future capabilities!
Posted by: Morag | March 22, 2017 at 07:51 AM
Aspie Adult;
I am all for people with autism being able to hold down jobs and getting understanding for any social faux pas. But i don't want people to pretend that non verbal children with autism don't exist.
In your comment , you are talking about someone who wants to immigrate and is now dying? ( or is that a figure of speech; I'm not sure?) On a practical level, I can't imagine any country letting a seriously ill person belonging to another country immigrate. No one wants to get stuck with what should be another countries medical bill. Also,American healthcare, while expensive, is known throughout the world as being of a very high standard..
What kind of treatments is the person in the blog looking for, that can't be found in this first world country? If this person is suffering from a deadly health condition, I am very sorry for them, and hope they find appropriate treatment and medical care.
For someone with poor social skills though, immigration may not be the wonderful experience you seem to think it will be. Understanding the social norms in the country they grew up in can be hard enough for someone who finds social rules difficult ; another country will have different social norms and different unspoken rules. Neurotypical people often find that adjusting to this and learning a new way of life is very hard. How hard do you think it would be for someone with autism to learn , understand and adapt to a whole different culture while being a huge distance away from family and previous friends?
Your premiums are going to be effected by the huge influx of non verbal children growing into adulthood. Non verbal adults who require constant care will cost you and everyone else. There is no real way around that, and blaming parents isn't going to suddenly make their kids speak and stop being a charge on your tax dollars. These non verbal children and adults deserve love and care. The fact that this will be expensive for everyone doesn't change that. Perhaps though, you might want to join with us and help prevent vaccine injury, even if purely for your own self interest. By the way, those programs you complain about may be able to help some of the kids with access to them become adults who can live independently, maybe hold down a job. Since you are worried about your insurance premiums, and I assume your future tax burden, that is a plus for you.
If you have a good job, and a degree it seems like you could arrange to get classes in social skills privately for yourself if that is what you want. And if you have the ability to study and read books, you can learn a certain amount about social skills that way as well.Finding work in an area that doesn't require a lot of people interaction might be a good idea as well. Things like data entry spring to mind.
If instead of having all your skills and abilities, you were non verbal and dependent on others, would you want someone to advocate for you?
Posted by: Hera | March 22, 2017 at 01:24 AM
AspieAdult: "Sorry I'm not sacrificing the rest of my life for awareness that only benefits your children, especially when they made it harder for Aspergers adults who already exist. I don't want to pay higher premiums for your kid's ABA therapy when I don't get it myself."
Yes, well that's the problem that has been created by grouping the stereotype of Aspergers (high IQ, multiple degrees, gifted, highly verbal but finds small talk and social occasions difficult, may have anxiety and/or depression and/or OCD with the stereotype of Autistic Disorder (low IQ, non-verbal, bangs head, rocks and smears feces) under the DSM umbrella term of ASD, as if everyone with ASD faces or has faced the same difficulties in life when they don't, and as if one stereotype transforms into the other with maturation which is the impression that Neurodivergent_K's other blog "We Are Like Your Child" gives. Our adult children diagnosed in early childhood with the original autism triad which included language abnormalities are incapable of contributing to that blog. Learning to speak and use language is an uphill battle.
Some people on the spectrum are drowning in the ASD Ocean, some with massive support are keeping their heads above water, some are paddling in the shallows but get knocked off their feet occasionally by a giant wave, while others have their toes just touching the water which is cold and unpleasant but not life-threatening.
I'm getting really tired of listening to the Aspies, mostly women with late diagnoses who have managed to pass for normal, whining about their lives (Oh the sound of that door constantly banging in the coffee shop really upsets me!) when people far, far less fortunate than themselves are drowning, sometimes literally. I think they should stop and count their blessings.
I believe Cia is right that autistic people can't "follow story lines, whether in books, movies, or the social narratives of everyday life" and if they can do this then they don't have the same condition our children have - and some of them are adults. I'm almost certain that "autistics" Ari Ne'eman, Samantha Crane and John Elder Robison, for example, would laugh if anyone suggested to them that they couldn't do it.
It amazes me how many autistics there appear to be in cyberspace who can relate stories, have great self-awareness and can communicate extraordinarily well with each other through writing. Our adult children can't do that. If they had the ability to type and the motivation to go online and actually talk to people it would most likely be about facts and figures: weather, timetables, train numbers, videos, cartoon characters, Disney movies, classic movies, and not about themselves which is one of the reasons it's difficult for ordinary people to have a real conversation with them. As Cia said, they can't relate to other people.
The very existence of adult "Aspies" and "Aspergians", some of them self-diagnosed, has made life so much harder for people with Asperger's Syndrome and Autistic Disorder who will never, ever be able to live independently. These people convey a completely false impression of what autism is and how much early and ongoing intervention and support a person with autism needs.
http://www.awares.org/static_docs/about_autism.asp?docSection=3
http://wearelikeyourchild.blogspot.com/
Posted by: ATSC | March 22, 2017 at 12:25 AM
Lisa,
Everyone with schizophrenia has been poisoned by mercury, usually from vaccines. You apparently haven't read The Age of Autism, Evidence of Harm, or Vaccine Epidemic (inter alia). Schizophrenia isn't that old, first appeared with the mercury in industrial waste at the start of the age of industrialization. What is your theory on why there were only three cases in every 10,000 children in North Dakota in 1987, but now it's up to one in forty, if you believe that it's all inborn schizophrenia?
Posted by: ciaparker | March 21, 2017 at 10:22 PM
Aspie Adult,
One of the unfortunate aspects of Asperger's is an inability to relate to other people and our problems, our dramas, our lives. We are not going to keep our autistic children in the basement out of sight and out of society so that you can get lower premiums. You can't get ABA therapy past seven years of age. It is for teaching very simple behaviors like stacking chairs and waving good-bye. You are not eligible regardless. You are verbal enough to make your way, and I doubt anyone would offer therapies for you appropriate for low- or non-verbal autists who can't converse with other people at all. And you should not demand them. Your taxes are going to skyrocket regardless of whether or not we bury our children in the basement, as, when the parents die, it is society which will have to pay billions and billions for the support and care of the millions of autists produced by our society's greed and blindness. Normalize autism? And how are we going to do that, when there is very little normal about our children, and no way to hide it. Are you not embarrassed to be so blatantly callous and selfish?
Posted by: ciaparker | March 21, 2017 at 08:22 PM
Vaccine injured children are not vaccine injured. They all have schizophrenia
Posted by: Lisa | March 21, 2017 at 07:17 PM
@aspieadult - "Parents of autistic children are making it harder for autistic adults."
Really??? You have no right to demonize the parents of autistic children and blame us for all your problems. We advocate for our children because that is what parents do. Obviously you are well-educated ("multiple degrees") and can blog and effectively advocate for yourself. You are capable of being employed. My son is profoundly affected by autism and cannot advocate for himself. He was not able to graduate from high school or go to college or hold a job. He will need lifelong care and support 24/7/365. So I will advocate for him...as long as I live and breathe.
You blame parents for rising health insurance premiums and restrictive immigration policies. Well, health insurance premiums rise for many reasons - and for the costs of many medical conditions - so don't exclusively blame parents or their nonverbal children. And BTW, way have paid out of pocket for our son's therapies, since insurance didn't cover them. The only thing insurance ever paid for us was pharmaceutical drugs.
Parents are not responsible for other countries' restrictive immigration policies. Immigration policies are set for many reasons. And autism is not the only medical reason people are excluded from immigrating.
I too wish that autistic adults had more therapies...my profoundly affected son is now an adult, so I am very aware of the paucity of programs for adults. But I am opposed to normalizing autism and characterizing it as a difference rather than a disability. My son, in his 20+ years of living with the disability of autism, has been nonverbal (now semi-verbal); has had seizures; has had GI issues (including the lovely fecal smearing); has been self-injurious (hitting himself nonstop); has been aggressive; has been destructive (punched holes in walls); and has wandered (and been lost for hours).
This is not normal. And I will not ever characterize it as normal. And it is wrong for those in the neurodiversity movement to throw those more profoundly impaired under the bus the way you do.
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | March 21, 2017 at 06:41 PM
What if we would have normalized Thalidomide babies and just kept on giving Thalidomide? If they are going to do this, then do it correctly. Have Julia wear a helmet, have seizures, put on a diaper and smear her poup on the walls. I personally take offense to this horrendous brain washing/propaganda stunt. Most people I know who have autistic children don't have children like Julia. Perhaps they should have consulted with a few parents of children with severe autism, you know, spent some time with the kids and observed them in their worst moments. Try to capture that with a puppet on Sesame Street. I'm sorry, but GAG ME. This is repulsive.
Posted by: Dawn Winkler | March 21, 2017 at 06:36 PM
Seems to me there's this push to normalize autism. If it's considered normal, the sheep won't question vaccines.
It's not normal. At all. Sure, I love my son, even though he's on the spectrum, but if I can remove any hurdles, I will.
*******
They don't have much choice.
It's either try to normalize all the maimed children. Or admit that you maimed them.
Posted by: Barry | March 21, 2017 at 05:53 PM
We are being pushed into a culture of compliance where it is not ok to question, where all explanations come from government experts that are not to be challenged, where we are to adjust to whatever conditions we find ourselves in. So much for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We get what is dished out and are to keep our mouths shut and tolerate what they do to us.
Posted by: Linda1 | March 21, 2017 at 05:45 PM
I'm for normalizing autism because many of us want to be able hold down jobs for a long while without losing them because of lack of social skills. It makes things better for autistic adults already there. Parents of autistic children are making it harder for autistic adults. Many of the therapies and programs are for children and not for adults. My health insurance premiums are rising because of your nonverbal children. Where are the therapies for adults over the age of 22? Nowhere to be found. I'm for normalizing autism because it will allow me to work long enough so I can afford these expensive therapies only the children get.
To make things worse, adults with autism are barred from immigrating to many countries because parents of autistic children demanded all these therapies. Your brand of autism awareness harms autistic adults already there and gives us nothing. It's beneficial to have people be tolerant of people who are different so we can do our jobs and get on with our lives. Sorry I'm not sacrificing the rest of my life for awareness that only benefits your children, especially when they made it harder for Aspergers adults who already exist. I don't want to pay higher premiums for your kid's ABA therapy when I don't get it myself. Either get treatments and benefits for adults or I'm not interested. I have a high IQ and multiple degrees but have a difficult time in life because of my lack of socialization.
You've made is so much harder for autistic adults and none of you realize it. This autistic can't even move to another country because you keep drawing attention to how horrible and expensive autism is and now this person is dying without any other options. I hope you're proud of yourselves. Read this blog and you'll see the harm you've done.
http://timetolisten.blogspot.com/2017/02/i-hope-youre-proud-of-yourselves.html
Posted by: AspieAdult | March 21, 2017 at 05:17 PM
Lisa,
Schizophrenia and autism can both be caused by mercury poisoning, although autism can also be caused by plain vaccine encephalitis even without mercury. Neither one is congenital or unavoidable. Age of Autism had this a couple of years ago: "There are many points of overlap between autism and schizophrenia and you will notice that nearly every year another similarity is found in scientific research. But I feel that the best similarity of all is this: Chris Shade PhD, well known mercury toxicologist, has stated that there is an institute for schizophrenic people in Canada that sends him samples for mercury testing and in fact he has never tested a sample from a schizophrenic person that was not "off the charts" for mercury levels.
The time has come to be sceptical of all labels . For instance, does someone have "schizophrenia" or do they in reality have low dose chronic mercury toxicity.
I would also point out that "schizophrenia" , like autism is something new. When I was a teenager, in the 60's people were first talking about it and confusing it with multiple personality disorders. by the time I was in my twenties, psychologists were disputing if such a thing really existed as a mental illness or was just an effect of bizarre parenting. Now, of course, as with autism, the medical fraternity want us to believe that schizophrenia was always around and is genetic."
The book The Age of Autism, p. 206, has a quotation from Dr. Leo Kanner, who identified the first cases of autism, caused by mercury poisoning: "The case material has expanded to include a number of children who reportedly developed normally through the first 18 to 20 months of life, only to undergo at this point a severe withdrawal of affect, manifested by the loss of language function, failure to progress socially, and the gradual giving up of normal activities. These latter cases have invariably been severe and unresponsive. When seen they could not be differentiated from the children with the more classical account of detachment apparently present in the neonatal period. But even these cases are much earlier in onset and phenomenologically distinct from cases of childhood schizophrenia."
What we have is a man-made cause of both of these horrifying disabilities. Should it be socially acceptable to shun either autists or schizophrenics? They were damaged by corporate greed, and should not be punished for the sins of others.
I don't see how Sesame Street can have an autistic character, as one of the aspects of the brain damage is an inability to follow story lines, whether in books, movies, or the social narratives of everyday life. I saw it on a list of symptoms of encephalitis a few months ago: it was the first time I had seen it listed, although I have tried in vain for ten years to get professional help with enabling my daughter to follow story lines. It is extremely tragic and results in the alienation of the autist both from his own experiential world and from that of other people. But it means that a realistic autistic character wouldn't understand whatever narrative was being enacted and wouldn't contribute anything appropriate to the dialogue.
Posted by: ciaparker | March 21, 2017 at 03:45 PM
Besides 60 Minutes, the Julia/Sesame Street story is being picked up everywhere in the news. See how the world is learning to adjust to autism. We may not be able to explain why so many kids have this disorder, but we trying to be inclusive. That’s really the only choice we have.
ABC2 Green Bay, WI http://www.wbay.com/content/news/Local-autism-community-says-new-Sesame-Street-muppet-with-autism-will-break-barriers-416645933.html
"I think it's great to have representation from all different types of kids and to demonstrate inclusion," Kristina Shelton, a mom in Green Bay, said.
"It's definitely awesome to show kids diversity that they're going to see in the real world," said Green Bay resident Chris Jenquin, who grew up watching "Sesame Street."
"That is one of my favorite things about "Sesame Street" is that they're so inclusive of showing kids of all shapes, sizes, types, everything," Lindsay Dorff, a Green Bay mom, said.
CBS62 Detroit http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/03/20/someone-new-on-sesame-street-meet-julia-the-autistic-muppet/
…“It’s not like there is a typical example of an autistic child, but we do believe that [with] Julia, we worked so carefully to make sure that she had certain characteristics that would allow children to identify with her,” Westin said on 60 Minutes. “It’s what Sesame does best, you know: Reaching children, looking at these things through their lens and building a greater sort of sense of commonality.”
Reaction to videos featuring Julia released on YouTube has been largely positive.
Melanie Czoka Simmons commented: “I can’t thank you enough Sesame Street! I’m crying tears of happiness right now. I cant wait to show my 5-year-old autistic son all of these videos! Pleassse make Julia great at number and patterns to show how super smart so many autism kiddos are.”
NBC9 Denver http://www.9news.com/features/sesame-street-welcomes-julia-a-muppet-with-autism/423967045
One of the things that I really enjoyed about the Julia character is that she has the flapping stim (self-stimulatory) she does. I have seen that in my son, I have seen that in other children with autism, even adults with autism who can become over-stimulated and their outlet is to flap their arms or to hop up and down," said Dran.
NBC10 Philadelphia http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Sesame-Street-to-Feature-New-Muppet-With-Autism-Julia-416593923.html
Folks on Sesame Street have a way of making everyone feel accepted.
That certainly goes for Julia, a Muppet youngster with blazing red hair, bright green eyes — and autism. Rather than being treated like an outsider, which too often is the plight of kids on the spectrum, Julia is one of the gang….
"She does things just a little differently, in a Julia sort of way," Abby informs him.
Julia, chuckling, then displays a different-but-fun way of playing tag, and everyone joins in. But when a siren wails, she covers her ears and looks stricken.
"She needs to take a break," Big Bird's human friend Alan calmly explains. Soon, all is well and play resumes.
"The 'Meet Julia' episode is something that I wish my son's friends had been able to see when they were small," says Gordon. "I remember him having meltdowns and his classmates not understanding how to react."
Christian Science Monitor: https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2017/0320/Muppets-welcome-Julia-a-friend-with-autism-to-TV-s-friendliest-street
The goal, Sesame workshop says, is to not only help children understand a character who may resemble their friends and classmates on the autism spectrum, but also to show kids with autism diagnoses a character to whom they can relate.
"In the US, one in 68 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder," Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop's senior vice president of US Social Impact, told the Associated Press. "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."
NBC15 Madison, WI http://www.nbc15.com/content/news/Sesame-Street-debuts-new-character-with-autism-416645763.html
Julia's debut episode will deal with what autism can look like. The brain disorder can make it difficult for sufferers to communicate with and relate to others.
The character of Big Bird talked to Stahl about his first interaction with Julia in which she ignored him.
"I thought that maybe she didn't like me," he said.
"Yeah, but you know, we had to explain to Big Bird that Julia likes Big Bird," the Elmo character added. " It's just that Julia has autism. So sometimes it takes her a little longer to do things."
UK Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2017/mar/20/autistic-julia-sesame-street-muppet-diversity
Any adult who watches children’s television can see that diversity is never far from the programme-makers’ minds. Nor will it be a surprise to hear that an autistic character, Julia, already a feature of Sesame Street magazine, will be joining the TV show proper next month. Young children will notice the way she does not make eye contact, but see how other Muppets play with her regardless. …
Inside Edition http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/22304-julia-the-newest-muppet-on-sesame-street-has-autism-she-expresses-herself-in-different-ways
"Julia is an amazing little character," said Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice preside of Sesame Workshop, according to APTN. "She's 4 years old. She is not as verbal, but she expresses herself in different ways."
In the first episode, "Meet Julia" airing on April 10, Julia is introduced to Big Bird. She is invited to play a game with fellow Muppets Oscar, Abby and Grover, where they must point out different shapes.
Abby tells Grover, "You're lucky. You have Julia on your team, and she's really good at finding shapes."
What we have to forget about, of course, is the fact that two percent of our children have this disorder, many were typical healthy kids and then lost everything, many are quite severe and nothing like Julie on Sesame Street, AND we need to forget that no one can find comparable rates among adults—especially adults who are extremely disabled by autism like so many of our children.
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | March 21, 2017 at 03:19 PM
Seems to me there's this push to normalize autism. If it's considered normal, the sheep won't question vaccines.
It's not normal. At all. Sure, I love my son, even though he's on the spectrum, but if I can remove any hurdles, I will.
Posted by: Alexandra | March 21, 2017 at 02:24 PM
Autism was part of the original definition of schizophrenia. After many years of reading and research, as well as having a family member with schizophrenia, and working myself with many children who have autism, I have come to the conclusion that autism spectrum disorder is actually a schizophrenia spectrum disorder -- that autism is, in fact, what schizophrenia looks like when the onset occurs either before or during the development of expressive language.
I seriously doubt that Sesame Street will want to have an autistic character on its show once it becomes widely accepted, which I see happening within the decade, that autism is actually just a nicer, more socially acceptable term for schizophrenia.
Posted by: Lisa | March 21, 2017 at 12:22 PM
I don't feel like neurotypical kids will ever accept vaccine injured (i.e. autistic) kids as real peers unless they are extremely high functioning. My son is recovering from his vaccine injuries with biomedical treatment, he used to be non-verbal in kindergarden, now in third grade he can talk and interact more but it's still hard for him to have friends. He's still not neurotypical. He invited one boy he thought was his friend to his birthday party but he didn't show up, luckily he has a lot of cousins so he barely noticed. The same thing happened the year before.
Bob Moffitt, I think they KNOW what caused the phenomenon, but they're putting all of their efforts and resources into covering it up.
Posted by: Susan | March 21, 2017 at 11:25 AM
I've always liked Sesame Street and wish them the best as well.
The CDC and FDA are another story, placing razor wire around the grounds and turning it into a prison is about the right punishment for maiming an entire generation of small children. These vaccines were never properly studied and continue to exist thru greed, government fraud, and medical dogma.
I can't remember how many times I've wished my child had just had measles instead of that shot. The bullying started in kindergarten and continued until I had him lifting weights. Finally in 5th grade he retrieved a stolen water bottle with brute force. I wished I was there to see his classmate's look when the stuttering kid physically retrieved that bottle. I'm guessing that child didn't watch Sesame Street.
Posted by: kws | March 21, 2017 at 11:07 AM
As Anne notes, Julia the Muppet with autism is not representative of the spectrum for a number of reasons.
First she is a girl, and the spectrum is dominated by boys. Second, she is verbal, while approximately 1/3 of the spectrum is non-verbal and another 1/3 is semi-verbal (language without fluent conversational abilities). She does not have seizures, as approximately 1/3 of the spectrum does. She does not exhibit self-injurious or aggressive behavior, as do a large number of individuals on the spectrum. She does not wander. She can make friends!!! Good grief - could Sesame Street have created a character who is LESS representative of individuals on the spectrum?
This is more shiny, happy, autism crap that will result in individuals who have the more severe and challenging parts of the spectrum becoming more invisible than they already are. Kim noted that kids will comment that Julia's autism looks different than "what Chase at school has." I'm not even sure that will happen. From what I've seen in 20 years as a parent, advocate, and an attorney, very few individuals with moderate to severe autism are included in regular classrooms - the meltdowns and self-injurious/aggressive behaviors make it all but impossible.
Posted by: Aimee Doyle | March 21, 2017 at 10:37 AM
Shut down the CDC. make the manufacturers liquidate all their assets to pay damages. Raid all the pediatricians' offices to see if they are using adult vaccines on the children because they are cheaper.
Posted by: Rebecca Lee | March 21, 2017 at 10:01 AM
I watched the WHOLE "60Minutes" video. It was more of an intro to the history of Sesame Street, with the new character of Julia, - who "has autism",- thrown in as a "hook". Yes, they actually say "normalize autism", because autism is the new normal, right? I'll leave it to the experts here, to watch the OTHER "60Minutes" extra videos which go into more detail about Julia and autism. But let's not be TOO harsh on Sesame Street. That's all I'm saying.... Thanks again, AoA! (Yes, the Phizer DRUG company is a large financial supporter and advertiser of this show....)....
Posted by: Bill | March 21, 2017 at 09:13 AM
If parents of severely affected children auditioned for the part but were overlooked based on the severity of their child's disability I wonder if they could bring legal action against Sesame st. and company for violation of disability laws?
I can't speak for other parents but I find the Julia character to be highly offensive and feel like my child is being mocked by the puppet. I can't say for sure but Stacy Gordons child in the interview seems to be nothing at all like the Julia character or someone with noticeable autism symptoms. I just feel like I can't relate to this in any way.
Posted by: Sour Puss | March 21, 2017 at 09:01 AM
Mitigation by Pharma no less lessening the horrors of vaccine damage.
It reminds me of the attempts by the media to lessen beheadings etc by saturating the media outlets with them and all the other horrors that children are brought up in as the new norm.
I would endorse the Sesame Street programme if in all the meticulous detail they go in to they explained that it never used to be like this and that nobody is looking either?
No nappy changing, no parents being dragged into the school to take the child away because the school cant cope, no escapes, no years of no sleep,no shit smearing, "I could go on as" the great man says.
Pharma for Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: Angus Files | March 21, 2017 at 08:26 AM
A conscious effort to normalize vaccine injured children.
It doesn't get much sicker than that.
Posted by: Barry | March 21, 2017 at 07:43 AM
I agree with Anne .... "From the tone of the discussion on 60 Minutes, we understand that having a child with autism is now normal and acceptable."
Christine Ferraro .. writer and developer of little Suzie's autism character:
"Sesame Street” has always based its characters and content on extensive research. They regularly bring in educators and child psychologists. In the case of Julia, they also worked with autism organizations to decide which characteristics she should have and how best to normalize autism for all children."
I suspect my beloved 17 year old .. non-verbal grandson .. who remains a loyal .. dedicated fan .. of ELMO .. where he has spent .. and .. continues to spend .. many HAPPY hours watching youtube "ELMO" skits .. over and over .. to the exclusion of most age appropriate entertainment interests of a 17 year old .. would be a hard case for "educators and child psychologists" of autism to "normalize for all children".
I just wish there was as much effort and resources dedicated to identifying what has CAUSED the phenomenon .. as has been afforded to creating AWARENESS/NORMALIZING of the problem.
I sincerely hope Sesame Street has success with the introduction of Suzie's character as a means for their worthy goal of "normalizing autism for all children" .. but .. I am praying that 15 years from now some teenager isn't spending hours upon hours of watching Suzie's character for their entertainment.
Posted by: Bob Moffit | March 21, 2017 at 07:22 AM
No pHARMa adverts in this 2 hour recording from a month ago :
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/themaryandsallieshow/2017/01/24/a-conversation-with-janet-edghill-about-vaccines-host-sallie-o-elkordy
A Conversation with Janet Edghill about Vaccines ~ Host Sallie O. Elkordy
Posted by: Hans Litten | March 21, 2017 at 06:45 AM