Julia has bright red hair and loves her stuffed animal bunny rabbit! She is the newest muppet on Sesame Street and she has autism.
"I think the big discussion right at the start was, 'How do we do this? How do we talk about autism?'" Christine Ferraro said, who has been a writer on Sesame Street for 25 years.
Stacey Gordon, whose son is on the autism spectrum, was cast as Julia's puppeteer.
According to Gordon, Julia is more than just a new character on a children's TV show. "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—and like her—it's huge," she explained. "It's important for kids without autism to see what autism can look like."