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March Cybersmiler Of The Month Award For Sesame Street Production Team

Helping people understand autism through positive learning will reduce the risk of bullying, cyberbullying and many other types of negative experiences.

The latest to join the Cybersmile Hall of Fame, is a colorful breath of fresh air. With some very distinct differences to our previous Cybersmilers’ of the month, where we have seen the likes of – Nicki Minaj, Prince William, and Selena Gomez, our newbie has bright orange hair, luminous yellow skin oh and did we mention she’s a muppet!

For the first time in almost a decade, everybody’s favorite childhood street has a new resident moving in. If you’re not a part of neighborhood watch society you may have missed the news. Fresh for Spring, Sesame Street have welcomed Julia, the show’s first character with autism. Despite not being released until April this year, Julia has already caused a buzz, with her omnipresence throughout online and print. The books and soon to be show, teaches people how important communication is when dealing with autistic children, demonstrating how it can be hard to get their attention, how they see things others don’t and how exceptionally talented they can be.

Autism is present in one in 68 children in America, and can be hard for children to understand the condition. So learning from a show which has been close to everyone’s heart for 50 years, it creates a powerful platform and very important voice going forward to prevent possible threats such as bullying, cyberbullying and depression. Not only is it good to teach children who aren’t affected by autism, it’s a great tool to use to explain to children who are faced with it, so they can learn first hand they are not alone and they’re every bit as amazing as Julia.

The beating heart and soul of Julia, Stacey Gordon, who taps into her own experiences to add credibility to the show, said she was “thrilled and indescribably honored” to be the puppeteer to Julia. Stacey is a mother to a 13-year-old autistic son. When asked about the character she said, “I really wish that kids in my son’s class had grown up with a Sesame Street that had modelling of the behavior of inclusion of characters with autism.”

We love to see influential people/brands getting creative to enhance how we perceive each other in a positive way, and especially something as complicated to understand as autism. We hope other influencers and entertainment companies are taking note of this amazing step and continue the momentum to further highlight not only the challenges faced by those affected by autism but also shining a light on their incredible beauty too.

You can explore the Cybersmiler of the Month Award winners Hall of Fame to see a full list of previous recipients and learn more about becoming a brand sponsor of the award here.

Talking about being a target of bullying or cyberbullying is scary, however coming forward is the first step to improving the situation. If you are being bullied online or are having difficulties in any areas touched on in this post, we can help! Visit our cyberbullying and online abuse help center or our total access support section to see the different ways we can help you. For further information about Cybersmile and the work we do, please explore the following suggestions.

How cool is this?!! Tweet us your thoughts @CybersmileHQ.