Sesame Street Is Introducing a Muppet With Autism Next Month

Sesame Street will introduce Julia, a muppet character who has autism, onscreen in April.

Julia has already been featured in Sesame Street’s world, after appearing online in a Digital Storybook tale, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Over the weekend, CBS’ 60 Minutes revealed that the character would be appearing on the television show itself.

Julia will appear alongside characters Elmo and Abby and will meet Big Bird. The show will portray Julia as hesitant to shake Big Bird’s hand and explain why.

The team behind Sesame Street worked with autism organizations to figure out the best way to portray Julia on screen.

“It’s tricky, because autism is not one thing, because it is different for every single person who has autism,” writer Christine Ferraro said. “I would love her to be not Julia, the kid on Sesame Street who has autism. I would like her to be just Julia.”