Who Are The Folks In Your Neighborhood, Sesame Street?

Sesame Street has joined up with Autism Speaks as element of an initiative to “See Remarkable in All Children.” They kicked off this effort by receiving with each other with Bob and Suzanne Wright of Autism Speaks to light the Empire Empire State Building blue for World Autism Day on April two.

It’s admirable that Sesame Workshop needs to, as they say, “develop a new community engagement initiative to help minimize the stigma surrounding youngsters with autism.”

Except that they’re functioning with a person, Suzanne Wright, who wrote this about autism only five months ago.

An excerpt:

These families are not residing.

They are existing. Breathing – yes.  Eating – yes. Sleeping- possibly.  Functioning- most certainly – 24/7.

This is autism.

Existence is lived moment-to-second.  In anticipation of the child’s subsequent move.  In despair.  In dread of the future.

This is autism.

That doesn’t sound like somebody intent on “reducing stigma” about autism.

A information release from the individuals at Sesame Workshop estimates a representative speaking about the initiative:

“We have identified that there’s a lack of understanding amongst the basic public about kids with autism,” explained Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop’s Senior Vice President for Local community and Family members Engagement. “Sesame Workshop has a extended background of addressing diversity, acceptance, and inclusion, and we felt we could play a critical position in decreasing misconceptions by highlighting the commonalities children with autism share with all youngsters. With each other with our partners, we will leverage the energy of our engaging Muppets to help to carry this message to children, families, and communities.”

Except that acceptance does not look to be substantial on the list of the organization with whom they’ve partnered. You won’t locate that word in their mission statement. What you will locate is this:

We are devoted to funding global biomedical research into the triggers, prevention, treatments and a possible cure for autism.

How does this jibe with Sesame Workshop’s stated aim of “reducing misconceptions” and “highlighting commonalities” among kids with and without autism or emphasize “diversity, acceptance, and inclusion”? It does not appear to.

I know that in component thanks to organizations like Autism Speaks, the perception of autism is largely a adverse one, charged emotionally with the anguish of parents who have heard only negatives from the moment they heard that word linked to their youngsters. But autism is not cancer. It isn’t a disease–it’s not progressive, it’s not degenerative, it does not destroy.

It’s a situation that is not universally regarded as a adverse. It’s a issue that a lot of who have it take into account to reflect their identity in methods that are great as well as ways that raise obstacles. It’s one that I firmly feel we will come to understand far better and far better for positives as well as negatives if we shift our concentrate to Sesame Workshop’s very own phrases of “diversity, acceptance, and inclusion,” if we emphasis on really listening to autistic folks and their insights about themselves and what they need to have. Choosing an organization, Autism Speaks, that has no autistic people in its leadership, looks counter to that.

Sesame Workshop has an chance right here to do for autistic people what they did for me when I was a kid and avid fan, only a small older than Sesame Street itself: Consist of them in and demonstrate viewers a globe exactly where absolutely everyone has differences. Every person has struggles. Yet no one is excluded, marginalized, informed they require to be prevented or cured or various from who they are. You can be a massive, weird, sensitive yellow talking bird chatting with his imaginary elephantine friend or a green guy who lives in a garbage can and gripes at every person as a defense mechanism, and the world is Ok with that and understands it. Joining with Autism Speaks, a group with a mission of prevention and a message of concern and despair, is a jarring, off-message move to me and one particular that belies the four-and-a-half decades of neighborhood that Sesame Street has worked to construct.

Who Are The Folks In Your Neighborhood, Sesame Street?