美国国家公共电台 NPR Julia, A Muppet With Autism, Joins The Cast Of 'Sesame Street'

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

In the coming weeks, the classic children's TV show "Sesame Street" will introduce a new Muppet character on the air for the first time in a decade. Her name is Julia, and she has autism. NPR's David Folkenflik paid a visit to the set of "Sesame Street" to meet Julia and learn more about her role.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE¹: If you watch "Sesame Street," you know Abby Cadabby, an ebullient² 3-year-old fairy with wings and wand, a few magical powers she can sometimes control and an abiding³ sense of wonder. Abby introduces me to her friend Julia.

LESLIE CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Julia and I, we play a lot in the garden.

FOLKENFLIK: You do?

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Yeah, we do.

FOLKENFLIK: Julia's a winsome⁴ redhead with bright green eyes. She's a bit shy, and she's a bit of an echo of her friend.

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Well, we both like nature and flowers.

STACEY GORDON: (As Julia) Flowers.

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Yeah. You like flowers don't you, Julia?

GORDON: (As Julia) Yeah.

FOLKENFLIK: Abby gently explains the challenges the other Muppets felt.

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Big Bird was a little - at first didn't know why Julia sometimes - you have to repeat things sometimes. When you say hi, she might be looking off somewhere at something magical.

FOLKENFLIK: Julia's the first character introduced on "Sesame Street" since Abby herself arrived a decade ago. And, as we said, Julia has autism. Longtime puppeteer⁵ Stacey Gordon plays the role of Julia.

GORDON: There's so many people that have given her what she is. I'm just hoping to bring her the heart.

FOLKENFLIK: Gordon tells me the role is intensely personal. She worked in the past doing therapeutic⁶ work for people with autism. And Gordon says her son is on the autism spectrum⁷ too.

GORDON: Man, I really wish that kids in my son's class had grown up with a "Sesame Street" that had modeling the behavior of inclusion of characters with autism.

FOLKENFLIK: Jeanette Betancourt has been helping⁸ plot the development of Julia for about three years. She is the senior vice⁹ president for U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop.

JEANETTE BETANCOURT: Basically, in terms of vulnerable families, we're looking at families who may have particular stressors in their lives that are impacting their young children, whether it's economic or social-emotional stresses or differences that they're handling at the time.

FOLKENFLIK: Betancourt pointed¹⁰ to Sesame's materials for families with a parent in prison, for families where a parent is deployed¹¹ in the military and now for autism. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimate that 1 in 68 children has some form of autism. Sesame decided¹² on a twofold mission, to give children with autism and their families someone to identify with and those that don't a window into their world. Sherrie Westin is an executive vice president at Sesame Workshop who oversaw¹³ an initiative in which the character Julia first appeared in books and online materials.

SHERRIE WESTIN: She was in our storybooks. But we realized if we brought her to life appearing in "Sesame Street" on-air as well, she would have even more impact, be able to reach even more children.

FOLKENFLIK: The campaign is called See Amazing in all Children.

WESTIN: One of my favorite stories is a mother who said that she used the book to explain to her child that she had autism like Julia. Wow - the fact that this became the tool for her to have the conversation with her 5-year-old daughter - and you'll love this - at the end, her daughter said, so I'm amazing, too, right?

FOLKENFLIK: The character herself is set to appear in two episodes in the current season and more the next. Rose Jochum is director of internal initiatives at the Autism Society of America, the nation's oldest advocacy group for people with the disorder¹⁴.

ROSE JOCHUM: The character Julia, you know, she has wonderful drawing skills. And so, you know, she's, like, a little budding artist. And you see that, you know, autism brings wonderful gifts.

FOLKENFLIK: The society was one of 14 such autism groups that Sesame consulted. They often differ on how the disorder should be treated or addressed in public policy, but Jochum says they found common ground around Julia.

JOCHUM: She's one of the kids. She's part of the gang. It's really meaningful. It's wonderful.

FOLKENFLIK: Julia will make her debut¹⁵ on the air on "Sesame Street" on April 10 on HBO, PBS Kids and YouTube.

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) See you.

FOLKENFLIK: See you guys.

CARRARA-RUDOLPH: (As Abby Cadabby) Julia, let's go play.

FOLKENFLIK: David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET TO SESAME STREET")

THE KIDS: (Singing) Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 ebullient   

adj.兴高采烈的，奔放的

参考例句：

• He was ebullient over the reception of his novel.他因小说获好评而兴高采烈。
• She wrote the ebullient letter when she got back to her flat.她一回到自己的寓所,就写了那封热情洋溢的信。

3 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

4 winsome   

n.迷人的，漂亮的

参考例句：

• She gave him her best winsome smile.她给了他一个最为迷人的微笑。
• She was a winsome creature.她十分可爱。

5 puppeteer   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡

参考例句：

• Mr. Sullivan is a professional puppeteer.沙利文先生是一位专业的木偶戏表演者。
• One puppeteer controls the doll's head,face,and right hand.一个表演者控制木偶的头部，面部和右手。

6 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

7 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

14 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

15 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。