The picture of the autism spectrum in television programmes for children on the example of “Sesame Street”

Krzysztof Łuszczek

doi:10.21697/fp.2024.1.21

Published: 2024-07-10

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2024)

The picture of the autism spectrum in television programmes for children on the example of “Sesame Street”

Krzysztof Łuszczek

Pedagogical Forum

Section: Colloquia

https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2024.1.21

Abstract

“Sesame Street” is one of the most successful educational programmes in the world. Its creation in 1969 was preceded by extensive consultations not only in the field of television production, but also in psychology and pedagogy. A show was created which is not only supposed to eliminate differences in educational opportunities for preschoolers, but also to shape their attitudes. Hence, the show also covered topics such as the September 11 attacks or Hurricane Katrina.

In 2017, a puppet was added to the show, which is supposed to represent a four-year-old girl with autism. The creators of the show intended her presence to explain to children what autism is all about and to develop an attitude of respect towards people with this disorder.

This paper answers the question: what picture of the autism spectrum was presented by the creators of “Sesame Street” on the example of Julia? The method of analysing the content of the television broadcast was used. It allowed to analyse 18 episodes of “Sesame Street” and one special episode.

Their analysis showed that the episodes with Julia do not cover the full spectrum of autism symptoms, but accentuate those that can be most easily recognised by children. The second important element of the message is building respect for children with autism. They react differently in certain situations, but they are respectable and cannot be marginalised. Episodes with Julia, addressed to preschool children, were primarily intended to achieve the latter goal, which seems to have been achieved by the creators of the show.

Keywords:

“Sesame Street”, autism, media pedagogy, educational television

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Łuszczek, K. (2024). The picture of the autism spectrum in television programmes for children on the example of “Sesame Street”. Pedagogical Forum, 14(1), 269–284. https://doi.org/10.21697/fp.2024.1.21

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