“MEET JULIA” DEBUTS APRIL 10 ON HBO

            As an extension of Sesame Workshop’s ongoing autism initiative, Julia, a new SESAME STREET Muppet with autism, makes her first appearance during Autism Awareness Month in the episode entitled “Meet Julia,” debuting MONDAY, APRIL 10 (8:00-8:30 a.m. ET/PT) on HBO and HBO Family, and in Spanish on HBO Latino. “Meet Julia” will also be available to non-HBO subscribers, who will be able to view the full episode on hbo.com, HBO Kids’ YouTube channel, participating television and streaming partners’ platforms and free oon-demandchannels, as well as PBS KIDS.

            “F” is the letter of the day and friends are celebrated in “Meet Julia.” In the episode, Big Bird finds Elmo and Abby playing with Julia, a new friend on Sesame Street. He does not think Julia wants to play with him, but Alan helps him understand that Julia has autism and does want to be his friend. Big Bird learns that kids with autism sometimes do things in a different way, but they share many things in common with all kids – like wanting to have fun, play and be friends. Julia and the Sesame friends invent a new game and then all come together to dance and sing.

            In addition to the new episode, a special behind-the-scenes featurette available athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw0_KMBC9-M&feature=youtu.be provides more information about Julia, explores the background of Sesame Workshop’s autism initiative and includes an interview with Julia puppeteer Stacey Gordon.

            Julia’s arrival marks a rich new phase of Sesame Workshop’s autism awareness efforts, which can be found at See Amazing in All Children. Introduced last year in digital form, Julia comes to life as one component in a wide range of resources designed to reduce stigma and increase awareness and understanding of autism.