Julia

as the mother of a child with autism, as well as input from research and advisers from the autism community, to inform the story. Due to the positive response to the outreach initiative, Julia was made into a physical Muppet that debuted in episode 4715 of the show, airing on April 10, 2017. She is performed by Stacey Gordon, who also used her own experiences raising her autistic son to help inform the actions of the character. The puppet is built with two sets of arms, one of which allows Julia to flap her arms in an emotional state. She made her television debut on 60 Minutes on March 19, 2017, and subsequently appeared in a series of YouTube videos for SesameStreet's YouTube Channel.