Meet Julia, an autistic Muppet who's joined 'Sesame Street's' regular cast

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A couple of years ago, Sesame Street took a major step toward reaching out to even more children by introducing a character named Julia, a Muppet meant to represent an autistic child. But the use of Julia was limited to a digital character.

That all ends now, as Julia is about to become a regular member of the Sesame Street cast.

The new Muppet was shown off on Sunday on 60 Minutes. Reporter Leslie Stahl was introduced to Julia on set by one of the most popular Muppets, Elmo. "We really like Julia," he said. "She's really special to us."

To get the character right, in addition to the regular child psychologists Sesame Street works with, the show also worked with autism organizations.

Explaining the reasoning behind bringing on the new character, Sesame Street writer Christine Ferraro said that it's an effort to help normalize interactions between children.

"So that when [children] encounter [autistic children] in their real life, it's familiar," said Ferraro. "And they see that these — these can be their friends, too."

Julia will make her official television debut in a few weeks.

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