From The Autism Society of America:Over the years, the popular PBS children’s television show Arthur has celebrated kids with all kinds of abilities and featured many types of friendships. As part of season 13, Arthur will feature a storyline about Asperger’s Syndrome and friendship.
In “When Carl Met George,” George is excited about spending time with his new friend, Carl, who loves to draw trains and knows all kinds of cool facts about them! George discovers that Carl has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, and that Carl sees the world a bit differently than George and many kids.
Despite their differences, George and Carl become great pals – and learn a lot from each other. (Both characters are pictured.) The story is followed by a live-action segment featuring kids with Asperger’s and autism. Viewers meet Bess and Linnea at Lovelane, a nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic horseback riding to kids with special needs, and then we follow Linnea to her neighborhood school and meet her teacher and classmates.
“Over the years, in an effort to encourage our viewers to embrace the differences they see in their peers we’ve introduced a cast of characters with diverse personalities, interests, talents, and abilities,” said Executive Producer Jacqui Deegan in a release. “We hope that ‘When Carl Met George’ will help children gain some understanding of Asperger’s Syndrome and other forms of autism and realize that the unique traits of individuals are what make them so special.”
The new episode premiered April 5. Check your local PBS listings for times, and learn more at http://pbskidsgo.org/arthur.
