I'm old enough to remember when Sesame Street was new.

The following post was written by Bridget Allen of ItsBridgetsWord.com.

I'm old enough to remember when Sesame Street was new. The bulk of my parents' social circle were elementary school teachers. Sesame Street excited them because it excited kids.

 Sesame Street was vibrant. What impressed me was that for generations Sesame Street was almost subversive in its unflinching embrace of love and acceptance. Everyone mattered. Everyone had value.

 Everyone.

The Sesame Street that I saw, for years, seemed to push no agenda other than love, acceptance, and learning.

 For Everyone. Unconditionally.

Sadly, it seems those days are over.

 Now Cookie Monster can't just be himself, he must learn Whole Body Listening ( http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G6FDts-erVw ), a standard under which many neurodivergent children would find learning impossible; stims suppressed, eye contact constant.
Now, Sesame Street partners with Autism Speaks, an organization that has never represented the interests of autistics. Talk is of creating a character that can be praised for learning to hide their true, autistic self.

 This is not the ideal Sesame Street was founded upon.
Sesame Street is lost, and many of us just want to get (back) to the Sesame Street where everyone belonged.

 Sesame Street is too important to give up on. It's too important to cede over to big money interests like Autism Speaks.

 We care, and we ask you, Sesame, if you want to address something as big as autism, start by turning to those who know autism.

 Autistics.