The episode of the PBS Kids show Arthur that introduced a character with Asperger syndrome is up now for viewing on the PBS Kids site. In the episode, George (in the picture at right), a character whose dyslexia and tendency to hide behind his ventriloquist's dummy have been previous plot points, explains how he met Carl (in the picture at left), a new friend with Asperger's.
At first, George is taken aback by Carl's hyperfocus on trains, inability to understand figures of speech, and fearful meltdown when meeting George's dummy giraffe. But after a helpful explanation from the Brain, George finds ways to be a good friend to Carl, and recognizes the things that Carl can teach him, too.
I thought it was a charming episode, informative in a no-nonsense and kid-friendly way. (I also loved the character of Carl's mom, whose reactions to things reminded me of my own handling of my son's quirks.) Has your child watched this episode? What did you think of it? Share your reviews in the comments.
Image © 2010 WGBH / Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
My daughter just saw the Arthur Asperger’s syndrome episode today, and told me about it. She knows I teach kids who have this disorder, as well as other Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is 7, and has been a peer model for most of her life. She, herself, along with me, has her own “differences” in how she interacts with the world (we are both gifted AND ADHD -Yikes!). As she once told the bullies on the bus: “Everybody has problems, and I’m one of them!” kudos to Arthur for celebrating our differences!
We just watched the episode this morning. My son who is 12 has Asperger’s and my 5 year old is getting evaluated next week. I also have a 10 and 3 year old son. I thought the episode was really good. Marc Brown obviously knows someone with Asperger’s or did extensive research. My son through therapy is much better at age 12 at understanding figures of speech, but only ones he has heard before! So it was nice for us to watch it together because the behaviors were familiar and I was able to say, “see how far you’ve come!” The real life kids in-between episodes were awesome. My son is starting therapeutic riding in a couple weeks. It was so cool to see kids at all different ares on the spectrum. I loved how the Brain’s character had an uncle with Asperger’s. That was totally believable. Arthur is such a great show and always handles topics really well. I was really impressed!
I have a 6yo son with Asperger’s and I recently watched this episode. My husband and I thought it was great. Thank you to Marc Brown for sensitively including Carl.
I have Aspergers,(im a adult fyi) and I think that thise episode does a wonderful job capturing the nuances of aspies, right down to the laser like focus, and the seemingly nonexistant attention span, the latter of which is really just an extention to the former. I think that this video should be used in schools to tach children about Aspergers, so that children are understanding of eachothers differances, and help prevent bullying. I was bullies from kindergarden through eigth grade so bad that I still dred going any where near my old middle school campus(stops spits on middle schools pavement in disgust) some of the worst years, YEARS!!!! of my life spent in torment because students did not give a crap. no child should ever experiance that.
I am a special education major in college right now and was a paraprofessional for three years. I LOVED this episode! I really liked Brain’s explination of Aspergers. I would love to have a copy to give to a lot of people who could use it!
I could not find the asperger’s episode. Exactly how can I find it on PBS kids. Went to PBS Go also.
Jayne, this link should take you directly to the Asperger episode: http://pbskids.org/go/video/index.html?pid=bI9kEr_8AzfStQ_MqPkt5XV_mIFhpZWH&category=Arthur . They’re now calling it “George introduces us to Carl,” but it’s the same episode, and the full version is still there.
If the link doesn’t work, try this: Go to http://pbskids.org/go/video/index.html. At the bottom right, there’s a menu of character faces. Find Arthur’s and click on it. There will be a list of videos. As you scroll through the list, the last thing you see is “Show More Videos.” Click on that and keep scrolling and clicking on “more,” about five times, until the “George introduces us to Carl” episode comes up.
Hope this helps. It’s a neat episode.
This is a really wonderful program. I was so impressed with it that I shared it with my grandson and his wife, both of whom are teachers. I take care of their year old baby 5 days a week and the 3 yr old two days a week and want them both to have this episode as a regular part of their viewing.
What do you do when you suspect a child of having Aspergers but the parent won’t acknowledge it?
I work for a Charity that supports individual and families with Autism, Aspergers and the whole spectrum. I really enjoyed the episode and felt that PBS did a really good job, far better then I’ve seen in a while. Although I wish that the episode would have been more clear the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a Spectrum disorder. All the way from high functioning (Aspergers is a part of that) all the way to fully fledge Autism or PDD-NOS. Even within Aspergers there is variance. At the same time, this is my opinion and knowledge from working in the field for a time and over all, I really thought the episode was done with a great sensitivity for the subject and of course the foreign planet thing from Brain’s uncle, I want to use that here at the office. I just need to find the dvd if it exists.
Has this ever been made in to a DVD? We would certainly like to add it to our library’s collection!
Jeri, there’s not a DVD of it that I’ve been able to find, though it sure seems like it would be a popular item.
I have a 6-yr. old grandson recently diagnosed with Aspergers. After watching Arthur, I wondered if he would be able to fully understand it. Perhaps he is a “young” 6. Also, does anyone know if some good sites for grandparents? My daughter and SIL are haveing a difficult time finding support in their area; how to handle the meltdowns, name calling, etc. They are following the few guidelines provided by the doctor who diagnosed, but nothing seems to help. He has sleepovers at grams from time to time and I’d like to have more information as well.
Kathleen, the About.com guide to Grandparenting has a good article at http://grandparents.about.com/od/grandparentingissues/a/Help-For-Grandparents-In-Understanding-Autism.htm that might be helpful. There’s also an article on the About.com Autism site at http://autism.about.com/od/familyissuesandautism/f/grandsonFAQ.htm. I have a round-up of school resources at http://specialchildren.about.com/od/autismspectrumdisorders/a/ASDschool.htm, and if you look at some of those there may be things you can apply to your time with your grandson. I’ve also reviewed a bunch of books on autism at http://specialchildren.about.com/od/booksonautism/tp/booksonASD.htm, and perhaps there’s something there that could help your family. Hope this helps.
I’ve found the video on Youtube as well, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsmjwHW40ps Hope it helps.
Thanks for sharing that! I’ve been sad that it no longer seems to be on the PBS site, or has at least become too deeply buried for me to find. Glad it’s accessible on YouTube. Wish they’d release it on DVD.