Can Cartoons Which Depict Autistic Characters Improve Attitudes Towards Autistic Peers?
Carla Simone Engel, Elizabeth Sheppard
PMID 31828558WHAT IT FOUND
A 3-minute Sesame Street clip increased children's autism knowledge and desire to interact, and only boys showed an attitude change.
A 2:18 minute Arthur clip increased knowledge but did not change attitudes.
Key findings
01After a 3-minute Sesame Street clip, children gave higher desire-to-interact ratings overall, and boys' ratings increased while girls' did not.
02After a 2:18 minute Arthur clip, children gave more true statements about Asperger's syndrome, but attitude ratings did not change significantly.
03In both studies, more knowledge after the cartoon correlated with older age and with a greater desire to play with the autistic peer.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The samples were small and recruited from a public engagement event. Study 1 had 23 girls and 23 boys in the analysed group, so gender differences are fragile. The children saw only short clips, not full episodes or repeated exposure. Attitudes were measured with self-report questions, not observed behaviour, and socially desirable answers are possible. Knowledge was tested with one open-ended question, which may understate recall. The two cartoons differed in age group and content, so it is hard to separate age from message.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that either cartoon reliably improves children's attitudes toward autistic peers. Attitudes changed only after the Sesame Street clip and only for boys, while the Arthur clip showed no attitude change.