With 23 seasons, millions of weekly viewers, and almost 500 segments, The PBS Kids show Arthur is the longest-running child’s animation program in the United States. Arthur is a third-grader who loves learning and spending time with his friends. The show covers many significant topics, and one of the most important is diversity. It’s crucial in this era to recognize that not everybody is the same and that it’s okay to different.
Not only do his friends have different ethnic backgrounds and celebrate different holidays, but they also have varying physical and mental abilities. Some have health conditions that can make things challenging at times. Despite everyone’s differences, Arthur and his buddies are all great friends. Here are 10 disabilities and differences that Arthur has highlighted, illustrating that we are all unique.
Asthma
In season 4 episode 3A, “Buster’s Breathless,” Buster develops a cough while going through some dusty books. After visiting the doctor, he discovers that he has a condition called asthma that makes breathing hard if he inhales irritants. At first, his friends are confused about what asthma is, and they think they can catch it. However, after Buster gives a realistic presentation to his class, they all learn the truth about asthma and realize their friend is still the same happy guy as before.
Dyslexia
George is having trouble in class in season 6 episode 7A, “The Boy With His Head in the Clouds,” particularly with reading and writing. He feels dumb, and he especially doesn’t want his friends to find out. They think that he doesn’t know how to read after he has difficulty reading a card in a trivia game, and then worry he might have to go to a special school.
Mr. Ratburn, George’s teacher, suggests George may have dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it hard to read and write sometimes. George gets some extra help and also figures out there are other ways besides writing to demonstrate what he has learned.
Blindness
In season 7 episode 9A, “Prunella Sees the Light,” Prunella plans a special sleepover for Marina. As she gets everything ready, she worries that Marina could get hurt while she’s at Prunella’s house because she’s blind. Prunella tries to make accommodations around her home, but she’s not sure if they’ll be good enough. When she goes to Marina’s school to ask what she might need, Prunella sees Marina playing soccer with a ball that beeps so that she can find it. After seeing Marina use a few other tricks to navigate the world, Prunella realizes that she doesn’t have to worry so much about Marina because she has her own way of doing things.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks can be terrible. Your heart starts beating faster, you feel like the world is closing in on you. It can feel like you’re suffocating. Binky Barnes experienced this phenomenon in season 7 episodes 10A and 10B, “April 9th.” There’s a fire at Lakewood Elementary, and everyone is affected. At first, Binky denies being scared, but he feels panicked when he sees fire on TV. When the students return to school, Binky thinks he sees smoke and flames, and panics again. He runs out of the building and bumps into Mr. Frensky, who says that it helps to talk about these feelings, and after time, they will start to go away.
Bed Wetting
While bedwetting is commonly associated with children who are potty training, it can also be experienced by older children. In season 7 episode 6B, “Jenna’s Bedtime Blues,” third-grader Jenna wears an alarm that helps her wake up when she has to use the bathroom. With an upcoming sleepover nearing, she doesn’t want to wear the alarm or a feel like a baby in a diaper. She’s afraid of her secret getting out among her friends, but she is determined to still go to the slumber party.
At the party, she manages to make it through the night without her aids, running to the bathroom partway through. When the diaper she brought just in case is sighted, they agree that bedwetting is really no big deal, and Jenna learns that she isn’t like a baby.
Food Allergies
After Binky develops an itchy rash in season 9 episode 10A, “Binky Goes Nuts,” he discovers he has an allergy to peanuts. At first, it just seems like a huge inconvenience. He has to read labels on food packaging, he can’t have his favorite Chinese dinner, and he has to eat at a special peanut-free table at school. When Jenna shares that she has an allergy to milk, she helps him to understand that being well informed really helps. She shows him the allergy section in the library. Binky reads some pamphlets from the doctor, and he even finds a new Chinese food place that makes peanut-free dishes. As Bionic Bunny tells him in a dream, “You are tougher than this allergy.”
Asperger Syndrome
Autism can be hard for others to understand, but many autistic individuals have said that Arthur described it perfectly when George meets a boy with Asperger’s named Carl in season 13 episode 6A, “When Carl Met George.” Brain tries to explain it to George by telling him about his uncle who also has Asperger’s. He says that it can be difficult to be around other people and that it sometimes seems like they are talking too loudly or speaking a confusing language. Things that seem normal to most people can be very strange to someone with Asperger’s. Brain goes on to say that while people with Asperger’s may learn to fit in, they always will feel a little bit different. George is grateful for the explanation and decides that he going to try to befriend Carl.
Wheelchair Usage
When Brain hurts his leg in season 14 episode 1A, “The Wheel Deal,” he must use a wheelchair, and he is very discouraged by this. It is then that he meets Lydia, a young girl who uses a wheelchair all the time. Not only does she help him keep his head up, she also brings to his attention that the doorway of his family’s ice cream shop is not wheelchair accessible, a problem that they quickly fix.
We see Lydia in a few other episodes, including episode 6b from season 21, “The Princess Problem,” where she expresses her distaste for princess movies because there are no princesses with disabilities like her. She and DW then learn that there are real princesses in history that actually did have varying abilities.
Anxiety
After a hurricane hits Brain’s family’s shop in season 18 episodes 10A and 10B entitled, “Shelter from the Storm,” he begins feeling anxious. He’s worried about another hurricane coming and hitting his house this time. When his parents find out about his anxiety, they arrange for him to see a therapist. With her help, Brain learns breathing techniques that help him feel more relaxed so that he can deal with that “bullying feeling” inside, which is how his therapist describes anxiety. Later on, when facing windy weather while walking through some trees, Brain takes a few deep breaths and says out loud, “I’m smarter than you, I’m stronger than you, and I’m braver than you. You are not going to boss me around.” With this pep talk, he is able to weather these anxious feelings.
Stuttering
Maria is a quiet girl in Arthur’s class, and it turns out that she stays silent because she has a stutter, which we learn in season 19 episode 6A, “Maria Speaks.” She sees a speech therapist, but she still has trouble speaking and is afraid that other students will make fun of her. When Maria gets cast as the lead reporter for the news program in her class, she knows that she can’t keep quiet for much longer. After some practice, she is able to do the live report, which includes interviewing Mr. Ratburn, a former stutterer! Maria learns it’s okay to be different and that stuttering is not as uncommon as she thinks.
