Punky lives in Ireland.
Like Parker, she was born with Down syndrome.
Unlike Parker, Punky is the star of an original animated TV show which tells stories from Punky’s everyday life.
My first thought after meeting Punky? I sure wish Parker had Punky’s language skills.
My second thought? Hurray for having the courage to make a child with Down syndrome (or ANY type of special needs) the star of her own animated TV show.
What do you think? Do you like the videos? (Which, btw, you can purchase here.)
Parker has no idea he has Down syndrome. He does however recognize himself as the Center of the Universe. heh.
I can’t tell if Punky helps others understand about Down syndrome or not. I’m not sure if she represents the typical kid with Ds. Maybe it’s just hard for me to tell because of all the health issues Parker has had that quite frankly held him back the first three years of his life…..and we are STILL trying to make up.
From the website:
“Punky is a light-hearted, fun and exciting series at the heart of which lies an exceptional child”
“Punky is the star of our show. She’s a happy little girl who loves music, dancing and hug. And she has Down syndrome. Punky loves playing with her big brother, Con, and jumping around with her dog, Rufus. She enjoys helping around the house with Mum and trying to make Cranky (her grandmother) just a little less cranky. As a child with Down syndrome, Punky lives in the moment. If something isn’t right, if someone has a problem, Punky will set out to fix it. To Punky, the solution is always simple.”
Are people in Ireland more accepting of kids with Ds?
Would Punky find an audience here in the states, say on PBS kids?
Watch the video and tell me how YOU feel about Punky.
Nope. I can’t find words yet to articulate why, but it gives me that ishy feeling. I much prefer realistic shows that happen to include characters with disabilities living their life than this sort of thing. I won’t buy it or watch it.
I hear ya, Chris. I have that same kind of feeling.
But I do appreciate the effort. And I would like to see PBS kids at least attempt something using kids with Down syndrome.
I get so very tired of major Brands, TV shows, etc., so often act as though kids with special needs don’t exist.
I don’t know. I’m probably a prude, but I think attempting and getting it wrong is worse than not doing it. My 8 year old struggles to explain her sister to her friends (how many times have I heard this conversation “She’s SEVEN. A year younger than us? Why is she like that? Why doesn’t she talk?” I thought for a second about a cartoon like this as a way of explanation, but it’s not particularly accurate and I think would raise more questions than answers.
I love that! Thank you so much for sharing this. It is so sweet!
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Thanks for sharing these, I am totally going to get them for my other kids. Its really hard to explain to them what the future holds for Lily and what it means that she might be different. To them, she is like every other baby (which I think is awesome) but I think this will be a great way to help them understand their sister a little better. Even though she has a different condition, I doubt I will find a series about Cri du Chat
So this will be perfect!
Thanks
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You can watch a whole episode here http://www.punky.ie/index.html
I liked it, but I understand you’re ishy feeling too. I’m not sure which way I stand with it, but I’m not a kid and if it makes them treat people with down syndrome well then it’s good.
I like “Something Special” too. It’s a BBC show about a man, Justin, who has simple but fun adventures with families with a child with special needs. He teaches signs relevant to the adventure and show cases kids with various disabilities trying them out. He also plays a clown, “Mr Tumble” who always gets in a muddle, the children help him out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/somethingspecial/
Thanks, Claire! I’ll check out Something Special!
Max loves Something Special! We started watching it when we lived in the UK, and have a couple episodes he can watch here.
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I agree with Chris. There’s something about it I don’t like. Not sure what it is exactly, but SAYING she has Down syndrome doesn’t make it so. There was nothing about her that made me think “Down syndrome”. I don’t know, but it’s not something I would buy or watch.
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I know what you are saying, Renee. I had to watch a few episodes, squint really hard and turn my head sideways before I really saw anything in Punky that made me automatically think Ds. You know when you see a picture of a baby or someone at Walmart and you think…..”Cool! They have Ds!”
I didn’t see that here.
I was excited when I first read about Punky a few months ago and then just recently finally saw an episode online. I didn’t watch the whole episode but just from the bit I saw I thought the same as you – quite the language/communication skills!! I think it’s great they did make a main character w/Ds and have the show about her, but in some ways it just didn’t seem – realistic enough – to me anyway. I know they needed to make her being able to speak so audiences could understand her, but I just thought wow, she is talking really, really well! I don’t know, guess I need to watch more of the episodes.
Yup, Michelle. I hear ya.
But I still give kudos to these guys for breaking some ground here.
There is a Twitter party right now for PBSKIDS and when I shot a few questions by them all I got was lip service.
OH, we have kids with special needs on Sesame Street and Author. The idea of having a kid with special needs be a main character……WAY over their head.
For some reason I find the ‘blow it off, we do enough’ technique terribly depressing.
Handy Manny has had at least 3 where they have kids with disablities on them. Since the tools are the main character anytime they are helping someone they are the main characters for that time and that is what they do. Granted on there most are in wheel chairs but I find that having a wheelchair kiddo is a lot easier to “explain” that some people are different to kids. Not all DS kids “look” like something is wrong. Some walk, talk and do normal kid things. When a kid in a chair is around they are obviously “different” ( but I understand both reasons for wanting something)