As many of you know PBS is facing cuts. I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I want to share my two cents on why PBS is important especially today.
PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, provides television shows that are educational for kids and adults. Some of the shows I grew up on were Sesame Street, Barney and Friends, Reading Rainbow, Wishbone, The Big Comfy Couch, Zoom, Arthur, Between the Lions, Zoboomafoo with the Kratt Brothers, and Lamb Chop's Play Along. These shows taught me so many of life's fundamentals such as treating others with respect, good manners, history, geography, animals, reading, and believing in myself. In fact my grandmother had a Sesame Street activity book she used with me to help me try to regain my language after being diagnosed with autism. My local station Iowa PBS (then Iowa Public Television) did a documentary called The Life Autistic which I was a part of and you can watch here.
This documentary shared the lives of other people with autism from the young to the elderly. I was one of the first people they shown and I was honored to be a part of it. I especially volunteered with Iowa PBS at their telethons and their booth at the Varied Industries Building at the Iowa State Fair. It was special to me because I felt like it was my way of giving back to them for helping me become the person I am today.
If PBS were to get cut, it would negatively impact children whether they're on the spectrum or not. Some children watch PBS because their parents can't afford education for their kids. Essentially a classroom away from a school. The shows PBS have shared were always ones that benefited us and taught us to respect differences and treat others the way they want to be treated. I don't want to see an America where PBS is completely gone and children don't learn the things that I have.
To find out ways that you can help, go to Protect My Public Media.
#SavePBS
