Transporter DVD cover

Sally is an animated cable car with a real human face – and she has proven amazingly effective in helping children with autism improve their recognition and understanding of emotions.

Sally is one of eight cartoon characters starring in THE TRANSPORTERS, a groundbreaking DVD which debuted in North America on January 12, 2009. It is the brainchild of Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a leading world authority on autism and produced in association with his research team at the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University, United Kingdom.

The DVD series Transporters, funded by the British government, focuses on the fascination many children with autism have with trucks and trains to help them focus on human emotions. According to an NPR interview with Simon Baron-Cohen of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, UK, "the DVD uses colorful animated vehicles, each with the face of a highly expressive actor on it, to teach autistic children how to better read faces and emotions."

The Transporters website states "The media series has been thoroughly tested on children with autism throughout its development so we can learn from their feedback". To their credit, 25 % of their profits goes to further research and autism charities. The episodes and interactive quizzes are developed in collaboration with the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University.

With permission researchers can use the Transporters series to further the understanding of autism.

To see a video sample on our website go to:
http://www.speechlanguagepractice.org/?q=node/13

To learn more about their work go to:
http://www.thetransporters.com/aboutus.html

NPR interview with Simon Baron-Cohen of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. (audio, video samples, and text)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99732203

Research on the product
http://www.thetransporters.com/research.html

Autism Research Center
http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc/default.asp