''The Transporters'' is a 2006 children's television series produced by Catalyst Pictures Limited designed to help children with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

aged between 2 and 8 years old recognise and understand emotions. It was developed by the Autism Research Centre at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

by a team led by Professor

Simon Baron-Cohen Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow of ...

and including Dr Ofer Golan. ''The Transporters'' is based on the idea that children with

may find human faces confusing, because they are unpredictable, because the autistic brain cannot cope with unpredictability. In Baron-Cohen's theory, children with autism are strong "systemisers" and faces are hard to systemize. In contrast, children with autism have a preference for predictable systems. The Transporters therefore focuses on mechanical vehicles that only travel along tracks, because they are highly predictable systems. Grafted onto these animated vehicles are real human faces. In this way, social skills teaching takes place in an autism friendly format.

Evaluation

A studyEnhancing Emotion Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Intervention Using Animated Vehicles with Real Emotional Faces
/ref> published in the ''Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders'' found that after watching the DVD for 15 minutes a day for four weeks most children with ASC (autistic spectrum condition) caught up with typically developing children in their ability to recognise emotions on four different tasks.

The series

''The Transporters''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release(s) consists of fifteen five-minute episodes, each featuring a key emotion. There are also thirty interactive quizzes and an accompanying booklet to reinforce learning. In 2007, the series was nominated for a BAFTA award. The series features eight animated toy vehicles owned by a boy called Jamie. Each has an actual human face so that viewers learn to recognise real rather than cartoon expressions. All the expressions were verified by an independent panel before they were included in the series. There are two versions of the DVD, with different accents and vocabulary. The North American version is voiced by

Kerry Shale Kerry Shale is a Canadian actor and writer based in London, England. Filmography Film Television Video games References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shale, Kerry Living people 20th-century British male actors 20th-century Ca ...

and the British English version is voiced by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

. ''The Transporters'' was originally commissioned by Culture Online, which was part of the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Characters

* Barney the Tractor * Charlie the Tram * Dan the Cable Car * Jennie the Tram * Nigel the Bus * Oliver the Funicular * Sally the Cable Car * William the Ferry

Episodes with key emotions

#"The Transporters' Happy Day" #"Sally's Sad Day" #"Nigel's Slow Day" #"Charlie Saves the Day" #"A Very Exciting Day" #"Jennie's Smelly Adventure" #"Barney's Special Day" #"William's Scrapyard Nightmare" #"Charlie's Missed School Run" #"Oliver the Kind Funicular" #"Slow Down, Nigel!" #"The Great Race" #"Why Can't I Be Somebody Else?" #"Playing Around" #"Jennie's Difficult Day"

Voice cast

as the Narrator (UK) *

as the Narrator (USA)

References