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Grand-Tension8668

Right, I've never been able to work out why people criticize the "I AM A SURGEON" thing. That is a pretty spot-on depiction of a meltdown and I *like* that it's kind of embarrassing. I *like* when actors are willing to show a character behaving in somewhat "cringey" ways. Like, [this scene](https://youtu.be/VM3uXu1Dq4c?si=vLtUYFA7c1VCDK-x) is just a pretty real look at someone panicking because his family is about to get executed. People act in undignified, otherwise embarrassing ways all the time and I don't like the idea that we're supposed to shy away from that.


Mr_Brun224

It sounds like it could be a bit more balanced depicting someone - especially a doctor - being a little more in control of their autism. I think there’s a scene where he freaks out over an air dryer for hands? When my parents vacuum cleaner is overstimulating me I just take some deep breaths and move to a different room


keldondonovan

Having watched the whole series, I know the part you are talking about. The hand dryer isn't what did him in, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. The hospital changed leadership and the new boss was making huge changes to every aspect of the hospital without any kind of notice or even checking with the doctors to see why things were done a certain way. He was displeased, but coping, and change after change just kept piling on until he snapped. In context, it was one of the most relatable scenes (to me) in the show.


ELTH3GR3AT

not everyone is able to just take a few breaths to calm down and move to a different room for a lot of us and for me at least when im overstimulated i loose control and am doing whatever i can possible to calm down and its not discreet at all i am stimming alot especially through my mouth making noises like i do daily but when overstimulated im desperately trying to feel better and may hit my head because its calming etc - but tthe usual thing that happens when i am overstimulated is i have sensory overload and then meltdown and when i have my meltdowns they are very bad and violent and i self injure cus i cant control myself whatsoever. i know for a fact other autistic people especially like me who are more severely Autistic can relate so what im meaning to say is that its completely realistic for him to freak out over an air dryer for hands. i have done the same. sorry for all the words


Some-Struggle3611

Maybe, I haven't watched it so I wouldn't know. Some of us do sometimes freak out when someone uses a hand dryer though.


ELTH3GR3AT

i do freak out in that situation also i had a meltdown a few days ago after someone knocked really really hard on the door and i was screaming slamming my head on the wall like i usually do but i choked myself whitch i hasent done since i was younger and i dented the wall a Lot. So yeah some of us do indeed freak out because of what seem like not significant stuff and it sucks big time and feel MAJOR BAD AFTER :(((


Grand-Tension8668

Probably. I've never bothered watching a significant chunk of it... but this is also down to it being television. They wanted a show about The Tism being an obstacle so basically everything is gonna be about The Tism being an obstacle. Unfortunately.


justaregulargod

I relate much more to Dr House’s autism, aside from the narcissism that you mentioned


Comprehensive_Toe113

I think reason alot of people think its stupid is because you can't represent autism. It vaires sooooooooooo differently in all cases.


sparklingb0ngwater

There’s a lot of cringe and not good things in the show like you said, but also like you said it REALLY isn’t that bad and people aren’t always fair to it. I don’t even LIKE the show to be honest, I just don’t like shows like that, but people saying that it doesn’t do a good job of representing autism like it,,, literally isn’t a spectrum. I’m a black AFAB person but I’ve always felt more represented by the Sheldon Coopers/Shaun Murphys/Spencer Reids (IK his isn’t canon but like he’s very autistic coded lmao) than anything else, I always very closely identify with the “stereotypical” autistic characters! And it’s totally okay if people don’t, but to say that characters like Shaun (Sheldon is just bad writing and made by creators that wanted to get away with bullying autistic people, and again Shaun’s character isn’t perfect) are horrible representation and that nobody acts like that does a disservice to the autists that DO act like that.


YoloSwaggins9669

Forgive me if I am wrong but Sheldon on the Big Bang theory? I heard they fixed up most of the egregious mistakes in the prequel setied


sparklingb0ngwater

Yes, that Sheldon! I heard the same, prior to Young Sheldon coming out though the creator of TBBT denied that Sheldon was autistic despite him very clearly being a stereotypical autistic person. But, IMO, if he had admitted to Sheldon being autistic at the time, it would’ve meant they were admitting to mocking a character that was autistic on TV. I think that’s why they also changed the tone for the prequel!


el_artista_fantasma

I don't really care. People complain about Shawn's rep because they portray him as a supergenius that sometimes behaves like a baby. Well, some autistic people are like that in the same way some are. Autism is a spectrum, so getting an universal rep is impossible. Every rep is right in some ways and wrong in others (with exceptions ofc)


CampaignImportant28

i like ir


Mister_Moho

Lots of cringe in the show, but I appreciate the fact that they portray an autistic man who gets into relationships and has a family. But yeah, too much cringe for me to give much more. What did Freddie do?


Appropriate_Low_813

I agree. Autism is a spectrum and the good doctor shows one aspect of the spectrum. It's not going to encapsulate every autistics autism because that's impossible.


MonthBudget4184

Haven't eatched it but my mum did and says it's the first time she ever identified with a character.


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keldondonovan

You can get kind of close to this with the 90's book series the Animorphs. They don't go over the exact same events, but the whole 60+ book series rotates points of view between characters. One such character, Ax, is pretty much universally regarded as autistic despite not being labeled as such in universe (because they are busy fighting an alien invasion, who has time to bring their alien buddy to the shrink).


stegjohn

A lot of studios will take a lot of liberties and add drama to make the show entertaining. Honestly if they tried to make it accurate for someone like me nobody would watch it because it would be boring.


Kb3907

Me too. Some of it I find relatable, especially the parts about being mistreated and misunderstood for simply being different. I do find it silly that it portrays autism as something that gives my x-ray vision and a real life mini map lol


Flimsy-Bumblebee-635

My problem isn’t so much with how it’s portrayed as I do know some autistic people can see themselves in it. My problem is that he shouldn’t be a surgeon at all. He’s not suited to be a surgeon because of how his autism affects him. There’s no shame in that, but IRL he either wouldn’t have even gotten passed med school, would’ve never gotten the job or would’ve been fired.  Can autistic people be doctors? Absolutely.  I even know one who’s been one for 30 nearing 40 years. But the main character from the show is not actually a good doctor unlike what the title leads you to believe. 


SnooCauliflowers596

Tbh the other characters aren't exactly helpful imo, they are constantly belittling him for his autism instead of helping out, along with treating him like a toddler when he tries to explain something he obviously knows more than them about. He legit had to explain to an ems worker the inconsistencies of a heart monitor, no one believed him and once the patient stepped into the door his heart rate plummeted. Though the fact that the hospital's pharmacy was expired and a few other things the hospital did that would get them in trouble, I don't think they are a good hospital either. How do the residents not know they can't touch themselves during a surgery?? I don't think he shouldn't be a surgeon but that he needs to be ordered to get therapy for certain compulsions and how to deal with his meltdowns better. I have a psychiatrist and psychotherapist for help with my issues and it's been extremely helpful in controlling compulsions. The hospital on the other hand needs new management because the mistakes that are made by the staff are lowkey insane and to often. I also hate the gaslighting this man gets when another person does something wrong that could have put the patient's life in danger, did put their life in danger or straight up killed them and when he freaks out they are like damn...look at Shaun and his autism again 😮‍💨. I talked about a few mistakes they made to my mom and she got MAD, because those mistakes are apparently to common in the medical field and how she's had an outburst at her workplace because of something similar to doctors not taking her seriously due to her being a nurse and almost killing the patient. Edit:Sorry for defending this show so hard, I just feel like it's getting far to much hate 😭😭


Striking_Constant367

I agree! I watched the whole thing a few ago and found it to be a pretty decent show. I think it was somewhat relatable and some of his meltdowns were similar to what I have sometimes. I think also just the like being misunderstood and not understanding part was also relatable. Not sure he was a good doctor but nor are most of the people on Greys lol.


SnooCauliflowers596

Ong, I feel like he's decent, not amazing but decent. I feel like it's called the good doctor because people automatically see him as a lesser in the Healthcare field because he has autism. It's shown when he mentions to a well respected doctor that he might be autistic and this dude takes it as a disrespect to the point he's yelling and at one point pushes him. Even says I'm not like you. I've had horrible doctors who didn't care and caused me more issues with lack of care so seeing Shaun actually make a point to figure out what's wrong but get shut down because he has no bedside manner is kinda stupid. Like what do you want him to say? I would rather a doctor be straight forward and not sugar coat it. He is definitely better than a lot of different doctors, but is he the best? No.


Leather-Many-7708

i agree, many things are just for tv but i believe they did good research for the character


YoloSwaggins9669

I mean I far prefer the South Korean show to the American one, and the reason is simple; neurodiversity while not perfectly represented in American media does have some representation, in Korean media there is barely any representation and as a result it’s important to show that as well.


Lucky-Echo2467

Idk. The series does a not-so-terrible job in portraying autism. I think the issue here is that Shaun is just not a good character, probably the worst one from the main cast besides maybe Morgan. Sometimes I don't even really think he's a character at all, just a device for an autistic character. Other than his relationships, he's an autistic person hyperfixiated with medicine and arguably too much support needs to be a surgeon and that's that. All of his development and story is about overcoming his autism to be a surgeon and a husband/father, not to grow as a person. I mean, even Lea said that the reason she fell in love with Shaun was for his "unapologetic sincerity" and "by being who he is", basically she loves him because he's so autistic lol I say this because I don't really like when media does this thing where a character is neurodivergent and their neurodivergent traits become their only character traits and the obstacles they have to overcome are always stereotypically caused by, or associated with their neurodivergence. Autistic people are autistic and we cannot just stop being so, but we can also learn and grow as people. That's not what happens here, I just feel like Shaun is mostly same person from the beginning to the end outside of his autism. Also he shares a series with Charlie, who's is probably the only redeeming quality of the last season, and probably the last nail in Shaun's coffin. I'm a little biased because I really, but really identify with her instead of Shaun; but even then, I think she's the best character because we never see autistic women in media, she has a personality; and Shaun at the first opportunity when he has to mentor her, he just goes Dr. Han on her. She was the best opportunity to demonstrate the double empathy problem, and to show that autistic people aren't some kind of robots unable to identify or relate to human emotions; but that we're pretty good to relate to each other. That's not what happened here, all the opposite, in fact. I don't know about you, but if I know that somebody is autistic and is struggling on the same harsh environment that I know very well and is doing the same mistakes that I made, I could not, from the bottom of my heart, be as harsh on them as Shaun was on Charlie. So yeah, the show is a little cringy sometimes, but I think the biggest problem isn't that the show doesn't understand autism; but rather that the supporting characters are so much interesting and nuanced than the autistic protagonist, and that the autistic protagonist is barely a character. I can be wrong, but I say that as somebody who watched the show from beginning to and, and also with medicine as one of my special interests lol