The Good Doctor

What do people think about this show. It focuses on a doctor with Autism and how he is being treated badly and unfairly.

My opinion is that it isn't a good representative for autism and how the people who have it are treated.. There have been two other doctor shows Saving Hope and Chicago med that have doctors with Aspergers and they are treated just like all the other doctors. They might get treated a little differently but aren't isolated. Also there was a doctor on Grey's for a short while who had aspergers.

I think it is just so wrong on the way they have portrayed the way other people see the person with autism. I have been around autistic people my whole life and a lot of them aren't treated as badly as the doctor is in this tv show.

I am probably going to watch one more episode and from there I will decide if I am going to watch it or not.

[NeuroBeautiful]

hey there Essa,

I totally feel you on that. There are now more opportunities for people with autism, we see them going to college, getting jobs and if not, they're in programs to help them achieve goals.

Not too long ago though, people with psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities were being locked up in institutions. Even now, people with disabilities are discriminated against and if encountered by police or are in a hospital if can be very scary because they're more likely to be restrained or dealt with violently.

As for a TV show with a doctor with autism, I don't know what the reason of portraying it this way is behind it. But maybe look up online to learn more about the history of the development of this character. It would be interesting if the person who made this character's story took details from personal experience or someone they know. It isn't unheard of.

Some people will say they've never had that bad of experiences with health professionals and some people will say many doctors they've met traumatized them in one way of another. And still others, will say they've had mixed experiences. That's from the patient perspective. I don't know how it is when doctors are your colleagues and you're working side by side them. I can imagine there really is stigma. To what extent of the stigma would vary.

I suppose it is similar with people with autism. It also depends on different factors like some fields are more accepting of disabilities than others. It depends if they've grew up being hurt and isolated and then ended up in a similar position as an adult. Because often times we encounter repeated experiences. A person with mostly good experiences might know how to cope with discrimination when they do encounter it and know to leave the situation. On the other hand, dealing with it for the first time can mean the person doesn't know what to do. A person having dealt with discrimination, bullying or harassment their whole childhood due to their disability might have either gained a stronger sense of wanting to fight oppression or they might have developed a learned helplessness or even a combination.

I haven't watched the show. What us odd is that if the doctor is practicing well as a doctor, it is strange that a job with high reputation, he is being treated this way. But then again, doctors are known historically to have done some terrible things on people of different oppressed groups in society and eugenics and experiments on people with autism were done by so called doctors.

Who knows....
I understand if you find the show to be inaccurate. But I would be curious if this really IS someone's story

I have known a fair amount of people with autism and I have seen them get treated quite badly. I think, each person, has their own experiences. I haven't made a decision about this show but I don't know that representation is lacking. At least not in regards to how badly the person gets treated. It is a very real experience for some people with autism to get treated badly which is why some of the people who have it try and hide it from their employers and even friends/family/acquaintances. Not every person with autism experiences that though and so, I don't think, it is, necessarily, inaccurate representation if the show portrays someone as being treated equally as well. It depends on a number of factors.