As a medical student, I couldn't get past the whole testicular cancer thing. The trans girl was really young, so getting testicular cancer at that age is quite rare to begin with. But in addition to that, getting this cancer while on hormone blockers is insanely unlikely. Testosterone blockers are often given as part of the treatment for this disease. And this whole thing was treated like: "yes, this is normal, things like this can happen", while in reality doctors would be completely shocked and would definitely comment on how unlikely this scenario is
Yeah that's an annoying trope in medical dramas... They had an episode with a trans man too and he had an unexpected pregnancy... (which happened because he missed his T shot... T is not a contraceptive anyway, so yay misinformation)
I'm not a doctor nor pretend to be especially with men's health so I was confused on why her blockers would have to be stopped as no one explained it but didn't wanna say nothing as I have 0 medical degrees. Thank you for confirming my suspicions lol.
true. No excuse. I'm saying being a doctor is an honest job. Many doctors have to deal with brutal health care. Be ready for an answer from a doctor. Murphy was the only sane one in the room. While the other doctors give feelings over facts.
@@Laezar1 I think it's worth bringing up that a self-described leftist from the US seems to be okay with US war crimes whenever such a person is praised in any way, shape or form in an actually leftist space.
Maybe I’m biased because of seeing a family friend go thru years of painful treatments to avoid a mastectomy only to eventually have no choice but to do the teat yeet anyway, but Quinn’s future fertility seems like a non-issue compared to the LITERAL CANCER. If the cancer spreads to the remaining testicle, metastasizes, and Quinn dies, that’ll also make it harder for her to have kids in the future lol. Seems like a strange compromise to resolve the episode with.
It really makes me wonder if there would be the same reaction if she wasn't trans (from the gran accusing of child abuse and all that if the big gripe was really "but-but what about children") or no, is that actually because Quinn is trans, nana dearest is more willing to risk her life than let her be trans
@@NCC-1701_no_bloody_a_b_c_or_d as someone who’s in a current situation to quinn (no cancer but i could die) because i’m trans nothing i say is taken seriously by doctors because they think i can’t understand what’s dysphoria or not and what if i’m wrong and want kids later? they’d rather i die with the ability to have kids than live pain free and happy because i’m trans which means i don’t have the ability to have critical thoughts apparently
Once again wheeling out my Good Doctor Autism Representation Pet Theory. The reason the portrayal of Sean Murphy feels so off to a lot of autistic people, I think, is that his autistic traits don't coalesce into a single character. A lot of neurotypical writers and actors portray autistic adults as larger autistic children. When you're a child with autism your struggles are very externalised because you haven't developed any techniques for interacting with neurotypical people (these coping mechanisms can be useful, like knowing how to communicate your needs and ask for clarification and harmful, like masking). It just doesn't feel real to me that Sean could be an adult who went through medical school and still seem to lack any methods for, like, talking to patients respectfully, processing new and challenging information or even knowing common idioms (that "20 questions" line is peak "allistics-writing-autism" to me). It doesn't help that in at least 2 of the clips I've seen they have Sean ask literal children to explain things to him and the children give more eloquent and thoughtful answers than he is capable of. Characters like Sean are written like they became autistic the moment that the show started, not like they've lived as autistic their whole lives. It's frustrating because you could say so much about a character by how they've learned to cope with being autistic in a world designed to cater to allistic people. Like, from my own life, I was bullied for stimming growing up and trained myself out of it, which has lead to me burning out in stressful sensory situations and I've had to consciously teach myself to stim again. That's a whole character backstory that you could convey with a couple of character quirks if you just think about the implications of living with autism. I think this is why autistic people often identify much more with characters who aren't explicitly autistic. Characters like Sherlock Holmes, Spock, Peter Parker etc. weren't written with autism in mind, they were either inspired by observations of real people who happened to be autistic or their autism-adjacent traits were worked into their character more thoroughly.
GOD YES i watched a couple of episodes of the good doctor and got exactly this vibe. I was gonna leave a comment saying it but tbh this describes the issue better than I ever could lol so thank you for that!
Around a third of autistic people also have intellectual disabilities, which alongside the developmental delays autism can cause does result in certain autistic people having age-inappropriate behaviors or difficulties with developing long term coping skills that garbage organizations like Autism Speaks like to portray as inherent to autism itself - I feel like that might in part explain your autism representation pet theory.
An excellent comment. (I’m autistic 😁) I’ve seen good illustrations of autism symptoms (traits if you like) being like stew with many different ingredients. All autistics have some traits but no autistic person has every trait and no two autistics are exactly alike. Flat affect, stimming, needing routine, not understanding facial expressions, being blunt, confusion over sarcasm, having trouble remembering spoken instructions, and so on are all possible traits but every autistic person is different. Some of these traits are more common than others but every one is a known ingredient in the big autism stew! In television, it’s very common to see a large helping of the most common traits in a given autistic character. They’re also often specifically the traits most noticeable to allistics. Hand flapping, not understanding sarcasm, and being stubborn about seemingly inconsequential things are easy to notice and easy to pick on, and non autistic actors and writers should make a note to consider how a selection of traits make a character real, but too many might feel like a caricature.
The way A. C. Doyle introduces Sherlock Holmes, though, is rather suggestive that he had an idea what an autistic person interested in forensic sciences and detective work might be like, and modelled Holmes after that idea. Even though autism as we now understand it was not medically recognised at the time yet. But hey, noticing patterns like that before they're widely known is what good artists do.
@@rileyfaelan Holmes was based on a real person, Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Doyle’s professors in med school. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that Bell was Autistic himself. I know that speculating on real people's potential ND status is frowned upon by some people, but I really think it's important to point out, like you did, that neurodivergences weren't understood the way they are today. So many people who were written off as 'eccentrics' were most likely neurodivergent in some way. Side note, I love how so many characters are inadvertently Autism-coded because their creators took inspiration from Sherlock Holmes. Accidental representation ftw. XD
My problem with the Doctor being transphobic is that medicine is his special interest and he knows so much about it that it's ridiculously unlikely that he'd have never heard of trans people before and upon learning that trans people exist probably would probably have gotten curious and wanted to know more about trans medicine.
@@laurenhatter6824yeah but there is also a biological aspect behind people being transgender, like neuroscience But I've never watched this show, so maybe the doctor isn't interested in anything except surgical medicine
@@laurenhatter6824 even so, he should know the biology on why transgender ppl exist, so even if he doesn’t get why, he should know why trans ppl on a biological level should exist when he meets them.
I'm a doctor in Brazil, and, in my college, transgender patient care actually was a part of the curriculum. One of my classmates was an autistic girl from a very conservative background, just like Shawn. But, thanks to our classes, she treated respectfully all the transgender patients we had. I hope the american universities include this subject on their curriculums. This could make a huge difference!
That's so good to hear. I definitely believe we should ALL have the same high standard of care if at all possible. Even if a doctor doesn't 'agree' with something, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to provide proper care. Not that trans identities are something you can just 'agree' or 'disagree' with, but I'm trying to be charitable. I mean it's frustrating enough going to the doctor as a woman, I can't even imagine what it's like as a trans woman.
@@martes4814 não sou medica, mas sou trans e vou te falar a verdade, não achei que chegaria um dia em que eu estaria feliz de estar no brasil e não nos estados unidos, mas aqui estamos nós
I really don't think forcing Quinn to come off puberty blockers while still having a testicle is the right choice. The idea that she should be forced to undergo irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life, all for the off chance that she may - at some point - want a child and not see adopting, surrigates, her partner undergoing IVF, etc as a valid option. Effectively trading her happiness and wellbeing and risking her life for a hyptothetical human that may never exist. That's not a worthwhile trade. At best Quinn is unhappy with herself but does actually have a child in future, and at worst Quinn could make another attempt and never actually want a child, neither of those are positive for Quinn.
Just watched the video and... yeah, that just stuck out to me, as far as I understood that's supposed to be a not perfect but neat ending but they're still forcing her off of puberty blockers and into a testosterone puberty that she knows she doesn't want and that they know is going to traumatize her further? *really?* like, that's bit just sours everything else, she's completely in the right to be pissed at her parents
Also just watched the video and it legit just ruined the entire episode for me. Quinn is going to go through male puberty and many things that can only be reversed with surgery as well as things that literally cannot be reversed, things that could have been prevented with a bilateral orchiectomy or just by continuing puberty blockers. In the real medical world, there is absolutely no reason to stop puberty blockers, even if it was leading to bone density issues. There are medical methods to bolster up bone density. On top of that, this could be an outlier situation where Quinn could start HRT, with informed patient + parental consent, due to medical complications. The *standard* is to wait until 16, but it doesn't have to be that way if a roadblock is hit. To me, the show completely threw away all the goodwill and acceptance it built up by waving goodbye on the note that "everything worked out, Quinn has grown, Quinn's family has grown, and The Good Doctor has learned about another facet of humanity." while, in truth, Quinn is going to go through the worst possible torture of her life and may not make it to 16. Yes, you could headcanon that she met with her endo and got on HRT early or whatever, but as far as I can tell, the show doesn't imply that at all, and the message for the general audience is "It's okay for trans people to go through cis puberty, it'll work out~" which is a horrifically transphobic message to tell the uninformed. Based on what we know about Quinn and her dysphoria, she won't survive male puberty, socially transitioned or not. Again, the entire ending feels ultra gross.
"irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life" What hormones blockers do to the body.
@@Shuramaruhormone blockers literally block that from happening. It’s in the name. I’ve been on blockers before. It acts more like a pause button on puberty. Completely reversible, can resume puberty as you wish with no consequences at anytime
@@novaanimations5958 Not reversible, it creates massive imbalance in hormone levels and brings forth immeasurable damage to whomever suffers it. That's two injection a day to not worsen conditions and failing to take those means further irreversible degradation. Bone health, mental health, muscle health, Heck just organs in general are affected by hormones. And your cells still deteriorate even if you block it, the brain still develops even if you block it and when you reintroduce it, it becomes this thing that your body simply cannot handle normally.
I just went oh for gods sake has no one heard of Asan? Why that one… why not, I dunno just ask us directly as autistic people what our experiences are and what we appreciate? A lot of us can articulate these things really well.
What annoyed me about the episode was that it made no sense for Sean’s character to have the kind of prejudices he has. His special interest is biology, basically every episode relies on him knowing some rare condition, and the creator of the American version of the good doctor also worked on House, which discussed intersex conditions. So the creator, knowing that intersex conditions exist and that it isn’t as simple as XX = girl/XY = boy, still let them give him a transphobic bias that relied on him being ignorant about advanced biology!!!
Also trans people are more likely to be autistic because autistic people question nonsense social conditions and social constructs. Most autistic people are more open to gender stuff if we aren’t trans ourselves.
Being transgender has nothing to do with being intersex, though. Gender is social, sex is biological; yes, sex is more complex than XY=male and XX=female, but that’s completely irrelevant to the fact that gender identity is not necessarily determined by biological sex.
@@jade_is_tired It's inherently relevant to any claim that chromosomes have some metaphysical significance that overrides who you are as a person on the matter of gender. The point is that anyone with a meaningful amount of knowledge in the field would never claim that sex is binary in that way.
The ending of this episode feels to me the exact same as the ending of Next Generation's trans episode. The trans person is left to suffer, with the only thing gained being that the cis protagonist gets to go home feeling better and having learned of the plight of trans people, while failing to actually improve their lives in any way.
I mean, it's kind of hard to make someone who actively wants to cause SEVERE harm to themselves in an attempt to conform to their idea of gender. I do mean hormone blockers. "Well, I mean, I guess you might NOT die at 40 from cardiovascular issues caused by hormone imbalance" Tf was he supposed to say?
@@Shuramaru Your fictional stereotypes invented in the heat of the moment aren't the problem of trans people. It's clear you get all your knowledge from drama TV.
The way I literally said "oh fuck off" out loud when you revealed that the parents went against her wishes because of course her fictional hypothetical future children over their own child's health
If a kid doesn't know how to make decisions regarding what they want to do in this world. They certainly cannot rationally make these types of decisions.
@@Shuramarushe’s not 2. And this is regarding CANCER. It’s fairly common for people to get both festivals removed even if only one is cancerous just in case. The only reason people have issues here is because she’s trans. Normally, I’d probably go against getting this procedure done so young, but she has the entitlement to dictate her own health decisions
@@novaanimations5958 Yet the kid can't even decide what they want to do in the future. Children make stupid choices all the time, they grow out of things and find about new things. If each inconsidered thoroughly decision left permanent and irreversible damage you can just imagine how bad it would get. Yes, cancer should be removed but the parents reinforcing the desicions of an immature child is a recipe for disaster and permanently blocked roads.
@@Shuramaru yeah, people shouldn’t transition medically on a whim. Good thing that isn’t happening. You heard the girl, she’d been on hormone blockers (completely reversible) for 9 months? Do we even know how long she had been out before she got blockers? That’s 9 at absolute minimum months of her actively living as a girl. That’s a long while for consideration. That isn’t even thinking about how long she would’ve spent in the closet. In real life, you can socially transition for years before being able to get hormone blockers. I came out at her age and it took me about 2 years before I got blockers, which if done sooner, would’ve saved me from a lot of pain and heartache. No decision is made on a whim and that you think that’s how trans health care is handled is a show of your lack of actual knowledge on the subject. The girl is seemingly more mature than you think of. She’s not stomping around like a petulant child. She is actively thinking of the consequences. Namely, her being forced into undergoing a male puberty which is very obviously distressing and would be damaging for her. She also is considerate of her sterility. In that she doesn’t want kids and if she did later then she could just adopt. I dont get why people put bio kids on a pedestal. This procedure would also lower/remove any future risk of the cancer reoccurring. It’s very common for cis men, even as kids, to do this if they develop cancer. Personally, I think that kids who are able to properly conceptualize and understand the required information should have a say in how their own health is being handled.
this episode was nuts because like at least in my experience if youre autistic you probably know someone who is trans considering how autistic people are more likely to be lgbt+ and we tend to flock to eachother pretty quickly
This has been my experience as well, but (a) you have to be in an environment where there are people to flock who are out as lgbt+, and (b) he himself is a cis and afaik straight guy, so he maybe he wouldn't get the lgbt+ folks flocking to him so much? Because there are definitely a lot of cishet autistic guys, but even among people I follow on social media, I don't see a lot of them.
maybe this is my expierience but my brother is a straight autistic man and im a lesbian with multiple autistic friends. i think your sentiment can be correct, but a big part of it is whether an autistic person is queer as well. my brother isnt and has very straight friendgroups while im not autistic but i know many autistic people and am dating someone who is autistic. if you dont seek out queer groups or have a need to, then its likely your friendgroups wont be as queer.
I feel like being autistic and being trans overlap quite often as well, at least from what I've seen and heard. A bunch of my autistic friends are either trans (mostly nonbinary) or gender-non-conforming.
I’m autistic. I’m trans. Holy shit being autistic doesn’t make you a huge asshole. I tried to watch the show but nearly every episode left me feeling *gross*. As an autistic person, all I need is for someone to explain what a thing is and give me and example. That’s all. I totally get that this isn’t true for all autistic people, but it’s so damn clear his reaction to the trans girl isn’t an “autism” thing, it’s a “cishet white able-bodied rich man” thing.
didn't watch the show, but from the video it seems that Murphy is not an a-hole simply because he is autistic, but because he is so immersed in the medical system, that he did not end up learning this more subtle social cues and it is the critique of the system that does not provide this education to future doctors, expecting them to just "get it" by themselves
@@goblinguy3103 37:56 Lily says that show shows that Murphy is asking questions and learning. he is not an a-hole because he is autistic. i don't understand what second part of your comment changes.
Personally, I think this falls into a trap that a lot of "representation" falls into, where Good Doctor isn't necessarily a bad or unrealistic portrayal of autism. but he is the ONLY AUTISTIC CHARACTER. So it doesn't clearly come off to uninformed allistic viewers as "Good Doctor is autistic AND an asshat" but more like "Good Doctor is an asshat because he's autistic."
Whatttttt you mean it’s impolite for me as an autistic to whip your junk out, have the whole medical ward look at it and point and go “DEAD GENDER THATS WHAT YOU ARE I AM A GENUIS”
I'm someone that transitioned a minor, including getting sterilized. I simply cannot see any way that the parents were in the right. She has started medical transitioning, and tells the doctor she'll be back at 18, so I would almost guarantee she's discussed surgery with her therapist and doctor even if it was assumed to be further off. She very clearly expressed her wishes. She's already made an attempt on her life, if she has to go through the damage of testosterone induced puberty its extremely likely she's will make more attempts. Yes, sterility is permanent, but so is someone ending their own life. Even if she didn't make any attempts on her own life, she'd have to live her whole life with all the changes that were caused by testosterone. I know people like to act like its a tough situation, but it really isnt. I came out at 14, started hormones at 16, got sterilized at 17, and I'm currently in my mid 20s. I knew I wanted surgery at 14, which is about the age of the girl in the show. I simply would not have made it to adulthood had I not been allowed to transition. I still have to live with the effects of not having blockers or hormones in the years when my body was developing hardest. People like to talk theoretically, but speaking to someone that actually went through the experience, she absolutely should have had both gonads removed and been placed on supplimental estrogen.
I wish I had been able to go on puberty blockers when I was younger. I realized I was trans around 13 years old and went to the endo to ask about testosterone at 14. I was told that hormone blockers were not an option for me as I had finished puberty. Which was a complete lie, I was only 14 there was no way I had finished puberty by then. And not only that I was sent away with an appointment with a weight loss doctor and told to try again when I'm 16. :o/
a child should not be given permanent medical treatment or surgery's when they dont have a fully developed brain. some kids follow the acts of their peers if its seen as beneficial for attention. so that's why many detransitioners will mention they shouldn't have been allowed. a parent created their child. until the child is 100% sure who they are which is unlikely to know as a child its the parents right to decide these decisions.
literally. cis people talk about irreversible harm and care so much but only if it doesn't match the person's assigned gender. trans teens should be allowed to go on hormones, especially in circumstances like this. the idea of someone's brain being "not fully developed" is dumb because, guess what, your brain never stops developing, and it just lets people gatekeep stuff by moving the goalposts farther and farther back regarding what age decisions like this should be made. kids are smarter than people think and should just generally be allowed more autonomy.
The show is so weird. Cause the doctor literally calls a woman of color making perfume a terrorist because of what she uses in the perfume. The writing is so weird Edit: the gramdma sucks
idk i think it was bc its bc assuming shes hiding it bc of her brother and making perfume is weirdly specific. so as a character the fact hed assume that kinda makes sense. but its a super specific situation i think they just shouldn't have written that into an episode its a bad idea.. like wow u thought he was racist but actually it makse sense but actually its this other thing. i think they did that to be like shocking but its just awkward and annoying
I *mostly* agree, but the whole equivocating around the parents being right thing bugs me a bit. Like, they ripped away from their daughter a choice which she had clearly made and had capacity to make, and are now putting her through the trauma of puberty, so she can maybe have a bio kid in the future - which she's said she doesn't want, and even if she changes her mind, she can adopt. It's not an easy choice, but there is a right answer, and they didn't take it.
Yep, I made this comment underneath another similar comment, but it legit makes me furious how -- to not mince words -- the supportive parents have decided they'd rather have a dead daughter who can have biological kids rather than a living daughter who is sterile. Like, *wow*. And the show pretends that this is an acceptable, wholesome outcome. To me, that just shows they did not have enough trans input (despite having a trans actress) and were toeing the line when it comes to trans autonomy. Quinn even straight up states she can adopt. Like, they lampshaded the solution directly. I feel like the writers are just completely underestimating just how much a preventable wrong puberty can make life millions of times harder for a trans person. Also, like, she's had testicular cancer once already. A bilateral would have been the smart choice *even without the trans angle*. Once you have cancer in one area, the chance for having it again skyrockets. Removing both was just the smart medical choice *period*. But nope, screw raising Quinn's prognosis. Procreation = life! /s
@@Muffinalot I feel that maybe people are misinterpreting a bit. I feel inclined to believe, based on the fact Quinn outlined their stupidity, that the decision of the parents was NOT intended to be viewed as a good thing. I think it's supposed to be a bittersweet ending, with the sweet being the acclimation of the grandma and the doctor, and the bitter being that- as what tends to happen in real life- even in a very 'accepting' situation, this child was still forced to go through something horrible for a stupid reason. Just because she was born trans. I think it was supposed to be a glimpse of reality. Of the horrible way we treat trans youth. It was basically saying "Hey, the situation can and does get better. But know that we still have work to do as a society. We still need to learn to listen even when we think we are already doing that." Maybe that's just me, though. I just can't see the writers thinking this is a good choice, while writing in the line "Cis people always care so much about having kids. Even if I ever do want one, I can just adopt." (paraphrased because I forgot what she said.) I just... don't think they could write a line like that and NOT understand that the choice her parents made were the wrong one.
I think the only real issue with the show is that Murphy is the audience window character. He is always framed as needing to grow through culturally sensitive issues for the audience to try to grow with as well. Thus wouldn't usually be an issue, however in this case, he's a stereotype of autistic. So regardless of the message or intent show writers might make, it will always be framed as "if this socially defunct person can do it, so can you."
Second comment: As a supporter of the youth liberation movement, I hate how utterly disrespectful adults like this are to teenagers who by all rights already fully understand what they are and want to be in an identity sense. This isn't something that develops late in adolescence, it develops and persists in early childhood. They're people too, and they have autonomy. They deserve the ability to make their own medical decisions, and to say otherwise only gives power to controlling/abusive parents and guardians.
Yeah I was confused how old Quinn is supposed to be because sometimes her grandparent and parents talked about her like she was 6 years old, like she couldn't grasp the concept of maybe wanting kids someday
Are you implying that shortform social media platforms that don't ever go to the source of things before they spread information might not be great places to have nuanced discussions? Heresy you are cancelled!
So much this. I wanted a hysterectomy at 13. Doctors kept telling me I'd want kids. Even as an adult I wasn't permitted medical autonomy because some decisions I wanted to make for myself might piss off some nebulous imaginary future husband who clearly had more right to make decisions about my body than I did.
I have to point out that not all trans people necessarily have the experience of knowing that they are trans or knowing they want to transition from a very early age. Sometimes it kicks in later, and I don't think that invalidates those people's transness-people can shift and change over time and sometimes struggle to know what they want when they're younger, and a lot of trans people will just tell you they wanted to transition since they were a little child because they don't want to have to field uncomfortable and invasive questioning about why they didn't notice or realize earlier. None of which is to say, of course, that young people who have a very strong sense of their desired identity are wrong or confused or mixed up or that they shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies. I'm just saying that a lot of the time when people try to combat the idea that young people don't know enough to transition they overcorrect and state that *all* trans people know when they're children, that gender dysphoria always develops in early childhood, and in the process they end up more or less inadvertently saying that a huge slice of actually existing trans people are just faking it for ??? reasons ???, which just isn't the case.
I'm so glad they cast a trans actress and your decision to put that near the end of the video was really effective. I've never heard of her or seen this show. The actor playing the doctor really gives "Rain Man" vibes in every other soundbite for me. Great vid!
So so so many people are like "I would never be ableist to autistic people" and then like go out of the way to like find clips of an autistic character having a meltdown to make fun of it.... People don't even know what ableism is, they just assume they never do it. Also the bone density thing is interesting bc that like worry also comes from cis people on certain birth control .... And it is simultaneously rare for it to be a real problem
Shit argument tbh the Meltdown was Super cringe, it looked weird and wasnt simply him having a legit breakdown (Ofc there are many kinds), it just looked weird with the faces he makes the fact hes autistic doesnt change the fact the Meltdown was weird as fuck Not ableism here Like im autistic its fairly easy to see that THIS ISNT BECAUSE OF THE AUTISM
@@dinosaysrawr Tbh the fact theyre common autistic tendencies doesnt make them less weird if you just use common sense Like it can still be majorly weird even if you blame the disease for it
Me personally didn’t even know it was an autistic because I haven’t watched the show. SOME (not all) might not know the context to the clip but yeah people shouldn’t make fun of it even if he’s autistic or not
Autistic man, I think it matters that the good doctor portrays a very stereotypical cis male autistic experience. I could connect with his experience in many ways, but just the fact he almost never was expected to or forced to mask. . . Made the character fundamentally unrelatable as someone who was forcibly socialized female. My entire family KNEW I was autistic by the time I started school but actively fought against me even getting tested. . . . I was born in 95 for reference for how messed up this was. My dad was diagnosed and received some level of help DECADES earlier.
But apart from that, your points were pretty much spot on as per usual. Making the distinction with how differently autism presents and is treated based on assumed gender is something that really gets me going. I actually started watching the good doctor again BECAUSE they stopped with the autism speaks drivel. The show always had good intentions and was well written IMO, episodes like this one prove that. I particularly like how throughout the seasons, Shawn’s character develops along side his peers. Not in the same way, but he doesn’t just stay in that perpetual childlike state that seems to be the standard narrative around autism.
Yeah… honestly it’s just entirely unrealistic that he would have been let through medical school without masking. He would have been forced to mask by now, there’s no way he would be that in medical school :/ Like in what world would an autistic person EVER he allowed to be like that in a professional setting? Like I wish 😭
@@RenaissanceRockerBoyyou do know it IS possible to get to adulthood without having that forced on you. I agree incredibally unlikely in the us. but masking isnt essential to being an adult...
@@jimmjimms I’m autistic too, and I think it depends on the area of focus. Unfortunately places like business, engineering, and medicine are all extremely ableist and have strict standards for conformity, and realistically there would be very little tolerance for him in medicine. In most other fields, especially creative, I would agree. Unfortunately it is pretty much impossible to reach adulthood without being forced to mask, that’s just the way it is. You get it drilled into your head very young. A lot of people are forced to mask so heavily that they have no way of realizing they’re even autistic in the first place . I’d say Extraordinary Attorney Woo (kdrama) is a much more accurate portrayal of an autistic person in a highly-stressful career (law). She has to mask some but is clearly autistic.
@@RenaissanceRockerBoy its a fictional story.. it isnt claiming to be about a common situation. the issue is the portrayal not that it isnt matching your life experience...
Cool, undergoing irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life isn't as simple as a damn colour spectrum.
@@Shuramaru okay so when someone asks you your favourite colour do you outline your entire gender and medical history? or is the colour thing maybe a narrative shorthand?
@@felixhenson9926 The purple thing was a metaphore, it meant that the kid thought they didn't fit in the regular blue and pink. So no, it wasn't about favourite colours.
idk it just feels kinda weird how quinn was denied what she wanted/liked with both the surgery and the flowers and everyone else is high fiving each other celebrating that they managed to force her into what the others wanted, acting like "we're just doing the morally correct thing! We don't know what she wanted! She can make her own choice later!" and its like, she must have been presenting as a girl for a long ass time before coming to the hospital and her parents KNEW that that is what she wanted. The obvious choice is that she would have wanted the full surgery but suddenly when faced with the actual choice everyone just did the thing that was easier for THEM. The grandma bringing pink flowers, being TOLD that she doesn't like pink, then having that completely disregarded with a "Oh, I think she'll totally like it, she just doesn't know it" reflection just oozes a "I know you'll come around eventually" intention and it feels kinda really fuckin scummy.
It's crazy to me that seemingly well meaning people are still working with Autism Speaks as late as the the late 2010s when even a quick Google would reveal the criticisms and controversies surrounding them for decades. Like I found out Autism Speaks was not supported by neurodivergent community as a teenager in the oughts.
I'm actually really delighted to find out this episode was so trans-affirming. The scene that was going around on Twitter was so goofy, and I remember remarking to my boyfriend that the audience of The Good Doctor is likely older and less progressive than the audience reacting to the clip on Twitter. If my guess is correct, it's honestly a relief to imagine an older person who's not very progressive or understanding of trans issues watching this episode and actually hearing pretty solid arguments against the "concerns" anti-trans bigots have around child transition.
I am a teenage autistic trans girl named Quinn. I happened to have lived most of my life in a very transphobic state that has, as of now, recently passed a law banning all trans affirming care for youth. I also, have very accepting parents (In fact, they're both queer), and am currently on hormone therapy. Its absolutely astonishing the number of coincidences between me and the character in this episode.
@tealppup5180 It's great that children no longer can make irreversible changes to their body that will make them unhappy and negatively effect their wellbeing for the rest of their life. I think you should at least have the mental capacity to have a goal for the future and a grasp on what you want to achieve in life.
@@Shuramaruhi. I used to be one of those children. If I didn’t get “irreversible damage” as you call it, I would be either miserable or dead. Funny how a trans persons puberty is considered damage but a cis one is not thought of as being as permanent or damaging. Tell me how not getting my healthcare would have been better for me.
@@novaanimations5958 How old are you right now? Over 20? Might be 30 when it will happen but eventually, the hormonal inconsistencies that your body has endured will lead to instabilities withing your overall systems. It will catch up to you eventually. We are talking about multiple issues regarding health and money to buy the medication you will need to fix it. It's cool if you are aware of such things and understand the weight of it but as a child, did you understand the path that would be blocked? The possibilities lost to such proceedure? What about social aspects and everything that serrounding it. The fact that you felt the need to mutilate your body this badly is saddening. We should be taught to appreciate our bodies. To work on them, to put in efforts in order to push our limits.
@@novaanimations5958 Truly sad that you cannot accept yourself and in an attempt to reach what you perceive as ideal. Even the brains are wired differently, producing different signals on similar situations. Truth is, having parts of you removed is not how you reach personal understanding. There is no gene that makes someone act out differently. Not feeling alright with yourself stems from mind, it is a mental problem and not a physical one. And no, you are not working on your body, you are destroying it. Working on your body involves improving health. Injecting hormones that your body isn't producing by itself nor carefully dosing by itself using a system that has evolved for millions of years is not gonna improve physical health. Are you rich? Do you have personal doctors who take sample of your blood and test the correct dosage of everything or do you just take something that is prescribed or is it just theoretical? What saddens me is the fact that you feel enough disgust for yourself that the only way you think could potentially make you better is rejecting yourself to such an extreme. Even then, do you actually know what you want to do in the future? What you strive to achieve? What gives your life purpose? Such change will permanently lock you out from some of these possibilities. Such things will forever alter your ability to find a better half. You won't be taken seriously in business, hormone balancing medication is going to cost you an arm and the transitioning surgery takes 70k+ Heart problems, bone issues, blood cloths, organ proficiency, all of those and more is going to miss a step and stumble down. What if it doesn't fix the crisis you are in? What if when it's done, you just feel even worse or straight up fake. That trans suffix will never leave you, you know? If you already know everything and you know where you are headed in life, willing to endure a hard life when the world no longer protects you. Go forth and do whatever but if you aren't sure, you should take time to look over you situation. Best of luck 🤞.
@@Shuramaru Just wait a few decades and see if almost all of them regret it, or almost none of them do. Either way, you won't be able to tell in real life since most of them will pass as the gender they want to be.
Tbh, maybe this is just my asexual spectrum side coming out, but I've really never understood why it's important to people to have biological kids. Like, it's super weird to me
Greetings fellow ace 💜 in my opinion it’s a combination of our society’s belief that nature outweighs nurture and that all people seem to believe they are somehow special and unique
As someone who may want bio kids someday but also is far from opposed to the idea of adoption, it's just an experience thing to me. Adopted kids are absolutely still your kid and should be/usually are loved just as much as bio, but I also understand the idea of wanting the experience of having a child you literally built, the idea of a person made up of you and a partner you love. The fact that I can make a human is fucking cool, and I understand why it's very important to some to have that experience
Honestly really interesting. I do have worries about the prevalence of the 'They're just a kid, they can't make medical decisions' narrative though however. As someone whose been through both planned out and emergency operations (though only one of each) as a child, there's often this underplaying of the impact that a lack of control in them can have and the idea that older children aren't compotent decision makers, while adults are is one of those dominant discourse ideas that circulates around all levels of society, but isn't actually based on anything. Children's decision making capacities are constrained by legal definions, and access constraints (children can't switch schools, peer groups etc on their own and need parental or adult input to be taken seriously as decision makers in nearly any space, while adults get an assumption of de facto reasonableness unless otherwise disqualified [and in fairness many minority, disabled or neuroatypical groups do also get disqualified, so this isn't saying all adults are privileged just that adulthood is a privileging structure]). The problem is that these sort of shows often naturalise or build complex justifications around, delegitimising teh decision making of children and young people on the basis of futurity, ignoring the fact that in doing so they're hurting an actual person who actually exists and this is often hidden behind bizarre hypotheticals and naturalisation of adult power. The actual experience of children is buried under this monolithic idea that 'children can't make decisions' which draws on developmental discourses are never elaborated (when they are you realise that the most common two would only apply to children under 4 or 7 [depending on which figures you're using] and the more modern neuroanatomical one would apply to basically everybody at all times, because the idea of a 'fully developed brain' isn't an actual reality and the causative links between neuroanatomy and decision making are basically ambiguous and less relevant than the cultural value assessments of the specific choice) or on a hormone discourse. Both of these are basically just cultural assumptions of the inappropriateness of child non-compliance dressed up in science. I think we can see this clearly if we imagine instead that Quinn chose the minimal treatment, or to go off the puberty blockers. In this case their choice wouldn't be problematised, because it agrees with the medical authority, instead we'd likely see her painted as 'mature for her age' or 'very brave'. Again it's unlikely the actual consequences for her would be acknowledged, but it's clear that the narrative of children being 'just children' and 'unable to make decisions' is only reached for when those children disagree with the assumed reasonable decisions adults around them make, or assume they would make. An essay I read on mental health care and childhood underlined this by arguing that it is legally impossible for a child with a mental health diagnosis to refuse treatment, even though they technically have a legal right to do so. Either they accept treatment regardless of what it is, or they refuse the treatment, at which point their refusal is used as grounds for dismissing their decision making ability, they're overruled by the adults around them and the treatment is given. When we're just talking about therapy or some less intrusive medications, this is somewhat benign, but you don't need to know much about the history of reform schools, military schools, some private mental health providers, to recognise that this is really toxic to have in a system (especially when a similar 'they're bad children' argument has historically used to delegitimise abuse claims). I know this is a relatively minor part of the Good Doctor here and it's mostly in service of providing a morally complex, high tension ending that pays off all the emotional threads, but it's also the sort of reasoning that's become so universalised that we don't notice it. Young people are one of the few categories of patients whose consent is basically assumed not to matter in medical law and it's utterly enraging.
I apreaciate the long and nuanced text on the subject, but personally I prefer "so how is it that children are considered mature enough to go through one puberty, but when it comes to the one that doesn't align with their genitals or even puberty blockers, they can't consent?"
Well said! I think what frustrates me about this "children can't make decisions," thing is it's an arbitrarily moving target. I get that people are complicated, and maturity isn't a "one size fits all," kind of thing, but at the same time there's this assumption that once you're eighteen you've magically crossed some finish line into adulthood and should know all the things, be fully matured, and abandon all "childish," hobbies and interests. Even that seems dependant on arbitrary demographics that have nothing to do with actual maturity, or the ability to make decisions. I know there were things as a kid I was completely sure about, and knew my mind. I also know that at eighteen I was nowhere near fully mature (because of intense neglect and abuse), and my immaturity made me vulnerable to predators (which is solidly the predators fault, but I'm still stuck with the consequences because our society sucks). These things need to be an open dialogue because there's no one size fits all strategy for maturity. Most kids should be able to decide some important things for themselves. Some kids really do need to be protected, just usually not in the ways our society offers.
The sheer degree to which so many transphobes believe that kids have zero mind of their own beyond what they see on the internet, and that parents deserve absolute authority over every aspect of a kid’s juvenile life is horrifying.
@@tinkergnomad As an AuDHD enby who felt like they didn't have control over their autonomy as a kid, and has an age that doesn't match their mental age (I'm 20 but still feel 10-13). I completely agree. I still love cartoons and have recently returned to engaging with kids' shows I liked as a kid.
I can confidently say when I was fifteen, I was a thousand times smarter than both my parents combined. I know this for a fact because my mother dropped out in middle school and my stepdad as a freshman in highschool. They were both meth addicts and were too busy doing drugs to parent, so I kinda had to grow up when I was still a kid. I also, unlike them, had access to the internet. The idea that parents should be in charge of their teenage children's lives is bizarre to me.
Fabulous video, Lily! it is continually frustrating to see the hypothetical future child prioritized over the real transgender person (and in this case, CHILD!) who already exists and is in need of help-- was disappointed but not surprised to see the parents in this episode pick the option that left Quinn *potentially* able to have biological children in the vague future rather than the surgery she actually wanted that would have been gender-affirming for her
It honestly makes me so fucking angry. If my parents did that to me, I would have resented them for it. Prioritizing procreation over quality of life is so fucking disgusting to me, and I'm so tired of being valued for my ability to create a fucking baby over my autonomy as a FUCKING PERSON.
This is a really great analysis. I appreciate you linking the “good doctor”’s transphobia to his upbringing and lack of education on trans people rather than it being because of his autism. I am an autistic person who was raised very religious and conservative, so all I knew was that gender HAD to fit in very specific boxes. I definitely acted in ways that were hurtful to my trans friends. And it wasn’t because of my autism (my trans friends were also autistic)- it was because of the limited way I was taught to see the world growing up. It took a lot of hard work of actually listening to trans people and their experiences and choosing to believe that they understand themselves better than I do. It wasn’t my autism that made it hard to learn, it was that I needed to deprogram myself from my religious conservative worldview.
As a trans person, I still try to fit myself into the tiny boxes the more conservative world around me as made even though my gender and gender expression are much more complicated than the box I've wedged myself in. Always support your friends. It's rough for both in and out of the community
My mom just said she wants a cure for autism, I can't deal with this fucking horseshit, nobody in the household except for me challenged her statement. I have to live around this everyday.
I always got bad vibes from people making fun of that "I am a surgeon!" scene from the Good Doctor. People kept using the screenshot to make fun of people they didn't like, basically in the same way that people would use "autistic" as an insult. Like yes, it's a cringy representation of an autistic meltdown, but autistic meltdowns are genuinely cringy. It's an uncomfortable situation for everybody involved, and the way people made fun of it is more destructive to autistic people than the show ever was.
Exactly. It shows just how eager people are to mock autistic people. Seeing so many people who I thought I could safely have a meltdown around making "I am a surgeon" memes is really depressing.
It really wasnt because it was an autistic meltdown he just made weird ass faces during it and it was so unnecesarily weird Most people dont mock it because hes autistic
@@kaleido457 No Like It really doesnt show it. Its a weird scene in general, compared to other meltdowns The fact hes autistic doesnt make it less weird He just looks weird and has weird written text for a meltdown thats why people mock it. It Sucks that you have to use Autism and ruin it for people Like me, because you really just blame it on "meh people hate him cuz autism"
@@SawyerFan.1 I'm autistic myself and have had meltdowns very similar to the one in the show. We make weird faces and are "unnecessarily weird". What's being mocked by these memes is his meltdown, which isn't uncommon in autistic people. How am I "ruining it"? Ruining what? A shitty meme?
@@SawyerFan.1 It wouldn't at all be beyond the realm of possiblity for an autistic person to make some "weird ass faces" when they're having a meltdown. And most people would go on to mock them for it, apparently.
Something disturbing about this is the reality of how many trans people ive seen/known who have had traumatizing experiences, or at least shockingly unprofessional and ridiculous treatment, regarding them being trans, from medical professionals, particularly emergency/urgent care doctors.
Admittably People wouldnt really give a shit about the "unprofessional" part if they just Help you with what you have Like you dont go to the doctor to be treated nicely Ofc its *BETTER* if they are, but if they fix the problem, no biggie
I'm not trans but as a person with klinefelter syndrome (so I'm physically a bit different from the norm in some ways) I have had some very negative experiences with health workers that have really stuck with me. I can't even imagine what it would be like for a trans person especially with the lack of training in trans issues and all the transphobia that is very common now a days.
I think the difference between the doctor's insensitivity and the grandma's transphobia is illustrative of the different levels of issues we face. A rude person who nevertheless respects the bodily autonomy of another person and facilitates them having choices about their bodies and helps them follow through on what they want with their bodies. That's a different thing than a "loving" person who tries to control another person and take away their bodily autonomy. Some people are an annoyance to us, others are a danger.
Ya know…and I know y’all know…the percentage of people who regret any kind of transition is, like, .3% or .03% or some teeny tiny number. That kid probably wasn’t gonna regret that procedure. I know fast decisions are hard, but they were right to think in the future if their kid didn’t have access to affirming care
Also an even tinier percentage is actual regret. The majority of detransitions are from familial and societal pressure or it just didn't go far enough for that person. Still a tiny, tiny number.
@@odstarmor557It’s a lower regret rate than knee surgeries. Yet we don’t try to outlaw those because the pros far outweigh the cons, if any other type of surgery had that low rates of regret society as a whole would be ecstatic but because it’s trans suddenly we’re ‘out of our minds’ and ‘harming ourselves’ it’s such a stupid double standard
im detrans and I don't regret my transition. there are things I get self conscious about sometimes but other than that I see the man I was for four years as a completely separate person and I'm happy I got that life experience.
Puberty is irreversible, and her parents likely just left her with lifelong dysphoria that could be easily avoided. The episode does not seem to understand that puberty affects more than hair growth and adam's apple growth. It also affects skeletal structure, facial structure, voice, and much more. The decision made in the episode was horrible, though apparently the show writers also lack the medical knowledge of HRT, which can reverse osteoporosis.
Unpopular opinion: “I am a surgeon.” is supposed to be less pathetic than “I am the danger.” (said by Walter White) But as we know, majority of male fans see Walter yelling at his wife as something very badass and a great role model while making fun of Shaun’s meltdown because of their ableist mindset and their power fantasy of abusing, murdering people and cooking meth which made them related to Walter in the first place.
I always thought of that scene more as supposed to sell how manic he is, not that he’s cool or anything. Also im more sure that people think the surgeon stuff is funny because they don’t realize the lead is supposed to be autistic but instead just a really bad actor.
It still disgusts, and disturbs me the abuse that Anna Gunn, the actress who played Skylar, got from fans of the show. She was literally playing someone in an abusive relationship, then ended up in an abusive para-social relationship with the fans. It churns my stomach.
For Walter I always took it as a sign of his transition into a raging narcissist. People who fanboy him remind me of the people who idolize Rick Sanchez
"And so far we're only ten minutes into the episode, because i cant seem to shut the fuck up and let it play" I've seen a lot of react content, and this line took me entirely off guard, good job xD also loved your dry wit about the like and sub button at the end As someone who hasn't seen the show, I was also under the impression that the "I am a surgeon" memes were from this episode, and I'm really happy having seen this video to get the clarification. my mantra has always been the ironic "You Really Think Someone Would Do That? Just Go On the Internet and Tell Lies?", and still i fall in mental traps about not actually checking if what people say is true, it's humbling, but if nothing else its a reminder to stay vigilant. And despite the fact that autism speaks managed to worm its way into this project, finding out that they went the mile and actually had a trans actor play the role despite the "industry standard" was also very uplifting and adds confidence that these people are trying to do the right thing with their representation.
it's wild how upset some people get when you don't fit the headcannon they had of you. my parents had a similar journey to quinn's parents at first, enforcing strict gender expression on my siblings and i, but they acted more like the grandmother for a few years after i came out. they realized how absolutely miserable i was and finally stopped trying to control how i presented, because they figured out it didn't affect them and it helped me be a person again. 8 or 9 years later, we're all good now. they're as supportive as they can be even though they don't really understand me. my mom comments on how cute my dresses are, my makeup is nice, my legs look great, my hair is pretty, i look nice. we'll even joke about me having mosquito bite yiddies and her being a uniboob (single mastectomy due to breast cancer), talk about the guy i'm seeing and how the date was, she jokingly tells me not to get pregnant before i'm married, makes me pick her nail polish colors, just simple mother/daughter stuff that i had always wanted (btw me and my mom are both autistic, and dad probably is as well)
I’m living for the fact you called it ‘headcannon’ and I will be adding this to my vocabulary when speaking about trans people and their experiences lol. I don’t know you but I’m so happy for you that your parents came around, my mom is still taking baby steps
Chicago Med did what I though was a good portrayal of an autistic doctor. He was a good, not great, doctor who had to work on dealing understanding those around him. They were good at dealing with trans characters too.
I disagree. there's an episode where the autistic character undergoes electric shock conversion therapy, and they portray it as a good thing. most of the other episodes do a good job though.
@@defaultdanceonemECT is a good thing and does help a lot of people. It works great with MDD (dysthymia) and for Bipolar Disorder just to mention two things both comorbid with autism.
@@defaultdanceonem That was Dr. Latham.He was unable to understand emotional responses of other and receive some sort of therspy to moderate the condition.
i loved this video, i wish quinn didn’t have to go through this as a character. i’m glad murphy learned from his bigotry in the show as well. i’ve gone through so many of these experiences shared in this episode. i wish more ppl were like quinn and didn’t care about the exact biology of things. ppl can be men or women or in between without being born that way, family doesn’t mean who you’re related to. community can be family.
If I remember Chicago Med has a few episodes centered around character's trans sister. I don't remember the episodes that much, but it's another medical drama about being trans played by a trans actress- which was really neat to see.
I just can't wait until we get trans rep that is not based around trauma. Another fave char is Nomi from Sense8, and she too ends up at one point in a hospital running up against a systemically transphobic medical system and an openly transphobic "caretaker". And I am sure it is important to show how things are bad and hopefully garner actual empathy (rather than bad apple assumptions), but I just don't want to see it any more. Gimme trans guys and gals having a good life, and only dealing with the same drama everyone else is dealing with for the story~
How about victor on the umbrella academy? I mean sure, he doesn’t deal with the same drama as everyone else, but his drama isn’t related to his transness
I really liked your perspective on this!! I've watched other videos about it and was leaning towards "this show is bad, and slightly transphobic" but honestly it's much more nuanced than that and your explanation makes a lot of sense to me. (a possibly autistic nonbinary person)
it's funny that testosterone blockers are part of testicular cancer (specifically the kind that responds to hormones) treatment in some cases (i dunno if gonadotropins are but it does seem vaguely logical)
Since the memes had started, I had been watching the show, just to figure out if its as bad as the memes portrayed it. And one thing that stuck out in a very early episode was Shaun having a discussion with someone (with some complex neurological condition) and that discussion included a part about how Shaun's autism can't be cured. And I don't know how much of that was Autism Speak leaking in
That’s legit the only reason I find the memes so funny is that this may be the worst portrayal of autistic people I’ve EVER seen. And I’m saying that as an autistic person myself as well as many of my friends being autistic. It’s like they saw the stereotypical basic outline of “what an autistic person is” and made that their character instead of actually trying to portray such a complicated and varied disability.
I've been watching your videos from oldest to newest, and after watching this one I finally feel like I need to thank you for your nuanced takes and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt while also holding those responsible accountable. I wish more people would allow for nuance in their video essays. I am repeatedly impressed with the depth with which you go into the topic, and how your tangents are as educational and interesting as the main theme of the video. I'm very excited to continue watching more of your stuff!
Thank you for checking the episode first 💗 this show means a lot to me despite its flaws because i would not have realised my autism as early as i did without it
Every clip I've seen of this show is just this man walking in and saying something horrifically racist or transphobic as his first statement in his patient interactions. When I found out the character was created with assistance from Autism Speaks, this made a lot of sense.
@@Shuramaruyou talking about calling a teenager a terrorist because she’s brown? Or are you meaning being transphobic. Because either way you’re factually incorrect
It's absurd to me that you were so confused who the young girl's grandmother was after the neon sign that was "my parents didn't want my grandmother to know *looks directly at the woman who is, through the language of cinematography, clearly her grandmother*".
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! God, as an autistic person who watched the show for a long time (though I dropped it eventually, simply because the romance drama got to intense, but that's a medical drama thing in general), I was SHAKING at all those gross memes that reduced the complexities of the show down to "Ha ha autistic man sucks at social situations, meltdown funny". It felt so awful to see the entire internet make fun of autistic characters (because, yes that IS what it was) under the guise of "media criticism" that way. The show is deeply flawed, yes, but in a far more nuanced and complex way than those disgusting memes communicate by reproducing distilled ableism, under the thinnest veneer of allyship and you are discussing that beautifully. I really hope EVERYONE who ever posted one of those memes watches this video and rethinks their actions...
For real!!! That entire meme just reeks of ableism. Tbh any Allistic person claiming to be accepting (or, gods forbid, an ally) of Autistic people who laughed at it and shared it around are just human garbage. They are why I mask so hard that I don't even know when I'm masking anymore. They're why I'm anxious as fuck about sticking up for my own autonomy and asserting myself in public. It's all the same large group.
It was just the disgusting “autism screeching” meme from 4chan all over again. The problem was him being transphobic, not his yelling moment which was an obvious meltdown to anyone who knows an autistic person. It was a solid two months of endlessly mocking autistic traits :/
@@RenaissanceRockerBoyI mean, as an autistic person with mostly autistic friends, I found the scene itself to be an offensive caricature of a meltdown, but go off telling us that *everyone* who memed on it was being ableist.
@Jane-oz7pp The way I see it, Autistic people are free to comment on it/give criticism. But a lot of the nonautistic people doing it just feel like they're making fun of autistic people.
I really appreciate the nuance you bring to your analysis of media. Very rarely is the conclusion that the episode or show are only good or bad, just mostly one or the other, or good in some ways and bad in others. That seems like a much more realistic portrayal of how these things work.
The fact that the Good Doctor didn't immediately identify or at the very least didn't become extremely curious with the trans woman just screams "We did all our research at a eugenics organization" and let me tell you, it really shows. The main problem with the scene is that he has no incentive to say such harmful things. He's not trying to impress the people around him, he's not trying to conform to the comfortable, he's not even passively doing a white supremacy. The scene was extremely badly written and it could have been saved by just having him, in his confusion, latching on to what one of his transphobic colleagues say in a desperate attempt to make sense of things. Instead, he has to be the one delivering the punches when he has no established reason to do so. EDIT: They also seem to be driving really hard into the "autism = robot" trope which while it's true autistic people tend to lean hard into the logical thinking, sometimes to a pretty extreme extent, that doesn't mean that's all they're capable of doing, it's a preference.
16:11 - I have a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis, and I’ve yet to go to a doctor for the first time and not have them say: “can you spell that? I’ve never heard of that before.” Oh wonderful, well that’s why I’m here so I guess we’re learning together I’m not afraid at all. /s
I think what sucks is when you never see your own type of autism represented because it strays too far from the stereotypes - another somewhat stereotypical character who doesn't represent you becomes another disappointment at that point
32:43 was there a tw at all for suicide? a lot of this is hitting hard to home and i just don’t remember. i am autistic and trans and i’ve tried to do what quinn did and this is just really emotional for me. i was not expecting this at all
You deserve to get a TW, and I know I can’t give you one but I wanted you to know that it isn’t to much to ask for. You deserve respect when it comes to topics that affect you. From a fellow stranger - talk care 💕
I was privileged to take part in a teaching session with medical students, helping them understand what their potential trans patients would need from them. I wish that kind of teaching happened everywhere
It's really nice to see you taking the time to look at the wider context of the clip that was going around. I didn't care enough about the show to really pay attention to what all was happening during that time, but in general I think this is a great reminder for people to stop, think, and actually look into something they see online before spreading it for outrage. I doubt anyone was really hurt much by the backlash of the clip, but I'd much rather see people spreading positive representation or at least discussing what was done right/wrong and the complexities of an episode that was well-intended
In season 4, there is another trans episode with another trans actor displaying a trans man, which makes it all seem so much more natural. Great actor, sadly I forgot his name
This episode clearly tries to be supportive but the ending ruins it. A young girl who has already attempted to kill herself when being denied transition is forced against her explicit will to go through the wrong puberty because her parents don’t respect her clear ability to understand the consequences, and the episode has the audacity to frame this as a positive. This episode is still transphobic despite the attempt it makes to be supportive.
@@waynebollman yeah but an amab cis person suddenly going through a *shudders because incel vibes* female *unshudders because incel vibes* puberty would need blockers asap
I never watched The Good Doctor, but I saw that meme, and I first thought it was just an instance of over the top, bad acting. But after finding out this character is supposed to be a representation for autism, I genuinely don't know how to feel.
Haven't watched the show either, but from the clips here, and being autistic myself, I feel like the acting falls into the trap that a lot of allistic actors do when trying to portray autism. It's over the top and unrealistic and has zero nuance. It doesn't tell us anything about the character other than 'he's an autistic character on tv'
The idea that the parents aren't in the wrong is absurd. They directly went against their child's wishes because they didn't like it. They dehumanized their own child, which is way too normalized.
@@studybooks3395 a parent cannot make a decision for their child, the child is their own human. The biggest failing on the part of people like you is underestimating children, treating them like property. They can make decisions on their own. They need guidance, not control.
@@solarpellets a childs brain isnt fully formed or matured, theres a reason why you have to be certain ages to do certain things, the parents point of we havent had time to talk about this between each other or their Therapist, is valid, rushing into a life long irrevisble choice is hard, they made the choice that they thought would have the least negative impact for their child if they was wrong. And i say this as a trans person, do i think they should of gone with what she wanted, overall yes. but i dont agree they made the wrong decision. theres a difference in underestimating your child, and knowing that a child lacks maturity experience and development to make certain decisions.
@@avlaenamnell6994 They shouldn't need to talk to each other nor the therapist. The child talking to the therapist, sure, but even then it's impossible for the therapist to know the child's mind, nor to trust the therapist fully. It's not rushing, it's their identity that they know and have experienced. The chance the child was wrong is absurdly small. Knowing your own identity does not require maturity, experience, nor development, it's a part of yourself. You don't choose it nor does it change, it just is and you just know. Using "experience" as a qualification is absurd, especially when the entirety of human knowledge and experience is in the palm of your hand. They might not communicate their identity properly due to lack of maturity, sure, but this is a big thing, and, like I said, the chance of them being wrong is small. I don't know why you mention your identity, I'm a trans woman as well, that's irrelevant. "In my opinion, the child young and they don't know" isn't a reason to make decisions over a person's desires. Your opinion doesn't matter in this case, it's the child's identity, not yours.
@@solarpellets its not "the child young and dosent know" its "the child is young and may not fully understand all the ramifcations of each choice in the long term." I dont doubt quin is a woman and that is her identity. i do doubt a childs ability to make a decision regarding life long health. Same as i wouldnt trust a child to get married, or to vote.
ok I'll admit, that definitely isn't as bad an episode as I thought it would be (still not gonna watch the show tho lol, although I probably wouldn't even if the autism representation was spotless) your videos are always great tho. I honestly wish I had a topic to suggest, but the only thing I can think of is the peaks and valleys of Deep Space 9's transness, but that's a topic that's been covered to death so I'd understand if you'd rather go for more underserved topics. (I'm always gonna want to hear more commentators I like talk about DS9 tho)
This episode was surprisingly wholesome and it hits close because as autistic person i also didn't understood transness at some point of my life since it conflicted with what i was always told since childhood by people i considered authorities so it took time and meeting trans people to fully understand it. Also seeing dr Murphy being excitable and empathetic rather than cold and mean for sake of it is refreshing, it's way close to how we are in reality.
I am autistic. In my early years, I struggled HARD to understand trans (and also gay) people. I struggled to understand the difference between sex and gender identity. Similar to Shawn, it wasn’t that I hated trans people, it was that I simply couldn’t understand them. I strongly related to Shawn’s arc here. Once I understood transness, I discovered that I related to it. Long story short, I am diagnosed with gender dysphoria and am working towards transitioning.
So, genuine question from another autistic person who honestly really relates to exactly what the doctor said at the beginning about the question of what he's "meant to be" making no sense, and that he simply was male; I have zero innate sense of 'gender'. I don't understand the concept of gender in any logical or philosophically cogent way, not even following an assumed internal set of premises, because the notion of qualia being what it is means no person who has ever existed can possibly individually 'know' what it is to experience something/the same experience as someone they are not, let alone the grouping of a whole sex class into a singular entity and/or segregated experience. I am not remotely 'gender conforming'. I have, however, longed to be male very powerfully at times, often still do, in a manner that aligns with a great deal of what I've read and heard self-described trans people describe as the very same experience that informs their belief that they are trans, that gender exists, that they experience what they absolutely know to be the 'wrong' one for their sex - and this is innate and unchangeable. I used to accept the premise that others were trans, and accepted this on face value due to a strong belief taking people at their word that their own experience of the world was exactly as they say it is, because they are them, and I am me, and each of us can only ever be the sole expert on our own experiences. But the more I listened, the more I saw how it seemed I *do* share the experience they describe as 'being trans', except when applied to me, now I simply cannot decouple it from the only reasoning that makes (internally, externally, logical and philosophical) sense - because I have spent my life having my physical sex used to dominate, abuse, discriminate and other me as a freak, because my interests and strengths bear no resemblance to what they are 'supposed' to be. I have never experienced any truth to the notion of a 'gendered experience'; I have, however, had my life unalterably damaged and limited in a very real sense by the _idea_ that my sex must define me and limit me in ways it absolutely does not line up with the reality of my own experience of existence. Ie. I cannot see gender as reality based, and the assumption by others of it being so has been the source of nothing but harm, pain and discrimination in my life - resulting in the very situation where I am told I cannot be trusted as the expert on my own experience, and that I must not exist as I very much do. No matter the position of the people insisting their own assumptions take precedence over one's own _actual living of it,_ that is something I cannot get behind. And from what I hear from trans people describing their pain, it seems to be a major point of contention that they are also not believed about their own experiences - yet it would seem the whole notion of gender/transgender (as I understand they are describing it to be) is based on the inherent contradiction of simultaneously asserting this truth whilst also asserting absolute knowledge of the experience of others - people that they are not and cannot ever be - as an experience they are expert on over those people as well. Whether claiming to have the 'true' experience of a single individual that is not them, or taking an entire half of the population to share a common set of traits as a monolith that is both innate and unalterable, to the degree that it is able to be claimed by them, and yet not by those who are actually living and experiencing the world as the sex they claim to be, both are equally impossible. Yet the latter is far more audacious, and a to someone who has suffered for the notion that this monolith aka 'gender' exists and takes precedence over what I know and say repeatedly is the actual truth of my own existence; that is to me, at this point, an unresolvedly irrational and ludicrously insulting proposition, so much more so because it comes from a group that seem to credibly claim to also have suffered the indignity and harm of such wrong-headed assumptions - that others know them better than themselves. I'm not sure this will make sense to you in regards to where I am at, and where I struggle to reconcile these concepts; however, if it does, and if you feel able and inclined to answer - my question to you is, how did you arrive at the conclusion you did from what appears, to me at least, to be a very similar line of logic I am currently seeing these concepts as? You described what seemed to me to be an almost perfectly reversed set of changes in your attitudes and ideas on the topic as the ones I have gone through; where before I felt like *I* was impossible or wrong, that gender as it was constantly treated did not remotely fit my experience as it was supposed to be. And yet once I applied the concept of 'transness' as a lense to my experience, I now can no longer help but see an intractable series of inherent contradictions that have repeatedly and unwaveringly led me to the same conclusion - that *it* is impossible. Or to put it another way; I used to think I must be in error, as my experience of gender was nothing at all like what it was always assumed to be - but now I can't help but see the only logical conclusion is that my experience is exactly what it is, and it's other people and this idea of 'gender' that simply isn't consistent with reality, or for that matter, consistent within itself. Obviously you are under no obligation to go into this, nor even read this comment; but if you do, and you don't mind going into what changed in your outlook, I would really appreciate hearing it. I am always looking to improve my understanding of concepts, especially those that seem to so personally affect the lives of others as well as myself, and if I am missing something vital that could change my current view in light of new considerations that paint it differently, I would like to learn what I am missing and adjust my view if it is indeed wrong or poorly reasoned. I do not want to hurt anyone, but neither can I in good faith see the path trans people have laid out over the years as, to be very honest, making any sense within the framework that they lay out and how it could possibly apply as such to others as well. So your input on something I may have missed would be invaluable - if you feel able to offer it.
im autistic and the one episode ive watched of this show made me incredibly angry, it was around perhaps the 3rd season or so? it was just on tv and i had nothing better to do a patient *died* because a coworker, who presumably has known dr murphy for a while now, gave the vague advice of trusting his juniors(?), and then when one of said juniors needed help he *asked* the guy if he wanted to double check something instead of phrasing it as a request! so dr murphy, when presented with a choice moments after that vague advice said that there was no need for him to double-check bc he trusts him when the patient *dies* and dr murphy says he wouldve noticed the thing the junior dr missed, the dr who gave the vagueass advice went "omg he was asking for help" sorta blaming him for it when. yall KNOW this man struggles with communication and social cues how fucking hard is it to just say what you mean????? is it really that difficult for an allistic person to just say "hovering around them will only make them more nervous and more likely to make mistakes, let them come to you when they need help" or something along those lines? when dealing with someone in a *hospital* is it that hard to say "i feel like i may have overlooked something, can you plase also examine this patient?" especially considering the emotional attachment you've created w said patient? it was just an entirely avoidable situation and it pissed me off so much that the blame was placed on dr murphy when he was just genuinely trying to follow the other dr's advice
I’ve followed this show since S2 first came out, and rewatched it like three times since. I’m also autistic and nonbinary. I started watching the show shortly before I was diagnosed with autism (in my twenties, because I was assigned female at birth and lol, what girl gets diagnosed with autism in their youth?? Mythical creature vibes 😂). Shawn being so stereotypically autistic was somehow very helpful and healing for me. I learned to lean into my autism and learned the difference between my masking and my true self. The robotic flat voice, the difficulty with empathy, not understanding social rules, meltdowns, hating wascloths (yes, there was an episode where Shawn tried to get over the ickyness of wet washcloths), and many more things. The trans episode was so great, in my eyes. I didn’t understand being trans until my early teens. I didn’t understand being nonbinary until my late teens/early twenties. Watching Shawn learn to understand and respect trans people and showcasing the lack of education people have on trans issues was great. For some people, a random episode in a medical show is the first (and/or one of the only) times they’ll be exposed to trans issues. A low-level examination of bigotry is just what they need to develop some basic understanding and respect for trans people. “She’s more of a purple girl” deadass makes me tear up every single time. It’s just so beautiful to me, Shawn learning new things, examining his own bigotry, and willingly and actively changing (even were the trans person is not directly present, so it isn’t performative activism but a genuine change). Also, kinda sad about the meme. I watched that episode when it first came out (years ago I believe?) and Shawn just lost his entire dream because of some ableist asshole with more power than him waltzed in and decided that his skill didn’t matter. I’d have a meltdown, too. I do wish they had hired an autistic actor to play Shawn. But with The Good Lawyer, they actually did get an actress with OCD! So the showrunners are learning and improving, too. I’m just glad that Shawn is a character with agency, rather than a prop (like in Music by Sia, where the autistic child could be replaced with a regular untrained dog and nothing would change).
Yep, you get it. To me, (briwn cis girl, diagnosed with autism at 16, now in her 30s) it was incredibly nice to finally see my experience and struggles reflected on TV and not played as a joke. People who make gross memes about the show are dismissing how important a,step forward it was for our representation...
I remember that meme suddenly being everywhere a couple months ago, and I was really confused because I recognized the scene but I stopped watching the show years ago. I started to think maybe I’d just given myself a false memory of seeing that scene because that made more sense to me than a moment from an episode, like, 5 years ago randomly going viral after all this time.
I've been recovering in the hospital and binging your show and I can say the mascara line in this episode made me legit laugh out loud and brightened my day, thank you for what you do.
Lily: I'm going to put out fewer videos per month Also Lily: here have a video thats almost an hour long (jokes aside this was such a great watch, thank you so much for actually looking into the show beyond the memes!)
Until only a year or two ago, I was extremely transphobic because that's ALL I knew. Being raised with what seems like basic facts like "Dogs bark, murder is bad, the sky is blue, etc." So it's very hard to accept and change your ENTIRE way of thinking. I felt super bad but it's hard to just "change". I was so sheltered I didn't even know about the LGBTQ community and only discovered as an adult that I'm not straight like I fully felt my whole life. But I've gotten to a point now where I've accepted it and have trans friends and it doesn't seem different at all anymore 🥰 It's just... A lot to get used to because the idea of transgender is unfortunately still a very foreign concept when people aren't raised with anything like that, only boys and girls and genitalia determining that. It's still hard to wrap my head around at times but not my place to judge since I don't have that same mindset or experience. The problem is mostly with society as a whole, because you can't know or understand something you never encounter and believe to be false. I have personal experience with that mindset now, and changing and becoming a better person than how I was raised over time.💙
THANK GOD SOMEONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS SERIOUSLY AT LENGTH. you are so brave for tackling this subject and on behalf of a trans, quite possibly autistic teen, THANK YOU.
That grandmother shouldn't have had any say in this. Fertility isn't that important because adoption exists. Choosing future fertility above Quinn's immediate well-being is wrong. Additionally, I don't think the other doctor was transphobic at all, regardless of the idea that he might've just been keeping quiet about it. In his private conversations with Murphy, he refers to Quinn as a "her" even though there was no one around to impress.
Speaking about "similar experiences" and not being supportive: In my early transition there was a complaint made against me to child welfare. An investigator came out to the house and accused me of "sexually inappropriate behavior involving children", and would refuse to comment further. This lead to a detailed 6-month long investigation into my family, in which we were all put through the literal ringer, and during which I continually asked: "What is the specific accusation made against me?" and "If this is a criminal matter, how come the police have not been involved?" Long story short - After almost 6 months, I was informed that the complaint was regarding me "wearing female clothing in front of children". To which my response was: "That is not 'sexually inappropriate behavior involving children'; and is a human rights abuse." After threatening to reveal the entire issue to the media, and the police and threatening to file a human rights complaint - the case was swiftly ended. 6-months of government abuse over wearing female clothing (and I might add, I dress extremely conservatively). And this wasn't even in America - but in Canada, in 2004 (less than 1 year prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country, and at a point when public perception of queer people was quite positive). Even to this day, I have trauma around feeling like I was a criminal suspect - and treated as such, over what was essentially a non-complaint. And what was worse, the investigator and caseworker involved with the case made it clear on many occasions that Child Welfare was "above the law" and they were authorized to violate both privacy, and human rights laws in pursuit of an investigation (which is patently false). In hindsight, I should have sued the organization for human rights violations - as they should never have sent an investigator to the house over "wearing female clothing" in the first place, and the investigation was motivated by bigotry; but I was so deeply fearful of further reprisals from the government about being trans, that the thought of taking them to court terrified me, and continued to terrify me long past the statute of limitations. That experience almost certainly was part of why I spent more than 5 years transitioning.
I'm glad you made a vid on this! I'm happy to hear that the episode was way better than the minute that blew up had people assuming. From what you've described, it actually seems like a very complex and nuanced episode! I'm happy it exists and this makes me want to watch the whole show now
I think you're going waaaaaaaaay to soft on this show and way too hard on people having an issue with it. I'm pretty sure most people on the left understand there is probably some sort of redemption arc for Murphy, that doesn't make it any less messed up they decided to do this storyline with this specific character, something usually given to characters like Homer Simpson or Hank Hill; oafish men we laugh at for how stupid and backwards they are. Its not that the show The Good Doctor is transphobic that is the issue, it's that the character himself is and it feeds into harmful stereotypes I've seen time and time again in media about autistic people being narrow-minded just because we perceive info in our brains differently than allistics. Also, every single other autistic person I have ever met understands what being trans is, and even are trans themselves in a majority of cases. The overlap between being queer and neurodivergent is a huge one and we need less stories talking about us as we're some sort of opposing sides. Good on them for casting an actual trans girl at least. Makes you wonder why they couldn't do it with autistic characters as well don'tcha think?
The bit about "I can just adopt kids" is an interesting one. It makes it sound quite easy, like getting a kitten from a shelter. I don't think it is that easy though, and probably requires a fair bit of money and other criteria. Also hoping the foster parents or organization are trans/queer inclusive.
@@martinajohnson the current foster care system is influenced by biases and oppressive forces in society. Doesn't mean the concept of adoption itself is ethically problematic
I can’t speak for drs. But nurses are taught to be understanding of identities and be advocates when someone doesn’t respect that. At least in my state. I’m a non-binary neurodivergent nursing student and everyone in my class works hard to not misgender me and I get so many apologies when it happens. Lots aren’t good at it but they’re trying. Thank you for the video ❤
Do you not know about different hemispheres? When it's summer on one side of the planet it's winter on the other side. Lily is in New Zealand, where it is currently winter. It's not that complicated
I finally found out what the full episode was. I was very concernerned when the clips came out, it just felt like a lot was being omittted. I am glad I found your video
The I Am A Surgeon scene still has to do with his bedside manner, though. He got moved to a different job because he tells a woman whose baby is in critcal condition that the baby's condition was caused by her antidepressants, making a distressed mother with mental heath issues even more upset. So they move him to a position where he won't have to interact with patients head on in the same way, but can still use his diagnostic skills (I forgot what the actual position is called). So, yeah, it still has to do with them writing his autism as making him kind of an asshole.
so far i've only seen this video and your harry potter one, but i really like your nuanced view of these pieces of media. focusing on analyzing it instead of deciding that its 1. irredeemably evil??? and 2. not without any merit
I've heard of autistic masking includes gender expression, which makes a lot of sense. When I'm with my neurodivergent friends, it always feels like a genderless zone. We're all just.. people. We don't have to perform any gender expectations. Gender often comfuses me, like all the intricate social rules surrounding gender.
i have to say the was you covered this episode was very well done, thank you for that. also as an autistic person i thank you for touching on autism speaks as the more people know how bad they are and that they should avoid them the better.
As a medical student, I couldn't get past the whole testicular cancer thing. The trans girl was really young, so getting testicular cancer at that age is quite rare to begin with. But in addition to that, getting this cancer while on hormone blockers is insanely unlikely. Testosterone blockers are often given as part of the treatment for this disease.
And this whole thing was treated like: "yes, this is normal, things like this can happen", while in reality doctors would be completely shocked and would definitely comment on how unlikely this scenario is
The first time I’ve ever scrolled far in a comment section and I see this very insightful comment thank you for making it clearer
But but but it's a trans character ! Of course the issue *had* to do with her genitals !1!1!
@@macabrecitrus2127 Yup, that's the feeling I got too. "Oh, she might be a trans girl, but she still has MALE CANCER" lol
Yeah that's an annoying trope in medical dramas... They had an episode with a trans man too and he had an unexpected pregnancy... (which happened because he missed his T shot... T is not a contraceptive anyway, so yay misinformation)
I'm not a doctor nor pretend to be especially with men's health so I was confused on why her blockers would have to be stopped as no one explained it but didn't wanna say nothing as I have 0 medical degrees. Thank you for confirming my suspicions lol.
oh.... i love the "she's more of a purple girl" line! he's repeating quinn's words, acknowledging she knows herself the best. im emotional
I'm just replying so you can see how much likes you got
That is my favorite line of the episode, because it shows that Shawn learned from her instead of being stuck in his initial bias
XD you realize being a doctor is being an honest and not feelings XD
@@erenjaeger1738 I find it quite funny that this comment is edited but I still almost had a stroke trying to read it
true. No excuse.
I'm saying being a doctor is an honest job.
Many doctors have to deal with brutal health care.
Be ready for an answer from a doctor. Murphy was the only sane one in the room. While the other doctors give feelings over facts.
A Jessie Gender quote I always love coming back to is “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person”
It's not specifically from jessie it's just a common saying in autistic advocacy groups. It's a good one, just thought I'd add that precision.
It can be applied to any demographic really, but yeh, Jessie used the phrase loooong after it was first popularised
Ah, Jessie Gender. The woman who claims playing Six Days in Fallujah is like being in a literal war zone. And praises the game for this.
@@camelopardalis84 I don't have context for this so maybe it makes sense but this sound like a really weird point to bring up here
@@Laezar1 I think it's worth bringing up that a self-described leftist from the US seems to be okay with US war crimes whenever such a person is praised in any way, shape or form in an actually leftist space.
Maybe I’m biased because of seeing a family friend go thru years of painful treatments to avoid a mastectomy only to eventually have no choice but to do the teat yeet anyway, but Quinn’s future fertility seems like a non-issue compared to the LITERAL CANCER. If the cancer spreads to the remaining testicle, metastasizes, and Quinn dies, that’ll also make it harder for her to have kids in the future lol. Seems like a strange compromise to resolve the episode with.
I just wonder why the option to freeze her sperm (bankrolled by baby-crazy grandma of course) didn't appear.
@@sol4925if she was on puberty blockers since tanner stage 2, she probably cannot actually produce gametes
It really makes me wonder if there would be the same reaction if she wasn't trans (from the gran accusing of child abuse and all that if the big gripe was really "but-but what about children") or no, is that actually because Quinn is trans, nana dearest is more willing to risk her life than let her be trans
@@NCC-1701_no_bloody_a_b_c_or_d as someone who’s in a current situation to quinn (no cancer but i could die) because i’m trans nothing i say is taken seriously by doctors because they think i can’t understand what’s dysphoria or not and what if i’m wrong and want kids later? they’d rather i die with the ability to have kids than live pain free and happy because i’m trans which means i don’t have the ability to have critical thoughts apparently
@@sol4925"her sperm"...
Omg. I know one say you'll understand, but right now this is both sad and hilarious. Her sperm. His uterus. 2+2=5.
Man went from ‘you can’t be a girl bitch’ to ‘she likes purple bitch’, very wholesome
Character development 🙏
Once again wheeling out my Good Doctor Autism Representation Pet Theory. The reason the portrayal of Sean Murphy feels so off to a lot of autistic people, I think, is that his autistic traits don't coalesce into a single character. A lot of neurotypical writers and actors portray autistic adults as larger autistic children. When you're a child with autism your struggles are very externalised because you haven't developed any techniques for interacting with neurotypical people (these coping mechanisms can be useful, like knowing how to communicate your needs and ask for clarification and harmful, like masking).
It just doesn't feel real to me that Sean could be an adult who went through medical school and still seem to lack any methods for, like, talking to patients respectfully, processing new and challenging information or even knowing common idioms (that "20 questions" line is peak "allistics-writing-autism" to me).
It doesn't help that in at least 2 of the clips I've seen they have Sean ask literal children to explain things to him and the children give more eloquent and thoughtful answers than he is capable of.
Characters like Sean are written like they became autistic the moment that the show started, not like they've lived as autistic their whole lives. It's frustrating because you could say so much about a character by how they've learned to cope with being autistic in a world designed to cater to allistic people. Like, from my own life, I was bullied for stimming growing up and trained myself out of it, which has lead to me burning out in stressful sensory situations and I've had to consciously teach myself to stim again. That's a whole character backstory that you could convey with a couple of character quirks if you just think about the implications of living with autism.
I think this is why autistic people often identify much more with characters who aren't explicitly autistic. Characters like Sherlock Holmes, Spock, Peter Parker etc. weren't written with autism in mind, they were either inspired by observations of real people who happened to be autistic or their autism-adjacent traits were worked into their character more thoroughly.
GOD YES i watched a couple of episodes of the good doctor and got exactly this vibe. I was gonna leave a comment saying it but tbh this describes the issue better than I ever could lol so thank you for that!
Around a third of autistic people also have intellectual disabilities, which alongside the developmental delays autism can cause does result in certain autistic people having age-inappropriate behaviors or difficulties with developing long term coping skills that garbage organizations like Autism Speaks like to portray as inherent to autism itself - I feel like that might in part explain your autism representation pet theory.
An excellent comment. (I’m autistic 😁)
I’ve seen good illustrations of autism symptoms (traits if you like) being like stew with many different ingredients. All autistics have some traits but no autistic person has every trait and no two autistics are exactly alike. Flat affect, stimming, needing routine, not understanding facial expressions, being blunt, confusion over sarcasm, having trouble remembering spoken instructions, and so on are all possible traits but every autistic person is different. Some of these traits are more common than others but every one is a known ingredient in the big autism stew!
In television, it’s very common to see a large helping of the most common traits in a given autistic character. They’re also often specifically the traits most noticeable to allistics. Hand flapping, not understanding sarcasm, and being stubborn about seemingly inconsequential things are easy to notice and easy to pick on, and non autistic actors and writers should make a note to consider how a selection of traits make a character real, but too many might feel like a caricature.
The way A. C. Doyle introduces Sherlock Holmes, though, is rather suggestive that he had an idea what an autistic person interested in forensic sciences and detective work might be like, and modelled Holmes after that idea.
Even though autism as we now understand it was not medically recognised at the time yet. But hey, noticing patterns like that before they're widely known is what good artists do.
@@rileyfaelan Holmes was based on a real person, Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Doyle’s professors in med school. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that Bell was Autistic himself.
I know that speculating on real people's potential ND status is frowned upon by some people, but I really think it's important to point out, like you did, that neurodivergences weren't understood the way they are today. So many people who were written off as 'eccentrics' were most likely neurodivergent in some way.
Side note, I love how so many characters are inadvertently Autism-coded because their creators took inspiration from Sherlock Holmes. Accidental representation ftw. XD
I generally hate the good doctor but i love the fact that Shaun's first response is "cut her nuts off" the ultimate ally.
cutting nuts off wont magically make you a girl.
Fuck bein an ally.
R/accidentalally or something I dunno I don't use Reddit lmao
@@frosticle6409she literally had cancer dawg
@@frosticle6409cut the balls off! 🦅 RAHHHHHHH🇺🇸
My problem with the Doctor being transphobic is that medicine is his special interest and he knows so much about it that it's ridiculously unlikely that he'd have never heard of trans people before and upon learning that trans people exist probably would probably have gotten curious and wanted to know more about trans medicine.
Gender is a social construct and the doctor doesn’t have social understanding. I think it makes sense
@@laurenhatter6824yeah but there is also a biological aspect behind people being transgender, like neuroscience
But I've never watched this show, so maybe the doctor isn't interested in anything except surgical medicine
@@laurenhatter6824 even so, he should know the biology on why transgender ppl exist, so even if he doesn’t get why, he should know why trans ppl on a biological level should exist when he meets them.
@@frauleinzuckerguss1906 idk I think lily made a good point about trans medicine and science not being taught as common practice
I honestly got this feeling too, he seems very interested in Quin so why wouldn't he have done his own background reading at some point?
I'm a doctor in Brazil, and, in my college, transgender patient care actually was a part of the curriculum.
One of my classmates was an autistic girl from a very conservative background, just like Shawn. But, thanks to our classes, she treated respectfully all the transgender patients we had.
I hope the american universities include this subject on their curriculums. This could make a huge difference!
@fagfrog It does cover trans men as well, but not nonbinary people specifically, as far as I remember.
unfortunately for us floridians its becoming literally illegal to talk about trans/queerness in universities
That's so good to hear. I definitely believe we should ALL have the same high standard of care if at all possible. Even if a doctor doesn't 'agree' with something, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to provide proper care. Not that trans identities are something you can just 'agree' or 'disagree' with, but I'm trying to be charitable.
I mean it's frustrating enough going to the doctor as a woman, I can't even imagine what it's like as a trans woman.
Não sabia que tem esse tipo de educação na medicina aqui no brasil. Fico muito feliz de ouvir isso :)
@@martes4814 não sou medica, mas sou trans e vou te falar a verdade, não achei que chegaria um dia em que eu estaria feliz de estar no brasil e não nos estados unidos, mas aqui estamos nós
I really don't think forcing Quinn to come off puberty blockers while still having a testicle is the right choice. The idea that she should be forced to undergo irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life, all for the off chance that she may - at some point - want a child and not see adopting, surrigates, her partner undergoing IVF, etc as a valid option. Effectively trading her happiness and wellbeing and risking her life for a hyptothetical human that may never exist. That's not a worthwhile trade. At best Quinn is unhappy with herself but does actually have a child in future, and at worst Quinn could make another attempt and never actually want a child, neither of those are positive for Quinn.
Just watched the video and... yeah, that just stuck out to me, as far as I understood that's supposed to be a not perfect but neat ending but they're still forcing her off of puberty blockers and into a testosterone puberty that she knows she doesn't want and that they know is going to traumatize her further? *really?* like, that's bit just sours everything else, she's completely in the right to be pissed at her parents
Also just watched the video and it legit just ruined the entire episode for me. Quinn is going to go through male puberty and many things that can only be reversed with surgery as well as things that literally cannot be reversed, things that could have been prevented with a bilateral orchiectomy or just by continuing puberty blockers. In the real medical world, there is absolutely no reason to stop puberty blockers, even if it was leading to bone density issues. There are medical methods to bolster up bone density.
On top of that, this could be an outlier situation where Quinn could start HRT, with informed patient + parental consent, due to medical complications. The *standard* is to wait until 16, but it doesn't have to be that way if a roadblock is hit.
To me, the show completely threw away all the goodwill and acceptance it built up by waving goodbye on the note that "everything worked out, Quinn has grown, Quinn's family has grown, and The Good Doctor has learned about another facet of humanity." while, in truth, Quinn is going to go through the worst possible torture of her life and may not make it to 16. Yes, you could headcanon that she met with her endo and got on HRT early or whatever, but as far as I can tell, the show doesn't imply that at all, and the message for the general audience is "It's okay for trans people to go through cis puberty, it'll work out~" which is a horrifically transphobic message to tell the uninformed. Based on what we know about Quinn and her dysphoria, she won't survive male puberty, socially transitioned or not. Again, the entire ending feels ultra gross.
"irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life"
What hormones blockers do to the body.
@@Shuramaruhormone blockers literally block that from happening. It’s in the name. I’ve been on blockers before. It acts more like a pause button on puberty. Completely reversible, can resume puberty as you wish with no consequences at anytime
@@novaanimations5958 Not reversible, it creates massive imbalance in hormone levels and brings forth immeasurable damage to whomever suffers it.
That's two injection a day to not worsen conditions and failing to take those means further irreversible degradation.
Bone health, mental health, muscle health, Heck just organs in general are affected by hormones.
And your cells still deteriorate even if you block it, the brain still develops even if you block it and when you reintroduce it, it becomes this thing that your body simply cannot handle normally.
When they said 'autism speaks' I flinched and made a sound like I was being punched
SAME BAHAHA
i went "AAUUUUHHHH" and my head tilted back in the pain that sentence gave me LOL
I just went oh for gods sake has no one heard of Asan? Why that one… why not, I dunno just ask us directly as autistic people what our experiences are and what we appreciate? A lot of us can articulate these things really well.
Also thank goodness that autism speaks is American and I’m British, saves me having to directly interact with it…
@@jessicacarr4933 You're on TERF Island, though.
I just let out a little scream! How did we all merge brains???
What annoyed me about the episode was that it made no sense for Sean’s character to have the kind of prejudices he has. His special interest is biology, basically every episode relies on him knowing some rare condition, and the creator of the American version of the good doctor also worked on House, which discussed intersex conditions. So the creator, knowing that intersex conditions exist and that it isn’t as simple as XX = girl/XY = boy, still let them give him a transphobic bias that relied on him being ignorant about advanced biology!!!
Also trans people are more likely to be autistic because autistic people question nonsense social conditions and social constructs. Most autistic people are more open to gender stuff if we aren’t trans ourselves.
Being transgender has nothing to do with being intersex, though. Gender is social, sex is biological; yes, sex is more complex than XY=male and XX=female, but that’s completely irrelevant to the fact that gender identity is not necessarily determined by biological sex.
@@jade_is_tired It's inherently relevant to any claim that chromosomes have some metaphysical significance that overrides who you are as a person on the matter of gender. The point is that anyone with a meaningful amount of knowledge in the field would never claim that sex is binary in that way.
Very real
@@jade_is_tired i think thats OP's point
The ending of this episode feels to me the exact same as the ending of Next Generation's trans episode. The trans person is left to suffer, with the only thing gained being that the cis protagonist gets to go home feeling better and having learned of the plight of trans people, while failing to actually improve their lives in any way.
I mean, it's kind of hard to make someone who actively wants to cause SEVERE harm to themselves in an attempt to conform to their idea of gender. I do mean hormone blockers.
"Well, I mean, I guess you might NOT die at 40 from cardiovascular issues caused by hormone imbalance"
Tf was he supposed to say?
@@Shuramaruyou are shouting from the bottom of a well
@@Shuramaru Your fictional stereotypes invented in the heat of the moment aren't the problem of trans people. It's clear you get all your knowledge from drama TV.
@@sondpnichqfvd This has to be the funniest reply to a transphobic comment ive ever read. You made me laugh out loud so hard thank you omg
The way I literally said "oh fuck off" out loud when you revealed that the parents went against her wishes because of course her fictional hypothetical future children over their own child's health
It's the misogyny for me.
If a kid doesn't know how to make decisions regarding what they want to do in this world.
They certainly cannot rationally make these types of decisions.
@@Shuramarushe’s not 2. And this is regarding CANCER. It’s fairly common for people to get both festivals removed even if only one is cancerous just in case. The only reason people have issues here is because she’s trans.
Normally, I’d probably go against getting this procedure done so young, but she has the entitlement to dictate her own health decisions
@@novaanimations5958 Yet the kid can't even decide what they want to do in the future.
Children make stupid choices all the time, they grow out of things and find about new things.
If each inconsidered thoroughly decision left permanent and irreversible damage you can just imagine how bad it would get.
Yes, cancer should be removed but the parents reinforcing the desicions of an immature child is a recipe for disaster and permanently blocked roads.
@@Shuramaru yeah, people shouldn’t transition medically on a whim. Good thing that isn’t happening. You heard the girl, she’d been on hormone blockers (completely reversible) for 9 months? Do we even know how long she had been out before she got blockers? That’s 9 at absolute minimum months of her actively living as a girl. That’s a long while for consideration. That isn’t even thinking about how long she would’ve spent in the closet. In real life, you can socially transition for years before being able to get hormone blockers. I came out at her age and it took me about 2 years before I got blockers, which if done sooner, would’ve saved me from a lot of pain and heartache. No decision is made on a whim and that you think that’s how trans health care is handled is a show of your lack of actual knowledge on the subject.
The girl is seemingly more mature than you think of. She’s not stomping around like a petulant child. She is actively thinking of the consequences. Namely, her being forced into undergoing a male puberty which is very obviously distressing and would be damaging for her. She also is considerate of her sterility. In that she doesn’t want kids and if she did later then she could just adopt. I dont get why people put bio kids on a pedestal. This procedure would also lower/remove any future risk of the cancer reoccurring. It’s very common for cis men, even as kids, to do this if they develop cancer. Personally, I think that kids who are able to properly conceptualize and understand the required information should have a say in how their own health is being handled.
this episode was nuts because like at least in my experience if youre autistic you probably know someone who is trans considering how autistic people are more likely to be lgbt+ and we tend to flock to eachother pretty quickly
This has been my experience as well, but (a) you have to be in an environment where there are people to flock who are out as lgbt+, and (b) he himself is a cis and afaik straight guy, so he maybe he wouldn't get the lgbt+ folks flocking to him so much? Because there are definitely a lot of cishet autistic guys, but even among people I follow on social media, I don't see a lot of them.
Please stop combining autism with lgbt lmao
maybe this is my expierience but my brother is a straight autistic man and im a lesbian with multiple autistic friends. i think your sentiment can be correct, but a big part of it is whether an autistic person is queer as well. my brother isnt and has very straight friendgroups while im not autistic but i know many autistic people and am dating someone who is autistic. if you dont seek out queer groups or have a need to, then its likely your friendgroups wont be as queer.
I feel like being autistic and being trans overlap quite often as well, at least from what I've seen and heard. A bunch of my autistic friends are either trans (mostly nonbinary) or gender-non-conforming.
More likely doesn't mean it's a rule. I'm autistic with a ton of autistic friends/acquaintances and none of us are lgbt.
I’m autistic. I’m trans. Holy shit being autistic doesn’t make you a huge asshole. I tried to watch the show but nearly every episode left me feeling *gross*.
As an autistic person, all I need is for someone to explain what a thing is and give me and example. That’s all. I totally get that this isn’t true for all autistic people, but it’s so damn clear his reaction to the trans girl isn’t an “autism” thing, it’s a “cishet white able-bodied rich man” thing.
didn't watch the show, but from the video it seems that Murphy is not an a-hole simply because he is autistic, but because he is so immersed in the medical system, that he did not end up learning this more subtle social cues and it is the critique of the system that does not provide this education to future doctors, expecting them to just "get it" by themselves
@@goblinguy3103 37:56 Lily says that show shows that Murphy is asking questions and learning. he is not an a-hole because he is autistic. i don't understand what second part of your comment changes.
Personally, I think this falls into a trap that a lot of "representation" falls into, where Good Doctor isn't necessarily a bad or unrealistic portrayal of autism. but he is the ONLY AUTISTIC CHARACTER. So it doesn't clearly come off to uninformed allistic viewers as "Good Doctor is autistic AND an asshat" but more like "Good Doctor is an asshat because he's autistic."
Whatttttt you mean it’s impolite for me as an autistic to whip your junk out, have the whole medical ward look at it and point and go “DEAD GENDER THATS WHAT YOU ARE I AM A GENUIS”
@@helianthus_the-eyethen how the fuck is he supposed to be one of the good ones? Is House in the same building as him by contrast!?
I'm someone that transitioned a minor, including getting sterilized. I simply cannot see any way that the parents were in the right. She has started medical transitioning, and tells the doctor she'll be back at 18, so I would almost guarantee she's discussed surgery with her therapist and doctor even if it was assumed to be further off. She very clearly expressed her wishes. She's already made an attempt on her life, if she has to go through the damage of testosterone induced puberty its extremely likely she's will make more attempts. Yes, sterility is permanent, but so is someone ending their own life. Even if she didn't make any attempts on her own life, she'd have to live her whole life with all the changes that were caused by testosterone.
I know people like to act like its a tough situation, but it really isnt. I came out at 14, started hormones at 16, got sterilized at 17, and I'm currently in my mid 20s. I knew I wanted surgery at 14, which is about the age of the girl in the show. I simply would not have made it to adulthood had I not been allowed to transition. I still have to live with the effects of not having blockers or hormones in the years when my body was developing hardest. People like to talk theoretically, but speaking to someone that actually went through the experience, she absolutely should have had both gonads removed and been placed on supplimental estrogen.
I wish I had been able to go on puberty blockers when I was younger. I realized I was trans around 13 years old and went to the endo to ask about testosterone at 14. I was told that hormone blockers were not an option for me as I had finished puberty. Which was a complete lie, I was only 14 there was no way I had finished puberty by then. And not only that I was sent away with an appointment with a weight loss doctor and told to try again when I'm 16. :o/
many doctors and people are unnaturally obssesed with the chance that you may perhaps want kids even to the point of risking there kids suicide.
a child should not be given permanent medical treatment or surgery's when they dont have a fully developed brain. some kids follow the acts of their peers if its seen as beneficial for attention. so that's why many detransitioners will mention they shouldn't have been allowed. a parent created their child. until the child is 100% sure who they are which is unlikely to know as a child its the parents right to decide these decisions.
literally. cis people talk about irreversible harm and care so much but only if it doesn't match the person's assigned gender. trans teens should be allowed to go on hormones, especially in circumstances like this. the idea of someone's brain being "not fully developed" is dumb because, guess what, your brain never stops developing, and it just lets people gatekeep stuff by moving the goalposts farther and farther back regarding what age decisions like this should be made. kids are smarter than people think and should just generally be allowed more autonomy.
The show is so weird. Cause the doctor literally calls a woman of color making perfume a terrorist because of what she uses in the perfume. The writing is so weird
Edit: the gramdma sucks
idk i think it was bc its bc assuming shes hiding it bc of her brother and making perfume is weirdly specific. so as a character the fact hed assume that kinda makes sense. but its a super specific situation i think they just shouldn't have written that into an episode its a bad idea.. like wow u thought he was racist but actually it makse sense but actually its this other thing. i think they did that to be like shocking but its just awkward and annoying
I *mostly* agree, but the whole equivocating around the parents being right thing bugs me a bit. Like, they ripped away from their daughter a choice which she had clearly made and had capacity to make, and are now putting her through the trauma of puberty, so she can maybe have a bio kid in the future - which she's said she doesn't want, and even if she changes her mind, she can adopt. It's not an easy choice, but there is a right answer, and they didn't take it.
Yep, I made this comment underneath another similar comment, but it legit makes me furious how -- to not mince words -- the supportive parents have decided they'd rather have a dead daughter who can have biological kids rather than a living daughter who is sterile.
Like, *wow*. And the show pretends that this is an acceptable, wholesome outcome. To me, that just shows they did not have enough trans input (despite having a trans actress) and were toeing the line when it comes to trans autonomy. Quinn even straight up states she can adopt. Like, they lampshaded the solution directly. I feel like the writers are just completely underestimating just how much a preventable wrong puberty can make life millions of times harder for a trans person.
Also, like, she's had testicular cancer once already. A bilateral would have been the smart choice *even without the trans angle*. Once you have cancer in one area, the chance for having it again skyrockets. Removing both was just the smart medical choice *period*. But nope, screw raising Quinn's prognosis. Procreation = life! /s
@@Muffinalot I feel that maybe people are misinterpreting a bit. I feel inclined to believe, based on the fact Quinn outlined their stupidity, that the decision of the parents was NOT intended to be viewed as a good thing. I think it's supposed to be a bittersweet ending, with the sweet being the acclimation of the grandma and the doctor, and the bitter being that- as what tends to happen in real life- even in a very 'accepting' situation, this child was still forced to go through something horrible for a stupid reason. Just because she was born trans. I think it was supposed to be a glimpse of reality. Of the horrible way we treat trans youth. It was basically saying "Hey, the situation can and does get better. But know that we still have work to do as a society. We still need to learn to listen even when we think we are already doing that."
Maybe that's just me, though. I just can't see the writers thinking this is a good choice, while writing in the line "Cis people always care so much about having kids. Even if I ever do want one, I can just adopt." (paraphrased because I forgot what she said.)
I just... don't think they could write a line like that and NOT understand that the choice her parents made were the wrong one.
@@catpoke9557 do the episodes of this show often have neatly wrapped up happy endings, or bittersweet/messy/realistic ones? Do we know?
I think the only real issue with the show is that Murphy is the audience window character. He is always framed as needing to grow through culturally sensitive issues for the audience to try to grow with as well. Thus wouldn't usually be an issue, however in this case, he's a stereotype of autistic. So regardless of the message or intent show writers might make, it will always be framed as "if this socially defunct person can do it, so can you."
YES! This is an incredibly true observation!! That's a huge reason it's an issue
Second comment: As a supporter of the youth liberation movement, I hate how utterly disrespectful adults like this are to teenagers who by all rights already fully understand what they are and want to be in an identity sense. This isn't something that develops late in adolescence, it develops and persists in early childhood. They're people too, and they have autonomy. They deserve the ability to make their own medical decisions, and to say otherwise only gives power to controlling/abusive parents and guardians.
Yeah I was confused how old Quinn is supposed to be because sometimes her grandparent and parents talked about her like she was 6 years old, like she couldn't grasp the concept of maybe wanting kids someday
Are you implying that shortform social media platforms that don't ever go to the source of things before they spread information might not be great places to have nuanced discussions? Heresy you are cancelled!
So much this. I wanted a hysterectomy at 13. Doctors kept telling me I'd want kids. Even as an adult I wasn't permitted medical autonomy because some decisions I wanted to make for myself might piss off some nebulous imaginary future husband who clearly had more right to make decisions about my body than I did.
Case in point: Faith Healing
I have to point out that not all trans people necessarily have the experience of knowing that they are trans or knowing they want to transition from a very early age. Sometimes it kicks in later, and I don't think that invalidates those people's transness-people can shift and change over time and sometimes struggle to know what they want when they're younger, and a lot of trans people will just tell you they wanted to transition since they were a little child because they don't want to have to field uncomfortable and invasive questioning about why they didn't notice or realize earlier.
None of which is to say, of course, that young people who have a very strong sense of their desired identity are wrong or confused or mixed up or that they shouldn't be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies. I'm just saying that a lot of the time when people try to combat the idea that young people don't know enough to transition they overcorrect and state that *all* trans people know when they're children, that gender dysphoria always develops in early childhood, and in the process they end up more or less inadvertently saying that a huge slice of actually existing trans people are just faking it for ??? reasons ???, which just isn't the case.
I'm so glad they cast a trans actress and your decision to put that near the end of the video was really effective. I've never heard of her or seen this show. The actor playing the doctor really gives "Rain Man" vibes in every other soundbite for me. Great vid!
I'm just replying so you can see how much likes you got
@@afellowpotato wow, I hadn't realized my likes. Thank you, Potato!
So so so many people are like "I would never be ableist to autistic people" and then like go out of the way to like find clips of an autistic character having a meltdown to make fun of it.... People don't even know what ableism is, they just assume they never do it.
Also the bone density thing is interesting bc that like worry also comes from cis people on certain birth control .... And it is simultaneously rare for it to be a real problem
Really, how often is mockery of "weird" or "cringe" people really just disguised or veiled mockery of people demonstrating common autistic tendencies?
Shit argument tbh
the Meltdown was Super cringe, it looked weird and wasnt simply him having a legit breakdown (Ofc there are many kinds), it just looked weird with the faces he makes
the fact hes autistic doesnt change the fact the Meltdown was weird as fuck
Not ableism here
Like
im autistic
its fairly easy to see that THIS ISNT BECAUSE OF THE AUTISM
@@dinosaysrawr Tbh the fact theyre common autistic tendencies doesnt make them less weird if you just use common sense
Like
it can still be majorly weird even if you blame the disease for it
@@SawyerFan.1 DISEASE? I won't even bother trying to reason with you.
Me personally didn’t even know it was an autistic because I haven’t watched the show.
SOME (not all) might not know the context to the clip but yeah people shouldn’t make fun of it even if he’s autistic or not
Autistic man, I think it matters that the good doctor portrays a very stereotypical cis male autistic experience. I could connect with his experience in many ways, but just the fact he almost never was expected to or forced to mask. . . Made the character fundamentally unrelatable as someone who was forcibly socialized female. My entire family KNEW I was autistic by the time I started school but actively fought against me even getting tested. . . . I was born in 95 for reference for how messed up this was. My dad was diagnosed and received some level of help DECADES earlier.
But apart from that, your points were pretty much spot on as per usual. Making the distinction with how differently autism presents and is treated based on assumed gender is something that really gets me going.
I actually started watching the good doctor again BECAUSE they stopped with the autism speaks drivel. The show always had good intentions and was well written IMO, episodes like this one prove that. I particularly like how throughout the seasons, Shawn’s character develops along side his peers. Not in the same way, but he doesn’t just stay in that perpetual childlike state that seems to be the standard narrative around autism.
Yeah… honestly it’s just entirely unrealistic that he would have been let through medical school without masking. He would have been forced to mask by now, there’s no way he would be that in medical school :/ Like in what world would an autistic person EVER he allowed to be like that in a professional setting? Like I wish 😭
@@RenaissanceRockerBoyyou do know it IS possible to get to adulthood without having that forced on you. I agree incredibally unlikely in the us. but masking isnt essential to being an adult...
@@jimmjimms I’m autistic too, and I think it depends on the area of focus. Unfortunately places like business, engineering, and medicine are all extremely ableist and have strict standards for conformity, and realistically there would be very little tolerance for him in medicine. In most other fields, especially creative, I would agree. Unfortunately it is pretty much impossible to reach adulthood without being forced to mask, that’s just the way it is. You get it drilled into your head very young. A lot of people are forced to mask so heavily that they have no way of realizing they’re even autistic in the first place . I’d say Extraordinary Attorney Woo (kdrama) is a much more accurate portrayal of an autistic person in a highly-stressful career (law). She has to mask some but is clearly autistic.
@@RenaissanceRockerBoy its a fictional story.. it isnt claiming to be about a common situation. the issue is the portrayal not that it isnt matching your life experience...
Sean going "Quinn doesn't like pink. She's more of a purple girl". made me v happy 💖
They have to put that part bc pple like u would burn the show down XD
@@erenjaeger1738 it's great they have such an engaged audience!
Cool, undergoing irreversible changes to her body that will make her unhappy and negatively effect her wellbeing for the rest of her life isn't as simple as a damn colour spectrum.
@@Shuramaru okay so when someone asks you your favourite colour do you outline your entire gender and medical history? or is the colour thing maybe a narrative shorthand?
@@felixhenson9926 The purple thing was a metaphore, it meant that the kid thought they didn't fit in the regular blue and pink.
So no, it wasn't about favourite colours.
idk it just feels kinda weird how quinn was denied what she wanted/liked with both the surgery and the flowers and everyone else is high fiving each other celebrating that they managed to force her into what the others wanted, acting like "we're just doing the morally correct thing! We don't know what she wanted! She can make her own choice later!" and its like, she must have been presenting as a girl for a long ass time before coming to the hospital and her parents KNEW that that is what she wanted.
The obvious choice is that she would have wanted the full surgery but suddenly when faced with the actual choice everyone just did the thing that was easier for THEM. The grandma bringing pink flowers, being TOLD that she doesn't like pink, then having that completely disregarded with a "Oh, I think she'll totally like it, she just doesn't know it" reflection just oozes a "I know you'll come around eventually" intention and it feels kinda really fuckin scummy.
It's crazy to me that seemingly well meaning people are still working with Autism Speaks as late as the the late 2010s when even a quick Google would reveal the criticisms and controversies surrounding them for decades. Like I found out Autism Speaks was not supported by neurodivergent community as a teenager in the oughts.
I learned about that from the most random place, the Mysterious Mr Enter the cartoon reviewer did a video about it. 💀
I'm actually really delighted to find out this episode was so trans-affirming. The scene that was going around on Twitter was so goofy, and I remember remarking to my boyfriend that the audience of The Good Doctor is likely older and less progressive than the audience reacting to the clip on Twitter. If my guess is correct, it's honestly a relief to imagine an older person who's not very progressive or understanding of trans issues watching this episode and actually hearing pretty solid arguments against the "concerns" anti-trans bigots have around child transition.
I am a teenage autistic trans girl named Quinn. I happened to have lived most of my life in a very transphobic state that has, as of now, recently passed a law banning all trans affirming care for youth. I also, have very accepting parents (In fact, they're both queer), and am currently on hormone therapy. Its absolutely astonishing the number of coincidences between me and the character in this episode.
@tealppup5180 It's great that children no longer can make irreversible changes to their body that will make them unhappy and negatively effect their wellbeing for the rest of their life.
I think you should at least have the mental capacity to have a goal for the future and a grasp on what you want to achieve in life.
@@Shuramaruhi. I used to be one of those children. If I didn’t get “irreversible damage” as you call it, I would be either miserable or dead. Funny how a trans persons puberty is considered damage but a cis one is not thought of as being as permanent or damaging. Tell me how not getting my healthcare would have been better for me.
@@novaanimations5958 How old are you right now?
Over 20?
Might be 30 when it will happen but eventually, the hormonal inconsistencies that your body has endured will lead to instabilities withing your overall systems.
It will catch up to you eventually.
We are talking about multiple issues regarding health and money to buy the medication you will need to fix it.
It's cool if you are aware of such things and understand the weight of it but as a child, did you understand the path that would be blocked?
The possibilities lost to such proceedure?
What about social aspects and everything that serrounding it.
The fact that you felt the need to mutilate your body this badly is saddening.
We should be taught to appreciate our bodies.
To work on them, to put in efforts in order to push our limits.
@@novaanimations5958 Truly sad that you cannot accept yourself and in an attempt to reach what you perceive as ideal.
Even the brains are wired differently, producing different signals on similar situations. Truth is, having parts of you removed is not how you reach personal understanding.
There is no gene that makes someone act out differently. Not feeling alright with yourself stems from mind, it is a mental problem and not a physical one.
And no, you are not working on your body, you are destroying it. Working on your body involves improving health.
Injecting hormones that your body isn't producing by itself nor carefully dosing by itself using a system that has evolved for millions of years is not gonna improve physical health.
Are you rich? Do you have personal doctors who take sample of your blood and test the correct dosage of everything or do you just take something that is prescribed or is it just theoretical?
What saddens me is the fact that you feel enough disgust for yourself that the only way you think could potentially make you better is rejecting yourself to such an extreme.
Even then, do you actually know what you want to do in the future? What you strive to achieve? What gives your life purpose?
Such change will permanently lock you out from some of these possibilities.
Such things will forever alter your ability to find a better half. You won't be taken seriously in business, hormone balancing medication is going to cost you an arm and the transitioning surgery takes 70k+
Heart problems, bone issues, blood cloths, organ proficiency, all of those and more is going to miss a step and stumble down.
What if it doesn't fix the crisis you are in?
What if when it's done, you just feel even worse or straight up fake. That trans suffix will never leave you, you know?
If you already know everything and you know where you are headed in life, willing to endure a hard life when the world no longer protects you. Go forth and do whatever but if you aren't sure, you should take time to look over you situation.
Best of luck 🤞.
@@Shuramaru Just wait a few decades and see if almost all of them regret it, or almost none of them do. Either way, you won't be able to tell in real life since most of them will pass as the gender they want to be.
Tbh, maybe this is just my asexual spectrum side coming out, but I've really never understood why it's important to people to have biological kids. Like, it's super weird to me
Greetings fellow ace 💜 in my opinion it’s a combination of our society’s belief that nature outweighs nurture and that all people seem to believe they are somehow special and unique
As someone who may want bio kids someday but also is far from opposed to the idea of adoption, it's just an experience thing to me. Adopted kids are absolutely still your kid and should be/usually are loved just as much as bio, but I also understand the idea of wanting the experience of having a child you literally built, the idea of a person made up of you and a partner you love. The fact that I can make a human is fucking cool, and I understand why it's very important to some to have that experience
Yea I'm the same, acespec and trans man. Don't understand a lick of the whole bio kid thing.
Some people want to live through all their child's childhood experiences at every stage.
@@ijornhribrudkrvirThis is an interesting perspective! I can see why that would be appealing to some people
Honestly really interesting. I do have worries about the prevalence of the 'They're just a kid, they can't make medical decisions' narrative though however. As someone whose been through both planned out and emergency operations (though only one of each) as a child, there's often this underplaying of the impact that a lack of control in them can have and the idea that older children aren't compotent decision makers, while adults are is one of those dominant discourse ideas that circulates around all levels of society, but isn't actually based on anything. Children's decision making capacities are constrained by legal definions, and access constraints (children can't switch schools, peer groups etc on their own and need parental or adult input to be taken seriously as decision makers in nearly any space, while adults get an assumption of de facto reasonableness unless otherwise disqualified [and in fairness many minority, disabled or neuroatypical groups do also get disqualified, so this isn't saying all adults are privileged just that adulthood is a privileging structure]).
The problem is that these sort of shows often naturalise or build complex justifications around, delegitimising teh decision making of children and young people on the basis of futurity, ignoring the fact that in doing so they're hurting an actual person who actually exists and this is often hidden behind bizarre hypotheticals and naturalisation of adult power. The actual experience of children is buried under this monolithic idea that 'children can't make decisions' which draws on developmental discourses are never elaborated (when they are you realise that the most common two would only apply to children under 4 or 7 [depending on which figures you're using] and the more modern neuroanatomical one would apply to basically everybody at all times, because the idea of a 'fully developed brain' isn't an actual reality and the causative links between neuroanatomy and decision making are basically ambiguous and less relevant than the cultural value assessments of the specific choice) or on a hormone discourse. Both of these are basically just cultural assumptions of the inappropriateness of child non-compliance dressed up in science.
I think we can see this clearly if we imagine instead that Quinn chose the minimal treatment, or to go off the puberty blockers. In this case their choice wouldn't be problematised, because it agrees with the medical authority, instead we'd likely see her painted as 'mature for her age' or 'very brave'. Again it's unlikely the actual consequences for her would be acknowledged, but it's clear that the narrative of children being 'just children' and 'unable to make decisions' is only reached for when those children disagree with the assumed reasonable decisions adults around them make, or assume they would make.
An essay I read on mental health care and childhood underlined this by arguing that it is legally impossible for a child with a mental health diagnosis to refuse treatment, even though they technically have a legal right to do so. Either they accept treatment regardless of what it is, or they refuse the treatment, at which point their refusal is used as grounds for dismissing their decision making ability, they're overruled by the adults around them and the treatment is given. When we're just talking about therapy or some less intrusive medications, this is somewhat benign, but you don't need to know much about the history of reform schools, military schools, some private mental health providers, to recognise that this is really toxic to have in a system (especially when a similar 'they're bad children' argument has historically used to delegitimise abuse claims).
I know this is a relatively minor part of the Good Doctor here and it's mostly in service of providing a morally complex, high tension ending that pays off all the emotional threads, but it's also the sort of reasoning that's become so universalised that we don't notice it. Young people are one of the few categories of patients whose consent is basically assumed not to matter in medical law and it's utterly enraging.
I apreaciate the long and nuanced text on the subject, but personally I prefer "so how is it that children are considered mature enough to go through one puberty, but when it comes to the one that doesn't align with their genitals or even puberty blockers, they can't consent?"
Well said! I think what frustrates me about this "children can't make decisions," thing is it's an arbitrarily moving target. I get that people are complicated, and maturity isn't a "one size fits all," kind of thing, but at the same time there's this assumption that once you're eighteen you've magically crossed some finish line into adulthood and should know all the things, be fully matured, and abandon all "childish," hobbies and interests. Even that seems dependant on arbitrary demographics that have nothing to do with actual maturity, or the ability to make decisions.
I know there were things as a kid I was completely sure about, and knew my mind. I also know that at eighteen I was nowhere near fully mature (because of intense neglect and abuse), and my immaturity made me vulnerable to predators (which is solidly the predators fault, but I'm still stuck with the consequences because our society sucks).
These things need to be an open dialogue because there's no one size fits all strategy for maturity. Most kids should be able to decide some important things for themselves. Some kids really do need to be protected, just usually not in the ways our society offers.
The sheer degree to which so many transphobes believe that kids have zero mind of their own beyond what they see on the internet, and that parents deserve absolute authority over every aspect of a kid’s juvenile life is horrifying.
@@tinkergnomad As an AuDHD enby who felt like they didn't have control over their autonomy as a kid, and has an age that doesn't match their mental age (I'm 20 but still feel 10-13). I completely agree. I still love cartoons and have recently returned to engaging with kids' shows I liked as a kid.
I can confidently say when I was fifteen, I was a thousand times smarter than both my parents combined. I know this for a fact because my mother dropped out in middle school and my stepdad as a freshman in highschool. They were both meth addicts and were too busy doing drugs to parent, so I kinda had to grow up when I was still a kid. I also, unlike them, had access to the internet.
The idea that parents should be in charge of their teenage children's lives is bizarre to me.
The moment you said "Autism Speaks" I just went "Oh nooooooooooo"
LMAO me too
I like that you say "also also" when you're making a second addendum to a sentence. I do that too
I say also also and actually actually and it bothers the heck out of me I don't even know why I do that lol
I do that too lmao
Fabulous video, Lily! it is continually frustrating to see the hypothetical future child prioritized over the real transgender person (and in this case, CHILD!) who already exists and is in need of help-- was disappointed but not surprised to see the parents in this episode pick the option that left Quinn *potentially* able to have biological children in the vague future rather than the surgery she actually wanted that would have been gender-affirming for her
It honestly makes me so fucking angry. If my parents did that to me, I would have resented them for it. Prioritizing procreation over quality of life is so fucking disgusting to me, and I'm so tired of being valued for my ability to create a fucking baby over my autonomy as a FUCKING PERSON.
This is a really great analysis. I appreciate you linking the “good doctor”’s transphobia to his upbringing and lack of education on trans people rather than it being because of his autism. I am an autistic person who was raised very religious and conservative, so all I knew was that gender HAD to fit in very specific boxes. I definitely acted in ways that were hurtful to my trans friends. And it wasn’t because of my autism (my trans friends were also autistic)- it was because of the limited way I was taught to see the world growing up. It took a lot of hard work of actually listening to trans people and their experiences and choosing to believe that they understand themselves better than I do. It wasn’t my autism that made it hard to learn, it was that I needed to deprogram myself from my religious conservative worldview.
As a trans person, I still try to fit myself into the tiny boxes the more conservative world around me as made even though my gender and gender expression are much more complicated than the box I've wedged myself in. Always support your friends. It's rough for both in and out of the community
@@skythedragon7897cause you're still biological person u were XD
@@erenjaeger1738 I'm sorry, can you please write that in proper English. I have no idea what you're saying
@@skythedragon7897 True.
I'm saying you're still the person you were before. Biological. Nothing else.
@@erenjaeger1738 I know I'm still biologically female. That however has nothing to do with my gender since that is a social construct
My mom just said she wants a cure for autism, I can't deal with this fucking horseshit, nobody in the household except for me challenged her statement. I have to live around this everyday.
I am in a very similar situation. We will both get out one day and find better things!!
tell her is terminal
I’m so sorry that you have to go through that every day.
That makes no sense. Austin is not something to cure. Wtf. There’s no reason to cure it. It makes you different, not broken.
what is wrong with that. autistic people should have a choice
I always got bad vibes from people making fun of that "I am a surgeon!" scene from the Good Doctor. People kept using the screenshot to make fun of people they didn't like, basically in the same way that people would use "autistic" as an insult. Like yes, it's a cringy representation of an autistic meltdown, but autistic meltdowns are genuinely cringy. It's an uncomfortable situation for everybody involved, and the way people made fun of it is more destructive to autistic people than the show ever was.
Exactly. It shows just how eager people are to mock autistic people. Seeing so many people who I thought I could safely have a meltdown around making "I am a surgeon" memes is really depressing.
It really wasnt because it was an autistic meltdown
he just made weird ass faces during it and it was so unnecesarily weird
Most people dont mock it because hes autistic
@@kaleido457 No
Like
It really doesnt show it.
Its a weird scene in general, compared to other meltdowns
The fact hes autistic doesnt make it less weird
He just looks weird and has weird written text for a meltdown
thats why people mock it.
It Sucks that you have to use Autism and ruin it for people Like me, because you really just blame it on "meh people hate him cuz autism"
@@SawyerFan.1 I'm autistic myself and have had meltdowns very similar to the one in the show. We make weird faces and are "unnecessarily weird". What's being mocked by these memes is his meltdown, which isn't uncommon in autistic people.
How am I "ruining it"? Ruining what? A shitty meme?
@@SawyerFan.1 It wouldn't at all be beyond the realm of possiblity for an autistic person to make some "weird ass faces" when they're having a meltdown. And most people would go on to mock them for it, apparently.
Something disturbing about this is the reality of how many trans people ive seen/known who have had traumatizing experiences, or at least shockingly unprofessional and ridiculous treatment, regarding them being trans, from medical professionals, particularly emergency/urgent care doctors.
Admittably
People wouldnt really give a shit about the "unprofessional" part if they just
Help you with what you have
Like you dont go to the doctor to be treated nicely
Ofc its *BETTER* if they are, but if they fix the problem, no biggie
@@SawyerFan.1medical trauma is a thing. Many women have had horrifying childbirth experiences for example.
@@SawyerFan.1 by unprofessional i mean like inappropriate and insulting, with a disregard for appropriate conduct between patient and care provider.
It's biological facts vs feelings buddy. Doctors dealing with brutal reality.
I'm not trans but as a person with klinefelter syndrome (so I'm physically a bit different from the norm in some ways) I have had some very negative experiences with health workers that have really stuck with me.
I can't even imagine what it would be like for a trans person especially with the lack of training in trans issues and all the transphobia that is very common now a days.
I think the difference between the doctor's insensitivity and the grandma's transphobia is illustrative of the different levels of issues we face. A rude person who nevertheless respects the bodily autonomy of another person and facilitates them having choices about their bodies and helps them follow through on what they want with their bodies. That's a different thing than a "loving" person who tries to control another person and take away their bodily autonomy. Some people are an annoyance to us, others are a danger.
Ya know…and I know y’all know…the percentage of people who regret any kind of transition is, like, .3% or .03% or some teeny tiny number. That kid probably wasn’t gonna regret that procedure. I know fast decisions are hard, but they were right to think in the future if their kid didn’t have access to affirming care
Also an even tinier percentage is actual regret. The majority of detransitions are from familial and societal pressure or it just didn't go far enough for that person. Still a tiny, tiny number.
@@odstarmor557It’s a lower regret rate than knee surgeries. Yet we don’t try to outlaw those because the pros far outweigh the cons, if any other type of surgery had that low rates of regret society as a whole would be ecstatic but because it’s trans suddenly we’re ‘out of our minds’ and ‘harming ourselves’ it’s such a stupid double standard
im detrans and I don't regret my transition. there are things I get self conscious about sometimes but other than that I see the man I was for four years as a completely separate person and I'm happy I got that life experience.
@@ayana9490 that’s an interesting perspective, thanks for sharing
Puberty is irreversible, and her parents likely just left her with lifelong dysphoria that could be easily avoided. The episode does not seem to understand that puberty affects more than hair growth and adam's apple growth. It also affects skeletal structure, facial structure, voice, and much more. The decision made in the episode was horrible, though apparently the show writers also lack the medical knowledge of HRT, which can reverse osteoporosis.
Unpopular opinion: “I am a surgeon.” is supposed to be less pathetic than “I am the danger.” (said by Walter White)
But as we know, majority of male fans see Walter yelling at his wife as something very badass and a great role model while making fun of Shaun’s meltdown because of their ableist mindset and their power fantasy of abusing, murdering people and cooking meth which made them related to Walter in the first place.
I always thought of that scene more as supposed to sell how manic he is, not that he’s cool or anything. Also im more sure that people think the surgeon stuff is funny because they don’t realize the lead is supposed to be autistic but instead just a really bad actor.
Excuse me... Role model?
It still disgusts, and disturbs me the abuse that Anna Gunn, the actress who played Skylar, got from fans of the show. She was literally playing someone in an abusive relationship, then ended up in an abusive para-social relationship with the fans. It churns my stomach.
For Walter I always took it as a sign of his transition into a raging narcissist. People who fanboy him remind me of the people who idolize Rick Sanchez
@tinkergnomad me too, it's one of the most disgusting examples of the sort of misogyny that runs rampant on the internet
"And so far we're only ten minutes into the episode, because i cant seem to shut the fuck up and let it play"
I've seen a lot of react content, and this line took me entirely off guard, good job xD also loved your dry wit about the like and sub button at the end
As someone who hasn't seen the show, I was also under the impression that the "I am a surgeon" memes were from this episode, and I'm really happy having seen this video to get the clarification. my mantra has always been the ironic "You Really Think Someone Would Do That? Just Go On the Internet and Tell Lies?", and still i fall in mental traps about not actually checking if what people say is true, it's humbling, but if nothing else its a reminder to stay vigilant.
And despite the fact that autism speaks managed to worm its way into this project, finding out that they went the mile and actually had a trans actor play the role despite the "industry standard" was also very uplifting and adds confidence that these people are trying to do the right thing with their representation.
When I heard the words "Autism" and "Speaks" together I had to pause the video for a moment because I felt the electricity of pain.
Charlie Bucket fell on hard times after winning the chocolate factory
it's wild how upset some people get when you don't fit the headcannon they had of you. my parents had a similar journey to quinn's parents at first, enforcing strict gender expression on my siblings and i, but they acted more like the grandmother for a few years after i came out. they realized how absolutely miserable i was and finally stopped trying to control how i presented, because they figured out it didn't affect them and it helped me be a person again. 8 or 9 years later, we're all good now. they're as supportive as they can be even though they don't really understand me.
my mom comments on how cute my dresses are, my makeup is nice, my legs look great, my hair is pretty, i look nice. we'll even joke about me having mosquito bite yiddies and her being a uniboob (single mastectomy due to breast cancer), talk about the guy i'm seeing and how the date was, she jokingly tells me not to get pregnant before i'm married, makes me pick her nail polish colors, just simple mother/daughter stuff that i had always wanted
(btw me and my mom are both autistic, and dad probably is as well)
I’m living for the fact you called it ‘headcannon’ and I will be adding this to my vocabulary when speaking about trans people and their experiences lol. I don’t know you but I’m so happy for you that your parents came around, my mom is still taking baby steps
this is so inspiring and amazing 🥹. im so truly happy for you, and you dont know how affirming and happy this is for me 💞. i LOVE IT!
Chicago Med did what I though was a good portrayal of an autistic doctor. He was a good, not great, doctor who had to work on dealing understanding those around him. They were good at dealing with trans characters too.
I disagree. there's an episode where the autistic character undergoes electric shock conversion therapy, and they portray it as a good thing. most of the other episodes do a good job though.
@@defaultdanceonemholy shit
@@defaultdanceonemECT is a good thing and does help a lot of people. It works great with MDD (dysthymia) and for Bipolar Disorder just to mention two things both comorbid with autism.
@@defaultdanceonem That was Dr. Latham.He was unable to understand emotional responses of other and receive some sort of therspy to moderate the condition.
@@availanila its indistinguishable from torture, its bad
What a lovely midweek treat, a new Lily Simpson video!!!
i loved this video, i wish quinn didn’t have to go through this as a character. i’m glad murphy learned from his bigotry in the show as well. i’ve gone through so many of these experiences shared in this episode. i wish more ppl were like quinn and didn’t care about the exact biology of things. ppl can be men or women or in between without being born that way, family doesn’t mean who you’re related to. community can be family.
If I remember Chicago Med has a few episodes centered around character's trans sister. I don't remember the episodes that much, but it's another medical drama about being trans played by a trans actress- which was really neat to see.
I just can't wait until we get trans rep that is not based around trauma. Another fave char is Nomi from Sense8, and she too ends up at one point in a hospital running up against a systemically transphobic medical system and an openly transphobic "caretaker". And I am sure it is important to show how things are bad and hopefully garner actual empathy (rather than bad apple assumptions), but I just don't want to see it any more. Gimme trans guys and gals having a good life, and only dealing with the same drama everyone else is dealing with for the story~
Same
How about victor on the umbrella academy? I mean sure, he doesn’t deal with the same drama as everyone else, but his drama isn’t related to his transness
Does deal with lots of trauma tho, I really identify with him and wish his siblings understood how emotionally neglected he was
elle from heartstopper?
There needs to be more trans characters of all kinds.
I really liked your perspective on this!! I've watched other videos about it and was leaning towards "this show is bad, and slightly transphobic" but honestly it's much more nuanced than that and your explanation makes a lot of sense to me. (a possibly autistic nonbinary person)
it's funny that testosterone blockers are part of testicular cancer (specifically the kind that responds to hormones) treatment in some cases (i dunno if gonadotropins are but it does seem vaguely logical)
Since the memes had started, I had been watching the show, just to figure out if its as bad as the memes portrayed it. And one thing that stuck out in a very early episode was Shaun having a discussion with someone (with some complex neurological condition) and that discussion included a part about how Shaun's autism can't be cured. And I don't know how much of that was Autism Speak leaking in
Anythinng that is anti-autism speaks because they are all about finding a cure.
Autism cannot be cured. Only it's worst symptoms can be treated.
That’s legit the only reason I find the memes so funny is that this may be the worst portrayal of autistic people I’ve EVER seen. And I’m saying that as an autistic person myself as well as many of my friends being autistic. It’s like they saw the stereotypical basic outline of “what an autistic person is” and made that their character instead of actually trying to portray such a complicated and varied disability.
Lily out here ready to join the cast of The Matrix. It's a good look.
I've been watching your videos from oldest to newest, and after watching this one I finally feel like I need to thank you for your nuanced takes and willingness to give the benefit of the doubt while also holding those responsible accountable. I wish more people would allow for nuance in their video essays. I am repeatedly impressed with the depth with which you go into the topic, and how your tangents are as educational and interesting as the main theme of the video. I'm very excited to continue watching more of your stuff!
Thank you for checking the episode first 💗 this show means a lot to me despite its flaws because i would not have realised my autism as early as i did without it
Every clip I've seen of this show is just this man walking in and saying something horrifically racist or transphobic as his first statement in his patient interactions. When I found out the character was created with assistance from Autism Speaks, this made a lot of sense.
"Horrifically racist"..?????????
@@SawyerFan.1they’re probably referring to when he called that teenager a terrorist
Wow, so saying things that are actually true is bad?
@@Shuramaruyou talking about calling a teenager a terrorist because she’s brown? Or are you meaning being transphobic. Because either way you’re factually incorrect
It's absurd to me that you were so confused who the young girl's grandmother was after the neon sign that was "my parents didn't want my grandmother to know *looks directly at the woman who is, through the language of cinematography, clearly her grandmother*".
Exactly! I didn’t get that part. Maybe it’s a joke like “Help! Cinematography not painfully obvious enough!”
Tbf, they’re also autistic. So perhaps that cue is not clear enough for them. I know I’ve definitely missed some very clear cues before in my life.
He is just barely paying attention to the shows he makes videos about. It is a common theme in every one of his videos.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
God, as an autistic person who watched the show for a long time (though I dropped it eventually, simply because the romance drama got to intense, but that's a medical drama thing in general), I was SHAKING at all those gross memes that reduced the complexities of the show down to "Ha ha autistic man sucks at social situations, meltdown funny". It felt so awful to see the entire internet make fun of autistic characters (because, yes that IS what it was) under the guise of "media criticism" that way.
The show is deeply flawed, yes, but in a far more nuanced and complex way than those disgusting memes communicate by reproducing distilled ableism, under the thinnest veneer of allyship and you are discussing that beautifully. I really hope EVERYONE who ever posted one of those memes watches this video and rethinks their actions...
For real!!! That entire meme just reeks of ableism. Tbh any Allistic person claiming to be accepting (or, gods forbid, an ally) of Autistic people who laughed at it and shared it around are just human garbage. They are why I mask so hard that I don't even know when I'm masking anymore. They're why I'm anxious as fuck about sticking up for my own autonomy and asserting myself in public. It's all the same large group.
@@lalas181no, this meme is made to make fun of people who think that autistic people as childish lunatics
It was just the disgusting “autism screeching” meme from 4chan all over again. The problem was him being transphobic, not his yelling moment which was an obvious meltdown to anyone who knows an autistic person. It was a solid two months of endlessly mocking autistic traits :/
@@RenaissanceRockerBoyI mean, as an autistic person with mostly autistic friends, I found the scene itself to be an offensive caricature of a meltdown, but go off telling us that *everyone* who memed on it was being ableist.
@Jane-oz7pp The way I see it, Autistic people are free to comment on it/give criticism. But a lot of the nonautistic people doing it just feel like they're making fun of autistic people.
I really appreciate the nuance you bring to your analysis of media. Very rarely is the conclusion that the episode or show are only good or bad, just mostly one or the other, or good in some ways and bad in others. That seems like a much more realistic portrayal of how these things work.
The fact that the Good Doctor didn't immediately identify or at the very least didn't become extremely curious with the trans woman just screams "We did all our research at a eugenics organization" and let me tell you, it really shows. The main problem with the scene is that he has no incentive to say such harmful things. He's not trying to impress the people around him, he's not trying to conform to the comfortable, he's not even passively doing a white supremacy. The scene was extremely badly written and it could have been saved by just having him, in his confusion, latching on to what one of his transphobic colleagues say in a desperate attempt to make sense of things. Instead, he has to be the one delivering the punches when he has no established reason to do so.
EDIT: They also seem to be driving really hard into the "autism = robot" trope which while it's true autistic people tend to lean hard into the logical thinking, sometimes to a pretty extreme extent, that doesn't mean that's all they're capable of doing, it's a preference.
16:11 - I have a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis, and I’ve yet to go to a doctor for the first time and not have them say: “can you spell that? I’ve never heard of that before.” Oh wonderful, well that’s why I’m here so I guess we’re learning together I’m not afraid at all. /s
I think what sucks is when you never see your own type of autism represented because it strays too far from the stereotypes - another somewhat stereotypical character who doesn't represent you becomes another disappointment at that point
32:43 was there a tw at all for suicide? a lot of this is hitting hard to home and i just don’t remember. i am autistic and trans and i’ve tried to do what quinn did and this is just really emotional for me. i was not expecting this at all
I don't recall there being one, and I think that was an oversight you are right to call out.
Why would you need a Tw for it..?
@@SawyerFan.1 If you were going to get slapped in the face, would you like to know ahead of time to brace for it or just be slapped out of nowhere?
@@wolfman-zd1ed id rather have it as a surprise so i dont have the fear of it tbh...
You deserve to get a TW, and I know I can’t give you one but I wanted you to know that it isn’t to much to ask for. You deserve respect when it comes to topics that affect you.
From a fellow stranger - talk care 💕
I was privileged to take part in a teaching session with medical students, helping them understand what their potential trans patients would need from them. I wish that kind of teaching happened everywhere
It's really nice to see you taking the time to look at the wider context of the clip that was going around. I didn't care enough about the show to really pay attention to what all was happening during that time, but in general I think this is a great reminder for people to stop, think, and actually look into something they see online before spreading it for outrage. I doubt anyone was really hurt much by the backlash of the clip, but I'd much rather see people spreading positive representation or at least discussing what was done right/wrong and the complexities of an episode that was well-intended
In season 4, there is another trans episode with another trans actor displaying a trans man, which makes it all seem so much more natural. Great actor, sadly I forgot his name
This episode clearly tries to be supportive but the ending ruins it. A young girl who has already attempted to kill herself when being denied transition is forced against her explicit will to go through the wrong puberty because her parents don’t respect her clear ability to understand the consequences, and the episode has the audacity to frame this as a positive. This episode is still transphobic despite the attempt it makes to be supportive.
There is no such thing as "going through the wrong puberty".
@@waynebollmanthere is such thing as me “pushing you into oncoming traffic”
@@waynebollman yeah but an amab cis person suddenly going through a *shudders because incel vibes* female *unshudders because incel vibes* puberty would need blockers asap
With people like the grandma, it’s always about their desire to be a great grandparent, rather than the individuals choices for their own life.
"When I turn 18 I'll be back here for my GCS." (sighs in trans mom) No, girl, no, research your surgeon.
I never watched The Good Doctor, but I saw that meme, and I first thought it was just an instance of over the top, bad acting. But after finding out this character is supposed to be a representation for autism, I genuinely don't know how to feel.
Haven't watched the show either, but from the clips here, and being autistic myself, I feel like the acting falls into the trap that a lot of allistic actors do when trying to portray autism. It's over the top and unrealistic and has zero nuance. It doesn't tell us anything about the character other than 'he's an autistic character on tv'
Jeremy??!! What are you doing here?! not used to seeing you outside of the BradTaste-sphere
@@tatertotbobaandpieck I'm everywhere!
@@froggy-tq6xk I'm not autistic, but I am neurodivergent, and yeah I agree.
@@froggy-tq6xkold Onion News Network videos have a better autistic character
great video. nice to see a level headed, well researched response and your humour is brilliant
The idea that the parents aren't in the wrong is absurd. They directly went against their child's wishes because they didn't like it. They dehumanized their own child, which is way too normalized.
A kid cannot make a decision like that. Parents does.
@@studybooks3395 a parent cannot make a decision for their child, the child is their own human. The biggest failing on the part of people like you is underestimating children, treating them like property. They can make decisions on their own. They need guidance, not control.
@@solarpellets a childs brain isnt fully formed or matured, theres a reason why you have to be certain ages to do certain things, the parents point of we havent had time to talk about this between each other or their Therapist, is valid, rushing into a life long irrevisble choice is hard, they made the choice that they thought would have the least negative impact for their child if they was wrong.
And i say this as a trans person, do i think they should of gone with what she wanted, overall yes. but i dont agree they made the wrong decision. theres a difference in underestimating your child, and knowing that a child lacks maturity experience and development to make certain decisions.
@@avlaenamnell6994 They shouldn't need to talk to each other nor the therapist. The child talking to the therapist, sure, but even then it's impossible for the therapist to know the child's mind, nor to trust the therapist fully. It's not rushing, it's their identity that they know and have experienced. The chance the child was wrong is absurdly small. Knowing your own identity does not require maturity, experience, nor development, it's a part of yourself. You don't choose it nor does it change, it just is and you just know. Using "experience" as a qualification is absurd, especially when the entirety of human knowledge and experience is in the palm of your hand. They might not communicate their identity properly due to lack of maturity, sure, but this is a big thing, and, like I said, the chance of them being wrong is small. I don't know why you mention your identity, I'm a trans woman as well, that's irrelevant. "In my opinion, the child young and they don't know" isn't a reason to make decisions over a person's desires. Your opinion doesn't matter in this case, it's the child's identity, not yours.
@@solarpellets its not "the child young and dosent know" its "the child is young and may not fully understand all the ramifcations of each choice in the long term."
I dont doubt quin is a woman and that is her identity. i do doubt a childs ability to make a decision regarding life long health.
Same as i wouldnt trust a child to get married, or to vote.
ok I'll admit, that definitely isn't as bad an episode as I thought it would be (still not gonna watch the show tho lol, although I probably wouldn't even if the autism representation was spotless)
your videos are always great tho. I honestly wish I had a topic to suggest, but the only thing I can think of is the peaks and valleys of Deep Space 9's transness, but that's a topic that's been covered to death so I'd understand if you'd rather go for more underserved topics. (I'm always gonna want to hear more commentators I like talk about DS9 tho)
This episode was surprisingly wholesome and it hits close because as autistic person i also didn't understood transness at some point of my life since it conflicted with what i was always told since childhood by people i considered authorities so it took time and meeting trans people to fully understand it. Also seeing dr Murphy being excitable and empathetic rather than cold and mean for sake of it is refreshing, it's way close to how we are in reality.
I am autistic. In my early years, I struggled HARD to understand trans (and also gay) people. I struggled to understand the difference between sex and gender identity. Similar to Shawn, it wasn’t that I hated trans people, it was that I simply couldn’t understand them. I strongly related to Shawn’s arc here. Once I understood transness, I discovered that I related to it. Long story short, I am diagnosed with gender dysphoria and am working towards transitioning.
So, genuine question from another autistic person who honestly really relates to exactly what the doctor said at the beginning about the question of what he's "meant to be" making no sense, and that he simply was male; I have zero innate sense of 'gender'. I don't understand the concept of gender in any logical or philosophically cogent way, not even following an assumed internal set of premises, because the notion of qualia being what it is means no person who has ever existed can possibly individually 'know' what it is to experience something/the same experience as someone they are not, let alone the grouping of a whole sex class into a singular entity and/or segregated experience. I am not remotely 'gender conforming'. I have, however, longed to be male very powerfully at times, often still do, in a manner that aligns with a great deal of what I've read and heard self-described trans people describe as the very same experience that informs their belief that they are trans, that gender exists, that they experience what they absolutely know to be the 'wrong' one for their sex - and this is innate and unchangeable. I used to accept the premise that others were trans, and accepted this on face value due to a strong belief taking people at their word that their own experience of the world was exactly as they say it is, because they are them, and I am me, and each of us can only ever be the sole expert on our own experiences.
But the more I listened, the more I saw how it seemed I *do* share the experience they describe as 'being trans', except when applied to me, now I simply cannot decouple it from the only reasoning that makes (internally, externally, logical and philosophical) sense - because I have spent my life having my physical sex used to dominate, abuse, discriminate and other me as a freak, because my interests and strengths bear no resemblance to what they are 'supposed' to be. I have never experienced any truth to the notion of a 'gendered experience'; I have, however, had my life unalterably damaged and limited in a very real sense by the _idea_ that my sex must define me and limit me in ways it absolutely does not line up with the reality of my own experience of existence. Ie. I cannot see gender as reality based, and the assumption by others of it being so has been the source of nothing but harm, pain and discrimination in my life - resulting in the very situation where I am told I cannot be trusted as the expert on my own experience, and that I must not exist as I very much do.
No matter the position of the people insisting their own assumptions take precedence over one's own _actual living of it,_ that is something I cannot get behind. And from what I hear from trans people describing their pain, it seems to be a major point of contention that they are also not believed about their own experiences - yet it would seem the whole notion of gender/transgender (as I understand they are describing it to be) is based on the inherent contradiction of simultaneously asserting this truth whilst also asserting absolute knowledge of the experience of others - people that they are not and cannot ever be - as an experience they are expert on over those people as well. Whether claiming to have the 'true' experience of a single individual that is not them, or taking an entire half of the population to share a common set of traits as a monolith that is both innate and unalterable, to the degree that it is able to be claimed by them, and yet not by those who are actually living and experiencing the world as the sex they claim to be, both are equally impossible. Yet the latter is far more audacious, and a to someone who has suffered for the notion that this monolith aka 'gender' exists and takes precedence over what I know and say repeatedly is the actual truth of my own existence; that is to me, at this point, an unresolvedly irrational and ludicrously insulting proposition, so much more so because it comes from a group that seem to credibly claim to also have suffered the indignity and harm of such wrong-headed assumptions - that others know them better than themselves.
I'm not sure this will make sense to you in regards to where I am at, and where I struggle to reconcile these concepts; however, if it does, and if you feel able and inclined to answer - my question to you is, how did you arrive at the conclusion you did from what appears, to me at least, to be a very similar line of logic I am currently seeing these concepts as? You described what seemed to me to be an almost perfectly reversed set of changes in your attitudes and ideas on the topic as the ones I have gone through; where before I felt like *I* was impossible or wrong, that gender as it was constantly treated did not remotely fit my experience as it was supposed to be. And yet once I applied the concept of 'transness' as a lense to my experience, I now can no longer help but see an intractable series of inherent contradictions that have repeatedly and unwaveringly led me to the same conclusion - that *it* is impossible. Or to put it another way; I used to think I must be in error, as my experience of gender was nothing at all like what it was always assumed to be - but now I can't help but see the only logical conclusion is that my experience is exactly what it is, and it's other people and this idea of 'gender' that simply isn't consistent with reality, or for that matter, consistent within itself.
Obviously you are under no obligation to go into this, nor even read this comment; but if you do, and you don't mind going into what changed in your outlook, I would really appreciate hearing it. I am always looking to improve my understanding of concepts, especially those that seem to so personally affect the lives of others as well as myself, and if I am missing something vital that could change my current view in light of new considerations that paint it differently, I would like to learn what I am missing and adjust my view if it is indeed wrong or poorly reasoned. I do not want to hurt anyone, but neither can I in good faith see the path trans people have laid out over the years as, to be very honest, making any sense within the framework that they lay out and how it could possibly apply as such to others as well. So your input on something I may have missed would be invaluable - if you feel able to offer it.
im autistic and the one episode ive watched of this show made me incredibly angry, it was around perhaps the 3rd season or so? it was just on tv and i had nothing better to do
a patient *died* because a coworker, who presumably has known dr murphy for a while now, gave the vague advice of trusting his juniors(?), and then when one of said juniors needed help he *asked* the guy if he wanted to double check something instead of phrasing it as a request! so dr murphy, when presented with a choice moments after that vague advice said that there was no need for him to double-check bc he trusts him
when the patient *dies* and dr murphy says he wouldve noticed the thing the junior dr missed, the dr who gave the vagueass advice went "omg he was asking for help" sorta blaming him for it when. yall KNOW this man struggles with communication and social cues how fucking hard is it to just say what you mean????? is it really that difficult for an allistic person to just say "hovering around them will only make them more nervous and more likely to make mistakes, let them come to you when they need help" or something along those lines? when dealing with someone in a *hospital* is it that hard to say "i feel like i may have overlooked something, can you plase also examine this patient?" especially considering the emotional attachment you've created w said patient?
it was just an entirely avoidable situation and it pissed me off so much that the blame was placed on dr murphy when he was just genuinely trying to follow the other dr's advice
I’ve followed this show since S2 first came out, and rewatched it like three times since. I’m also autistic and nonbinary.
I started watching the show shortly before I was diagnosed with autism (in my twenties, because I was assigned female at birth and lol, what girl gets diagnosed with autism in their youth?? Mythical creature vibes 😂). Shawn being so stereotypically autistic was somehow very helpful and healing for me. I learned to lean into my autism and learned the difference between my masking and my true self. The robotic flat voice, the difficulty with empathy, not understanding social rules, meltdowns, hating wascloths (yes, there was an episode where Shawn tried to get over the ickyness of wet washcloths), and many more things.
The trans episode was so great, in my eyes. I didn’t understand being trans until my early teens. I didn’t understand being nonbinary until my late teens/early twenties. Watching Shawn learn to understand and respect trans people and showcasing the lack of education people have on trans issues was great. For some people, a random episode in a medical show is the first (and/or one of the only) times they’ll be exposed to trans issues. A low-level examination of bigotry is just what they need to develop some basic understanding and respect for trans people.
“She’s more of a purple girl” deadass makes me tear up every single time. It’s just so beautiful to me, Shawn learning new things, examining his own bigotry, and willingly and actively changing (even were the trans person is not directly present, so it isn’t performative activism but a genuine change).
Also, kinda sad about the meme. I watched that episode when it first came out (years ago I believe?) and Shawn just lost his entire dream because of some ableist asshole with more power than him waltzed in and decided that his skill didn’t matter. I’d have a meltdown, too.
I do wish they had hired an autistic actor to play Shawn. But with The Good Lawyer, they actually did get an actress with OCD! So the showrunners are learning and improving, too. I’m just glad that Shawn is a character with agency, rather than a prop (like in Music by Sia, where the autistic child could be replaced with a regular untrained dog and nothing would change).
Yep, you get it. To me, (briwn cis girl, diagnosed with autism at 16, now in her 30s) it was incredibly nice to finally see my experience and struggles reflected on TV and not played as a joke. People who make gross memes about the show are dismissing how important a,step forward it was for our representation...
I remember that meme suddenly being everywhere a couple months ago, and I was really confused because I recognized the scene but I stopped watching the show years ago. I started to think maybe I’d just given myself a false memory of seeing that scene because that made more sense to me than a moment from an episode, like, 5 years ago randomly going viral after all this time.
I've been recovering in the hospital and binging your show and I can say the mascara line in this episode made me legit laugh out loud and brightened my day, thank you for what you do.
Lily: I'm going to put out fewer videos per month
Also Lily: here have a video thats almost an hour long
(jokes aside this was such a great watch, thank you so much for actually looking into the show beyond the memes!)
Until only a year or two ago, I was extremely transphobic because that's ALL I knew. Being raised with what seems like basic facts like "Dogs bark, murder is bad, the sky is blue, etc." So it's very hard to accept and change your ENTIRE way of thinking. I felt super bad but it's hard to just "change". I was so sheltered I didn't even know about the LGBTQ community and only discovered as an adult that I'm not straight like I fully felt my whole life. But I've gotten to a point now where I've accepted it and have trans friends and it doesn't seem different at all anymore 🥰
It's just... A lot to get used to because the idea of transgender is unfortunately still a very foreign concept when people aren't raised with anything like that, only boys and girls and genitalia determining that. It's still hard to wrap my head around at times but not my place to judge since I don't have that same mindset or experience.
The problem is mostly with society as a whole, because you can't know or understand something you never encounter and believe to be false. I have personal experience with that mindset now, and changing and becoming a better person than how I was raised over time.💙
As an autistic person myself I could easily defeat the good doctor with my powers of making out with his mom 😎👍
THANK GOD SOMEONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS SERIOUSLY AT LENGTH. you are so brave for tackling this subject and on behalf of a trans, quite possibly autistic teen, THANK YOU.
Whys it "Brave" Its a youtube Channel thats their Job
40:30 As a person with savant syndrome, I actually do form such almost holographic things when I thinking about a problem.
That grandmother shouldn't have had any say in this. Fertility isn't that important because adoption exists. Choosing future fertility above Quinn's immediate well-being is wrong.
Additionally, I don't think the other doctor was transphobic at all, regardless of the idea that he might've just been keeping quiet about it. In his private conversations with Murphy, he refers to Quinn as a "her" even though there was no one around to impress.
Getting hit with a transphobic RUclips ad in the middle of this video gave me whiplash, oml. Love the video btw. ♥️
Speaking about "similar experiences" and not being supportive: In my early transition there was a complaint made against me to child welfare. An investigator came out to the house and accused me of "sexually inappropriate behavior involving children", and would refuse to comment further. This lead to a detailed 6-month long investigation into my family, in which we were all put through the literal ringer, and during which I continually asked: "What is the specific accusation made against me?" and "If this is a criminal matter, how come the police have not been involved?"
Long story short - After almost 6 months, I was informed that the complaint was regarding me "wearing female clothing in front of children". To which my response was: "That is not 'sexually inappropriate behavior involving children'; and is a human rights abuse." After threatening to reveal the entire issue to the media, and the police and threatening to file a human rights complaint - the case was swiftly ended.
6-months of government abuse over wearing female clothing (and I might add, I dress extremely conservatively). And this wasn't even in America - but in Canada, in 2004 (less than 1 year prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country, and at a point when public perception of queer people was quite positive).
Even to this day, I have trauma around feeling like I was a criminal suspect - and treated as such, over what was essentially a non-complaint. And what was worse, the investigator and caseworker involved with the case made it clear on many occasions that Child Welfare was "above the law" and they were authorized to violate both privacy, and human rights laws in pursuit of an investigation (which is patently false). In hindsight, I should have sued the organization for human rights violations - as they should never have sent an investigator to the house over "wearing female clothing" in the first place, and the investigation was motivated by bigotry; but I was so deeply fearful of further reprisals from the government about being trans, that the thought of taking them to court terrified me, and continued to terrify me long past the statute of limitations. That experience almost certainly was part of why I spent more than 5 years transitioning.
I'm glad you made a vid on this! I'm happy to hear that the episode was way better than the minute that blew up had people assuming.
From what you've described, it actually seems like a very complex and nuanced episode! I'm happy it exists and this makes me want to watch the whole show now
I think you're going waaaaaaaaay to soft on this show and way too hard on people having an issue with it. I'm pretty sure most people on the left understand there is probably some sort of redemption arc for Murphy, that doesn't make it any less messed up they decided to do this storyline with this specific character, something usually given to characters like Homer Simpson or Hank Hill; oafish men we laugh at for how stupid and backwards they are.
Its not that the show The Good Doctor is transphobic that is the issue, it's that the character himself is and it feeds into harmful stereotypes I've seen time and time again in media about autistic people being narrow-minded just because we perceive info in our brains differently than allistics.
Also, every single other autistic person I have ever met understands what being trans is, and even are trans themselves in a majority of cases. The overlap between being queer and neurodivergent is a huge one and we need less stories talking about us as we're some sort of opposing sides.
Good on them for casting an actual trans girl at least. Makes you wonder why they couldn't do it with autistic characters as well don'tcha think?
These are all good points and I hope you were able to find some takeaway from the video
The bit about "I can just adopt kids" is an interesting one. It makes it sound quite easy, like getting a kitten from a shelter. I don't think it is that easy though, and probably requires a fair bit of money and other criteria. Also hoping the foster parents or organization are trans/queer inclusive.
@@martinajohnson the current foster care system is influenced by biases and oppressive forces in society. Doesn't mean the concept of adoption itself is ethically problematic
I can’t speak for drs. But nurses are taught to be understanding of identities and be advocates when someone doesn’t respect that. At least in my state.
I’m a non-binary neurodivergent nursing student and everyone in my class works hard to not misgender me and I get so many apologies when it happens. Lots aren’t good at it but they’re trying.
Thank you for the video ❤
Lily, how can you wear a leather jacket in this weather? It looks amazing but I wonder how you manage to not melt. 😅
The Matrix
she's magic
Do you not know about different hemispheres? When it's summer on one side of the planet it's winter on the other side. Lily is in New Zealand, where it is currently winter. It's not that complicated
I finally found out what the full episode was. I was very concernerned when the clips came out, it just felt like a lot was being omittted. I am glad I found your video
The I Am A Surgeon scene still has to do with his bedside manner, though. He got moved to a different job because he tells a woman whose baby is in critcal condition that the baby's condition was caused by her antidepressants, making a distressed mother with mental heath issues even more upset. So they move him to a position where he won't have to interact with patients head on in the same way, but can still use his diagnostic skills (I forgot what the actual position is called). So, yeah, it still has to do with them writing his autism as making him kind of an asshole.
the ponytail really suits you, damn. I barely ever see transfem people with this kind of haircut, its underated i think.
so far i've only seen this video and your harry potter one, but i really like your nuanced view of these pieces of media. focusing on analyzing it instead of deciding that its 1. irredeemably evil??? and 2. not without any merit
I've heard of autistic masking includes gender expression, which makes a lot of sense. When I'm with my neurodivergent friends, it always feels like a genderless zone. We're all just.. people. We don't have to perform any gender expectations. Gender often comfuses me, like all the intricate social rules surrounding gender.
i have to say the was you covered this episode was very well done, thank you for that. also as an autistic person i thank you for touching on autism speaks as the more people know how bad they are and that they should avoid them the better.
Thank you. I am sure my daughter will appreciate everything that helps me and other parents move to acceptance.