Best Autism TV Show?

DepictDave

DepictDave

Active member
I've been watching both Atypical and The A Word and I like them both in different ways. I know there are other shows out there that also deal with autism (apparently Everything's Gonna Be OK is a good one but I haven't seen it) so I want to know what there is to watch and whether it's any good.

On a side note, I've just watched Loop on Disney+ and found it quite touching.
 
Community, arguably Criminal Minds, Parenthood has an autistic play and autistic, The IT Crowd, The A Word has autistic actors and is also one I really enjoy.
I personally despise every aspect of the Good Doctor with the passion of five thousand suns, from the fandom, to the writing, to the usage of an autistic as an interesting lens, to having a NT play an autistic character, to the constant justification of ableism even when trying to condemn it, and especially its fandom.
 
I know you two guys like the a word,so I wonder if it’s just me who really dislikes it?
when it first got announced, I thought it woud do a lot for autism, and LD as there is some LD focus (I can’t remember his name, he has downs).
the reason I don’t like it is it’s main focus is not autism,it’s all the Non autistic Relationships Going on around the child, I do like how they have showed an adult autistic character but I woud choose atypical or the good doctor first-I know the good doctor has connections to autism speaks but David Shore who remade it did everything I think he wanted to do in house with ‘Gregory‘ but had no way of fitting it in,he did the episode (‘lines in the sand’ I think it was called?) where House related lots to a profoundly autistic boy and in A different episode (I think) Wilson-the oncologist said he was either aN ass or he had aspergers.

casualty also had an autistic character in it for a while,a paramedic called ruby, they focused on her sensory issues and ability with information taking-kind of stereotypical of autists without LD but i Really liked the character,then they stopped hinting at autism and she recently got wrote out of the show,sadly.

another character in casualty-Dylan is very ‘house md’ like,riht from the beginning he was so similar.
to me he is an autistic character but because he is so similar to the house character David Shore further focussed on (the good doctor was originally Korean I think,and is on Netflix) I think it’s sadly A rip off,every time I see him I think of ‘Gregory house‘.
 
Lines in the sand sounds right. I loved House as a child. You’re right, he definitely was on the autism spectrum, if I remember correctly it was the same episode because House struggled with the loss of his carpet, that was covered in bodily fluids, and Wilson was trying to explain to their boss why he was having so much trouble. I just never really thought about it beyond that episode as most of my focus was on his cases and his impressive jerkiness.
 
DepictDave said:
I've been watching both Atypical and The A Word and I like them both in different ways. I know there are other shows out there that also deal with autism (apparently Everything's Gonna Be OK is a good one but I haven't seen it) so I want to know what there is to watch and whether it's any good.

On a side note, I've just watched Loop on Disney+ and found it quite touching.
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The problem with portrayals of us on TV is that they're just outsider perspectives and very lacking in authenticity. When they intoduce an autistic person into the mix it's cringe tokenism. We need a good writer/director to tell the real story. Preferably an autistic writer/director.
 
Jacs said:
The problem with portrayals of us on TV is that they're just outsider perspectives and very lacking in authenticity. When they intoduce an autistic person into the mix it's cringe tokenism. We need a good writer/director to tell the real story. Preferably an autistic writer/director.
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That would be wonderful. At the moment most shows seem to treat autistic characters the same way tralfamordorians treated Billy Pilgrim.
 
DepictDave said:
I've been watching both Atypical and The A Word and I like them both in different ways. I know there are other shows out there that also deal with autism (apparently Everything's Gonna Be OK is a good one but I haven't seen it) so I want to know what there is to watch and whether it's any good.

On a side note, I've just watched Loop on Disney+ and found it quite touching.
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I can't really name a show but I can say that Entrapta from Netflox Shera is easily one of the best examples of Autistic Spectrum Disorder I've seen.
 
Jacs said:
The problem with portrayals of us on TV is that they're just outsider perspectives and very lacking in authenticity. When they intoduce an autistic person into the mix it's cringe tokenism. We need a good writer/director to tell the real story. Preferably an autistic writer/director.
Click to expand...
Everything's Gonna Be Okay actually does have autistic actors, including the main role and was created and written by someone who came to realise they were autistic working on the show
 
I actually like the Good Doctor - much more than Atypical. I haven't seen all of either show but have seen and read a lot of stuff about them.
The Chosen is a show about Jesus and his disciples, but really not what you'd expect from a "Christian" show - it's not preachy and a lot of non-religious people enjoy it. Anyway, Matthew is portrayed as autistic in the show and I really enjoy it. The actor isn't autistic but I heard the creator of the show is.
Pablo is good too - the main actors and voice actors are all autistic - but it is a show for young children, on CBeebies

If you're interested in media outside of TV like movies and books let me know! (I think I have a special interest in autistic representation )😄