Morgan: You Want My Fries?

Morgan: You want my fries?

Claire: Not if they're pity fries

Morgan: they taste the same!

Little Morgan Sketch!!

my parents (and me by extension because whenever they watch something i'm remotely interested in i cannot keep away) have been watching the good doctor again and we're halfway through season 1 and hoo boy it is not the good autism representation i thought it was 4 years ago thanks to college where the fuck do i start

like the moment they said the definition of autism as a "mental condition" i was like "uhhh hold up it's a neurodevelopmental condition" putting the rest under the cut because it's more word vomit (for just the first 10 episodes) than i expected

the ableism is pretty much everywhere and i don't mean just how the other characters undermined and disrespected shaun early on

where are all the other neurodivergent people oh my god where is ASAN where are the autism support and advocacy groups where are the occupational, physical, and speech therapists it's a tertiary hospital with 3D printers for fuck's sake

so far the only other autistic character is this one patient and i also felt so weird at how him being fine with the lights on in the end of the episode looked like some sort of character development complete with bg music????? like yes okay some kids might be like that but it's probably also a sensory processing issue and i don't see that being mentioned or addressed within the episode????? but the parents are great

also okay they just hire shaun without reading up on autism or talking to him to learn more about his condition and his experiences, to understand him, to understand that other autistic people aren't the same as him, or at least find out if he needs any accommodations???? idk their whole system but they should've had that conversation

also UGH glassman's reasons for why shaun needs a therapist like for social interaction??? i liked how supportive he was until he was like "you gotta learn how to get along with people better" or "you gotta take care of yourself" when before you were like "he's high functioning" and you were telling the other doctors to give him a chance??? we can see that shaun's independent and takes good care of himself and it's his work environment that has to change even if and especially because it's a hospital. also given that he doesn't want to see the therapist umm how about getting acquainted with the other people in his apartment community and oh look his neighbor's nice to him oh they're friendly to each other look LEA IS RIGHT THERE

the environment/system isn't modified for him, the other characters still treat him like he's neurotypical. like i said the ableism is everywhere

yes yes this is just season 1 they've got many more episodes to improve but several patients/cases post hiring shaun they haven't made any actual effort to understand and accommodate for his autism (why??? not dramatic enough???) so in this regard the prognosis isn't good

melendez questions why they chose a boy with a heart he can't fix but not why they'd screen that kid and 99 others who all need life-saving surgery???? like i guess that "humanitarian program" really is a thing but isn't that just a little fucked up

and claire oh i like claire so UGH why does her character get treated like shit how come she gets the mean racist patient? is she going to always get mean patients and shitty superiors while the guys don't? also melendez didn't believe that she came up with the femur replacement. but claire and melendez have good chemistry and i ship them already ugh. anyway god bless her she's doing the best she can

lea is great with shaun all around she could help him and provide support the way glassman thinks a therapist could help shaun i mean yeah she does need to study up but still she's great

although yeah with what we get about shaun's trauma and backstory that's what he needs a therapist for

the one thing i liked about shaun having nurse fryday (?) as a boss for 1 day is how important nurses are! especially older nurses who've worked in the same hospital for many years, dealt with multiple batches of interns, residents, consultants etc.??? they've seen things and they'd definitely know more than med students and residents. yes these doctors will gain more experience and expertise but the nurses are RIGHT THERE

anyway i'm gonna complain about the ableism again like i guess they had shaun deferring to nurse fryday as early as episode 2 but they couldn't have the other doctors research about autism, get resources, speak to shaun and other autistic and neurodivergent people, speak with ASAN they should've been doing these ever since hiring shaun he deserves so much better

will i keep watching? yeah i like shaun, claire, and lea too much god bless these three characters

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE + letterboxd reviews (x, x, x) insp.

Is Morgan just.. gay now? Did we do it?

Harry: Mom, we need more oreos...

Athena: We went grocery shopping yesterday.

Harry: I know I'm sorry...

Athena: I bought you five packs of the double stuffed kind.

Buck: I know, we're sorry.