"The Good Doctor" Series Premiere, Sept. 25

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Good news.

******SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****SPOILERS*****
At first Dr. Murphy at first looks at the Transgender issues in a very Autistically logical way. The trans girl is "he" because she was born in a male a body, emotions or identity does not occur to him. But I like that as the show goes on Dr. Murphy while not understanding her also feels a connection to her because he like her also was bullied relentlessly for being different, for being himself.

He was actually being transphobic when he made those comments.

It was transphobic out of literal ignorence not hostility. As he stated in the show he was not taught about transgender in medical school. He made a false but logical conclusion based on the information he had.

This is a mistake anyone would make, autistic or not. I have seen it a lot online. But at least the trans teen took his comments well because some fly off the handle.

On “The Good Doctor,” new neighbor Kenny (Chris D’Elia) has taken advantage of Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) from the very beginning, and in last week’s episode, one of Shaun’s colleagues even pointed out he was being manipulated after he footed the bill for Kenny and Kenny’s girlfriend to go to an amusement park.

But Shaun is confused because Kenny has provided genial companionship for him in the past. They watch TV, eat dinner, and play video games together. Kenny once helped Shaun break into the apartment complex’s pool when he wanted a midnight swim. And Kenny, who has just gone through a breakup, even leaves Shaun a note in the morning: “Shaun, Thanks for being there for me. Your best bro, Kenny.”

While these are tangible examples of friendship Shaun can point to, he doesn’t see the more insidious ways that Kenny has been taking advantage of him, usually financially or for material goods. Kenny has used Shaun’s cable hookups, eats his food, and even straight-out admits he’s taken his money (but it was to order food for both of them, natch).

It’s only in Monday’s episode, when Shaun brings pizza to Kenny’s apartment to share, that he starts to actually realize that something is wrong. Not only is Kenny already holding his own March Madness party without inviting Shaun, but he’s “borrowed” Shaun’s TV without asking permission and rejects his company because his “quirks… [don’t] really jive with this kind of face time” with other people. Kenny then takes the pizza before shoving Shaun out the door.

In short, Kenny is embarrassed by Shaun and only is “friends” with him when it’s convenient and advantageous. While this example may seem ridiculous (did he really have to take Shaun’s pizza along with his dignity?), it’s also relatively benign. Because people with autism have difficulty reading emotions and motivations, this makes them susceptible to being taken advantage of, or even worse, becoming victims of abuse, violence, or neglect.

Highmore appears in a video posted on Twitter through Autism Speaks

I think it's ok, but fuels stereotypes that we are all brilliant, savant, bullied, and outcasted. Other than that, I like it.

I think it's ok, but fuels stereotypes that we are all brilliant, savant, bullied, and outcasted. Other than that, I like it.

On Wednesday, actor Freddie Highmore, who is not autistic but plays autistic surgeon Shaun Murphy in the hit ABC series “The Good Doctor” addressed a common myth about individuals with autism not feeling emotions during an interview with Peter Travers in the segment “Popcorn with Peter Travers.”

The interview began with a conversation about how Highmore’s character has grown and developed during the two seasons of the show as well as what it’s like to play an autistic character.

During the interview, Highmore describes how his character wanted to become a surgeon to help people after the death of his brother. Following that statement, Travers says, “And you have to feel it, you have to feel that emotion and yet you are playing somebody who can’t express that emotion.”

It takes Highmore a moment to answer the question. “Not that you are in any way suggesting this,” he starts,”but I think one of the misconceptions sometimes about people who have autism is that they somehow are devoid of emotion or emotionless, or that because they can’t always express their emotions that there’s nothing going on inside, and of course that’s not true.”