Los Angeles, California, Oct. 26 – GLAAD’s 2018-2019 Where We Are on TV Report includes the only analysis of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks of characters with disabilities. Largely known for tracking the number of LGBTQ+ characters on broadcast and cable networks, as well as streaming services, the Where We Are on TV Report also tracks racial, [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, California – “When we talk about diversity, we need to include disability.” This was the message last week at the beginning of Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room, an event aimed at educating and providing writers resources and information from seasoned writers and showrunners. Before two panels featuring writers of drama and [click to continue...]
Rockville, Maryland, May 9 – I watched Lauren struggle at work. She had poor social skills. She talked obsessively about roller coasters and her siblings’ engagements and subsequent weddings. She had trouble understanding other people’s emotions. She didn’t look at you when you spoke to her. She was very sensitive to loud noises; she had [click to continue...]
Rockville, Md., Jan 29 – The title of the 13th episode, “Seven Reasons,” is in reference to why Dr. Shaun Murphy thinks people lie. Themes include intellectual disability, ethics and religion. Freddie Highmore, the actor who plays Murphy, portrays a person with autism, a developmental disability that affects 1 in 68 children. Many people with [click to continue...]
While Dr. Glassman serves as Dr. Murphy’s mentor, now that Murphy is a successful adult, how involved should Glassman be in his personal life? Rockville, Md., Jan. 22 – The mid-season premiere of The Good Doctor opens with Dr. Shaun Murphy running away from conflict based on what his mentor Dr. Aaron Glassman believes is [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Nov. 15 – This week’s The Good Doctor tackled several important issues – the lack of high expectations for people with disabilities and the lack of training to know how to best recognize and assist people with disabilities. In the beginning of the episode Dr. Shaun Murphy recognizes the patient Liam, played by [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, Nov. 12 – On Monday, Nov. 13, Coby Bird will be a guest star on ABC’s The Good Doctor. Bird was diagnosed with autism at the age of five. At fifteen years old, he stands out in the crowd at six feet tall. Bird plays a patient with autism who causes the main character, Dr. Shaun [click to continue...]
Sherman Oaks, Calif., Oct. 7 – The Good Doctor, which ABC just awarded a full season, features a young surgeon on the autism spectrum who thinks in terms of visual images. What viewers may not realize is one of the show’s visual effects artist thinks in the same way. Twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Dugan, who is on the [click to continue...]
Rockville, Md., Sept. 27 – In Monday night’s premiere of The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore starred as Shaun Murphy, a brilliant doctor who has autism. Fighting for a chance of a surgical residency at the prestigious San Jose hospital, his supporters also point out how Murphy is a savant. Murphy’s brilliance is illustrated in how [click to continue...]
Television Academy: Diversity Inclusion Includes Disability Los Angeles, Calif., Sept. 25 – As diversity takes on a more important focus in Hollywood, disability is gaining prominence as four shows, two new, premiere this week: Young Sheldon (Season One) on CBS and The Good Doctor (Season One) on ABC tonight, This Is Us (Season Two) on NBC on [click to continue...]
