SHOW OF FORCE

A hit TV drama with an autistic main character could revolutionize life for those with the condition

IF you don’t know the name Shaun Murphy, you soon will.

He is the protagonist on “The Good Doctor,” a new ABC show about a brilliant young surgeon who works at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, Calif. Like every character in a medical drama, he faces adversity both at the operating table and in the break room among his cocky, competitive colleagues

He succeeds, he screws up, his patients live, his patients die. His weekly professional and personal struggles have catapulted the drama to the top spot in the ratings after just eight episodes.

Oh, and Shaun Murphy is also autistic.

It’s pretty remarkable that an average 17.4 million people have been tuning in each week to watch a character with autism, a condition that impedes a person’s ability to communicate and easily form relationships, one that is often faced with confusion, parental denial or politicization in the US.

In 2007, a poll from National Alliance on Autism Research found that 20 percent of respondents incorrectly thought a person can catch autism from a virus. And for years, high-profile celebs such as Jenny McCarthy pushed the bunk theory that it was caused by vaccinations.

Autism, which affects an estimated 1 percent of the world’s population, has battled such wrong-headed perceptions for decades. First observed at the start of the 20th century, the condition was considered to be a symptom of schizophrenia by some early scientists. And although what we now recognize as autism was finally labeled in 1943, for years many believed that the condition was a byproduct of bad mothering. Today, while the concrete cause is unknown, genetics are thought to be a major factor.

Until the 1980s, the vast majority of children with autism did not attend mainstream schools and were sent to group homes instead. But a 2008 Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders study found that for people with autism born after 1974, the situation was finally becoming more optimistic. Half of respondents reported “good outcomes” in their lives. Now, many famous people are living with autism including professor and activist Temple Grandin, actor Dan Aykroyd and Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri.

Even so, negative stereotypes abound, making life difficult for those with autism. Just two years ago, a study by the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute found that a staggering 58 percent of autistic twenty-somethings were unemployed.

But now, a hit show starring an autistic character (played by Freddie Highmore, who is not autistic) could really serve to change people’s attitudes toward the condition. Inviting a person into your home — even a fictional person made of pixels — and watching him navigate daily life can humanize an entire group for anybody with a TV or laptop.

Twenty years ago, a TV show helped the gay cause. In 1991, 76.9 percent of Americans believed that being gay was at least somewhat wrong, according to an International Social Survey Program study. Seven years later “Will & Grace” aired on NBC, featuring two gay men and their best friends having wacky, funny adventures — in a recognizable, sitcom format. It became a massive hit with 17 million viewers at its height.

By the end of its run in 2006, 64.1 percent of Americans polled by the same study felt that being gay was wrong, and that number has continued to plummet. Two years ago, gay marriage became legal in all 50 states. Today, 62 percent of Americans are actually in favor of gay marriage, according to Pew.

While changing attitudes toward homosexuality are attributable to several factors, many credit “Will & Grace” with normalizing gay people in America. In a 2015 Variety interview, “Will & Grace” co-creator David Kohan revealed the advice he got from NBC programming exec David Nevins, who told him, “You want to write about characters that people care about and want to hang out with. That’s your job, and all the other stuff that comes with it is gravy.”

Another TV change-maker came in the 1980s with “The Cosby Show.” Although the sitcom’s legacy has been irreversibly tainted in the last few years by allegations of its star’s behavior toward women, at the time the show revolutionized American attitudes. Cosby was “America’s Dad” who presented a professional, successful black family to a huge (mostly white) audience. In 1992, the show’s finale was watched by a whopping 44.2 million people.

When Barack Obama was elected America’s first black president in 2008, some suggested that the comedy had paved the way years earlier. “There were a lot of young people who were watching that show who are now of voting age,” Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, a script consultant on “The Cosby Show,” told The New York Times just days after Obama’s victory.

It’s possible that similar waves could be made by “The Good Doctor,” which, like “The Cosby Show,” depicts a marginalized person succeeding in life and in the workplace.

None of this is to say that any of these groups have it easy. Society still hands them new challenges every day, and there are battles yet to be fought. And, of course, a popular TV show can’t solve every problem. But when it comes to improving empathy — a necessity for real progress — it’s a start.

“The Good Doctor” may create awareness and empathy for autism in the way “Will & Grace” did for same-sex causes.