Atypical

i suppose it all depends from what perspective you view it from for me it was just commonality ie how many things with which i could relate to

I don't know whether you are naive or not. I have no information regarding that topic. 

I haven't seen the show myself as we don't have Netflix. 

Someone at work (who doesn't know I'm autistic!) was talking about the show. What I found interesting about their position was that they didn't say the show was "insightful", "enlightening", or anything similarly positive. Instead, they saw the show as entertainment. Hmmm. 

I guess i was being somewhat naive i didn't think much further than.. oh it's a tv show about someone with autism they're finally beginning to see people on the spectrum are worthy of interest

A suggestion for an "acid test":

watching the show as an autistic person, would you say the majority of the audience are:

a) being accurately informed about the difficulties and opportunities of autism, breaking down stereotypes and clichés.

b) laughing with us at our difficulties. 

c) laughing at us i.e. "Look at the autistic person; aren't they stupid/hopeless/naive"

i didn't think of that you're probably right its all about inclusion and looking good nowadays

Perhaps you're right. Maybe I am too old and cynical. 

The media are constantly on the lookout for the "next big thing". There was a programme in the UK called "The A word". 

I anticipate that this is not in fact some enlightened societal shift, but rather "we must have an autism angle, everyone's doing it, we have to maintain our revenue streams...". 

To put it another way, don't say you weren't warned if it turns out to be nothing more than the proverbial five minutes of fame(!)

At the end of the day they have to make it appeal to NTs so there's bound to be some lapses in reality but on the whole i think it's good that the powers that be in entertainment are recognising we are out there

Having watched a few episodes of season 1, I think it's a pretty terrible show to be honest. I don't think the characters are realistic at all. Sam is a stereotype, as are a lot of other characters (his mum is a very stereotypical 'autism mom' who ties her identity up in having an autistic child), and there's a lot of focus on how terrible and hard it is for his family more than anything (how terrible it was to have a child that doesn't make eye contact (urgh) etc etc).

I gather they changed track slightly for the second series and have included more autistic characters played by autistic actors, but can't get through the first series in order to get onto the second series, so meh.

im currently binge watching it ( it's one of things i love about netflix/amazon so i don't have to wait for next episode but also i hate that because i watch it all in one go and have to wait ages for the next series .

im enjoying it there's so much i can associate with but there's only the one person who's autistic unless more come later on in the series

I rarely watch TV shows, but I heard that the producers have made a point of having as many characters as possible played by autistic actors. That's a very positive move, and a great way to heighten the realism of the show.