The Extraordinary Attorney Woo
As a consultant, whenever I work with a client, I do a deep dive to better understand whatever cause they are championing if I have never worked in that particular space. So when I was surfing Netflix, and stumbled upon Extraordinary Attorney Woo https://www.netflix.com/title/81518991, little did I know this mini-series would capture the essence and beauty of a person living on the Autism spectrum - a perfect show to immerse myself in while onboarding a new client who serves that population.
Attorney Woo definitely self-actualizes in this series as the first Korean attorney diagnosed with Autism in her country. Her character is brilliant, endearing, transparent, authentic, and at times socially awkward. Much like acceptance issues here in our country, there are people that make fun of Attorney Woo and even go to the extreme of despising her, hoping she would just quit the law firm. Through mean actions, blatant criticism, and poking fun these characters do a good job of portraying reality to those who live on the spectrum and often face ridicule. The plot is ridden with drama, humor, and love. The last episode is absolutely nail-biting material.
In our country, Autism rates are skyrocketing, mainly due to facilitating government/ insurance benefits because parents cannot afford to pay the astronomical out-of-control healthcare costs that plague our country. One could argue that the increase in diagnoses is not accurate based on that, much less representative of the real numbers across our nation. Additionally, most people have no idea that the Center for Disease Control, which reports most of the statistics about autism, https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data/index.html only tracks information from 11 states, and within those states, only certain counties are used to gather published data. Traditional, western, and mainstream doctors treat Autism as a neurological issue. Functional medicine practitioners in this country and abroad are making significant progress with those affected at specific levels of the spectrum by testing and treating gastrointestinal and immune issues beyond merely neurological issues https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/autism/.
There are many gaps in our country as it relates to ensuring that those diagnosed with Autism http://www.autism.com/ and developmental disabilities, in general, live a full and productive life. Some of those gaps include housing, vocational training, employment opportunities, and acceptance. We have done a great job of raising awareness. The social sector gets awareness. ACCEPTANCE is harder. If we would learn to realize that we all have greatness within and do our best to recognize the greatness in others our world would be a better place. Attorney Woo Young Woo serves as a role model in overcoming challenges and treating everyone with love and compassion.
* Disclaimer - I believe every one of us is a genius. Yes, we absolutely have to be surrounded by an environment that helps our genius to take root and flourish.
