Parent reviews for The Healing Powers of Dude

According to the Geena Davis Institute, less than one percent of characters in children's television have a disability, compared to 20% of the population in America. The Healing Powers of Dude features two characters with disabilities - Noah (Jace Chapman), a middle schooler with social anxiety disorder, and Amara (Sophie Kim), a middle schooler with a physical disability using a power wheelchair. Sophie herself has muscular dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since she was four years old. A win for authentic casting! And kids need to see themselves represented on their screens - both with nonvisible and visible disabilities.

There is such a stigma when talking about mental illness and The Healing Powers of Dude gives kids who have anxiety a vehicle to tell their parents how they feel. Obviously, everyone has different experiences. So while some will feel that this show depicts their experience, others may feel differently. No one character can represent everyone with that disability. And the depiction of the emotional support dog is not as accurate as it should be, but this is not a documentary. It is a kids show. And it teaches accepting people who are different than yourself.