Irish Soap Features AS Character

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Soaps = urgh for me, and I admit I've not been following this one closely at all. I only spotted this because my mother mentioned it. The character supposedly has AS, is a physiotherapist and is going out with a girl.

I also have a slight problem with writers using their personal life and shoehorning it into books, television, film, etc etc. Admittedly I've no information to back this up, but my guess is one of the soap writers has a child, nephew, niece cousin or someone close to them with the condition. Yes, there are times when it's probably acceptable to use your own life to make a point draw attention to something, but for a condition such as AS to be featured in soap, how crap. I'm very skeptical that they can do the condition any justice in their portrayal of it. A couple of hundred thousand people watch it, btw.

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I'd rather kill myself than watch a soap opera, but it's also about time one of the major British soaps had an AS character. I believe Hollyoaks had one briefly, and if one was incorporated into say, Coronation Street or Eastenders, that would be a step forward, providing the writers don't foul it up. If I ever get commisioned to write a primetime soap, I'd include an AS character to prove that disability does not just amount to wheelchairs.

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I suppose it's the diagnosis du jour hence being featured.