THE HEALING POWERS OF DUDE opens as 11-year-old Noah (Jace Chapman) faces the daunting task of starting public middle school after years of homeschooling to accommodate the challenges of his social anxiety disorder.

In the first two episodes, the little sister character was incredibly annoying. The first is that the depiction of social anxiety is completely inaccurate, bordering on offensive, with the zombies and giant head explanations of how it works. That was the intent of the show’s husband-and-wife creators, Sam Littenberg-Weisberg and Erica Spates, “who approached the show with some humor to communicate the tougher moments to children and families and devised a visual language to demonstrate to kids how … Secondly as someone with a mental illness & specifically Social Anxiety Disorder which the main character struggles with, i was especially happy to see mental illness dealt with in an encouraging and emotionally accurate way.

Was this review helpful? I think it helps kids realize how to help their peers who deal with anxiety. This Netflix series is full of great humor, good representation of social anxiety disorder, great characters and well recorded These same kids make a few mean comments. I also have social anxiety, not to the extent the character has but I really related to it. Was this review helpful? Yesterday when I was browsing through Netflix, I stumbled upon this series and thought the premise seemed interesting so I'd give it a shot. But from the start they got this wrong. Dude, who failed to make the grade at service dog school is now Noah's support dog and as such, is allowed to accompany Noah to school, much to the dissatisfaction of the school principal, who besides being somewhat of a dick to begin with, is also a cat person who has it out for Dude and he becomes Noah's nemesis, sort of like the Jane Lynch character from Glee. Everyone in the cast seems to bring a good mix of humor and seriousness to their roles. And like Uno he has a wonderful effect on Noah and those around him! This show leaves you feeling good and is surely inspiring to some youth out there. Was this review helpful? I really hope Netflix renews this! The story has obvious messages about extending kindness, respecting different abilities (both emotional and physical), and finding common ground with others. Social anxiety may not actually turn people into zombies or make you sink through the floor, but it can make things seem quite scary and nerve wracking and to an 11 year old, that's what his anxiety feels like to him. What role do strangers play in that support system? I lost both of my parents, my husband and my family's support. Otherwise how would people relate otherwise, it just meant people with SAD are not in the moment and our thoughts could be daunting for us. I honestly loved everything about it. I have inside info that the show is based on real characters. I'm waiting for season two now!! I loved this show a lot. The young actor, Jace Chapman, really does a great job of getting into character and getting the audience to empathize and feel for Noah through his ups and downs of middle school.

Having SAD myself I could totally relate to Noah, even though it's abit exaggerated but it has to be , isn't it? It was cute, the dog is adorable, obviously, and the kids are decent enough actors for this type of show. Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of all kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century.© Common Sense Media.