In the penultimate scene, the autistic child stands at the window and turns. While one fully expects a "gripping" "Hollywood" conclusion by having the son speak for the first time, instead, we are given something REAL about which to think. "St. Elsewhere" always demanded more from its viewers than average television and it did not disappoint in its final moments. That the entire series was a fiction of an autistic child's imagination took nothing away from the message of the series. Rather, it enhanced it by adding an element of medical realism for which the show always strived.
No one knows exactly how an autistic child might "think". The writers left us that to ponder... the television series itself was secondary.
No one knows exactly how an autistic child might "think". The writers left us that to ponder... the television series itself was secondary.