Actress Sophie Giannamore, who plays Quinn, is also transgender. She has an eponymous YouTube channel to document her transition from male to female.
Dr. Melendez's "Thank you, Mortimer" refers to the film Trading Places (1983) where Don Ameche's character of the same name bets his brother Randolph a dollar for the social experiment that reflects the synopsis the film.
When Shaun's new neighbor Kenny says, "Gracias, amigo," Shaun replies, "No hay nada que agradecer" with a European Spanish pronunciation, specifically the th- sound for the letters Z and C before soft vowels E and I. This would be expected from a British actor like Freddie Highmore, because European Spanish is usually taught in Great Britain. But the character of Dr Shaun Murphy is from Wyoming, where he more likely would have been taught Spanish from the Americas.