I auditioned for Love on the Spectrum

In the process, I learned a little about the allistic gaze.

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Overview

Love on the Spectrum is a reality dating show about dating while autistic. It has both US and Australian versions, the latter of which came first. If you look up the show, you will see that the reception is at least somewhat mixed, with its detractors often complaining of problems like infantilization and inspiration porn, among others.

The viewer experience

Once upon a time, I had a therapist who kept assigning me any piece of autistic representation in the media he could find. My mom, a complete film and TV nerd, joined the cause and one day, both parties landed upon one of the Australian seasons of Love on the Spectrum. It immediately rubbed me the wrong way.

For my taste at least, the parents got way too much airtime. Remember, these are people who consent to sex and might want to make offspring of their own. There seemed to be, for lack of a better term, a “type” they liked to cast and I wasn’t it (turns out I was right). Having grown up in a film industry household and spent a few years living next door to one of the producers of Here Comes Honey…