The Problem With Love On The Spectrum

Another big problem with making a show about people with autism, mostly for a neurotypical audience, is that the idea of a disabled group of people being inspirational is just gross. If you scroll through TikTok, you’ll often find people talking about how we need to learn from autistic people, because they are “pure-hearted” with “good intentions”. It’s a form of “inspiration porn”, where disabled people are objectified by non-disabled people, for their own benefit or gratification. “It really often is a very moralistic perspective on relationships, that we are some kind of beacon of purity and specialness, when really, you know, we’re just normal people,” Evans says. “We’re dating, we’re validated, awkward, we can be cute and flirty and sexy as well.”