{"id":16908,"date":"2025-04-11T13:27:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T12:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/?p=16908"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:27:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T12:27:14","slug":"its-time-to-face-the-fact-there-are-some-very-problematic-aspects-of-love-on-the-spectrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2025\/04\/11\/its-time-to-face-the-fact-there-are-some-very-problematic-aspects-of-love-on-the-spectrum\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s time to face the fact there are some very problematic aspects of Love on the Spectrum"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ll be the first to admit that I binged the newest season of <a href=\"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/tag\/love-on-the-spectrum\/\">Love on the Spectrum<\/a> in a couple of evenings and found it utterly heartwarming. But, as I saw the reaction from other viewers and those who are also on the spectrum themselves, I started to realise that there are some problematic aspects to Love on the Spectrum that we need to address.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing I noticed was an odd perception of the cast by viewers on Reddit and Twitter, especially, where people would be massively infantilising the cast.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">neurotypical people who watch love on the spectrum hate on dani because they can\u2019t infantilise her like they do with others on there with higher support needs<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 abbie \ud83e\ude78 (@P0CKETBI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/P0CKETBI\/status\/1908964293061517650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThis seems to apply to cast members such as Tanner the most, with people singling certain cast members out for being really &#8220;cute&#8221; or &#8220;adorable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While all the cast members of the show are amazing people, it&#8217;s still important to remember that all of the cast are adults, with the majority of them being in their late twenties with jobs of their own.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to this, certain cast members, such as Dani and James, seem to receive more negativity due to the fact that they don&#8217;t fit the characteristics that viewers seem to have come to expect from those on the show.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">love on the spectrum is cute and all but it just shows we\u2019re still not ready to accept autistic people unless they\u2019re able to be infantilized.<\/p>\n<p>Throw a high masking autistic person on there or someone who lives alone &amp; people will throw a fit saying they\u2019re not autistic enough<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 aristhotle_ (@aristhotle__) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aristhotle__\/status\/1908907753474535634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nDani is incredibly independent, has her own massively successful business and knows what she wants, but she&#8217;s often needlessly criticised for coming across as too bossy.<\/p>\n<p>James also seems to be put in the same boat as Dani, where just because he isn&#8217;t constantly positive or smiling, some people have decided he&#8217;s just angry and rude, despite this not being the case.<\/p>\n<p>And while a lot of viewers enjoy watching and learning about every member of the cast, it&#8217;s still important to raise as an issue within the community.<\/p>\n<p>Another potentially problematic aspect of Love on the Spectrum, which has been raised by a former cast member, is the type of people the show wants the cast to date.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Saw on tiktok that a girl was booted from Love on the Spectrum after one season for being presentable and having no speech issues. Seems like any kind of reality tv show about autism ends up fixating on lower functioning autistic people for \u201ccringe\u201d viewing which is really mean<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ash (@H1TWOM4N) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/H1TWOM4N\/status\/1752817973130084748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nKaelynn, who appeared in just one season of the show, talked about the issue in a TikTok, saying she thought her dating preferences were &#8220;not in alignment&#8221; with what the show wanted.<\/p>\n<p>While Kaelynn wanted to return to the show, she explained that Netflix didn\u2019t think think there was anything left to say in her story, something that left her \u201cbummed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She admitted: \u201cI was bummed, but I understood. That is, until the production crew invited me to dinner in my hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaelynn ended up going to the dinner and found out the real reason Netflix didn\u2019t invite her back for a further season of Love on the Spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>She revealed: \u201cThey said they as though my story had already been told. And that I\u2019ve been able to use my social media to continue telling my own story. Which is true.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">i\u2019m not really enjoying the memeification of love on the spectrum. to reframe the vulnerability and rawness as cringe feels like a missed point at best and ableist at worst<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 sonia (@iscentpeople) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iscentpeople\/status\/1910392934576611472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nUltimately, Kaelynn believed that her personal dating preferences were why she wasn\u2019t asked to return for the second season of the dating show.<\/p>\n<p>She confessed: \u201cMy preferences for dating a neurotypical man were not in alignment with the matches they were trying to create for everyone.\u201cIn other words, my preference made finding matches more difficult for them and less exciting for viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others who are also on the spectrum have called out the show for seemingly emphasising that those on the spectrum are different from neurotypical people, reinforcing an &#8220;us vs them&#8221; culture.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">i\u2019m not really enjoying the memeification of love on the spectrum. to reframe the vulnerability and rawness as cringe feels like a missed point at best and ableist at worst<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 sonia (@iscentpeople) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iscentpeople\/status\/1910392934576611472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nMany people on the spectrum have suggested that they would feel more represented if they were included more in general dating shows, rather than having a whole show just for those on the spectrum.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you think Love on the Spectrum is problematic or not, it&#8217;s important that we make sure those whom the show is trying to represent feel happy and supported with the awareness it&#8217;s creating, and how the show is going about it.<\/p>\n<p><i>For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates \u2013 like\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/realityshrineofficial?rdid=TzQu2kEd2cUqU4rD&amp;share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F14zX5cKubf%2F#\"><i>Reality Shrine on Facebook<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s something important we all need to address <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249734183,"featured_media":16925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1358],"tags":[2103,1438],"class_list":["post-16908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-love-on-the-spectrum","tag-netflix"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/realityshrine\/2025\/04\/11\/its-time-to-face-the-fact-there-are-some-very-problematic-aspects-of-love-on-the-spectrum\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"It&#8217;s time to face the fact there are some very problematic aspects of Love on the 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