It gets better when you fall in Love on the Spectrum

ABSTRACT

Love on the Spectrum (2019–) premiered on Netflix in July 2020. The reality television show follows young autistic adults in Australia as they date, fall in love, and get married. I argue Love on the Spectrum (LOTS) ignores the marginalizing forces of ableist structures in favor of telling individual “supercrip” stories of autistic success that are grounded in heteronormative conventions of the romantic comedy genre. Specifically, I suggest LOTS sends a message to the loved ones of autistic people that “It Gets Better” through a classist and heteronormative narrative that suggests the problems of autism—familial dependence and being nonverbal—can be solved through heterosexual love and societal tolerance. LOTS erases queer identities (i.e. asexuality and bisexuality) to normalize neurodiversity and reinforce heteronormativity. The show calls on its presumed neurotypical audience to root for the “right” kind of autists — those who are palatable and place romance before personal interests—while problematically marking as strange and laughable autists who are too far removed from neurotypicality.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism
• supercrip
• neurodivergence
• reality television
• “it gets better” narrative

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Rachel Silverman and Jillian Tullis, as well as Kimberly Moffit and the anonymous reviewers for their astute feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In May 2022, Netflix debuted Love on the Spectrum U.S.