Originally Posted by Stephen Colbert:
“a) It's repetitive, b) It's not as compelling as regular people with a disability or disfigurement, and c) they hardly qualify as undateable since they're being matched with other autistic people.”
A) is true. B) is offensive. It implies that you don't like people with autism. And, autism IS the disability; ALL of the participants are "irregular". C) is not true, autistic people have just as hard a time with each other than they do with non-autistic people. It isn't some magical condition where you find other people like you and you suddenly fit in. Most of the autistic people I know have never been in a relationship, no matter how well they can superficially come across. The ones who have been in relationships have had a lot of problems.
I do agree that there should be less focus on autistic people though, for variety. Also, the programme seems to focus on a certain stereotypical type of autism, which is that of the visibly eccentric young man. It will give the impression to viewers that the condition is nothing more than oddness/a quirky personality, and make them think that it's a condition that is visible. Most of the Aspergers I know, including myself, can pass as normal in most superficial situations.
One of my friends applied to go on the show, and she thinks they didn't pick her because she's a lesbian. But I think that it's because she looks too normal, and they want a very specific type of eccentric Aspie who will entertain the viewers. The problem with this is that it is not a realistic portrayal of the condition, to only show straight young men with a very specific personality type.
They have done this stereotyping with Tourettes too. They've shown a couple of people with swearing tics, which reinforces the incorrect idea that Tourettes is the swearing disease. In fact, the majority of people with Tourettes don't have vocal tics, and the majority of those who do have vocal tics do not swear.
