Dating game
Love on the Spectrum returns for season two
In a saturated market, it’s not always easy for a TV show to make an impact.
However, when season two of Love on the Spectrum was announced, there was a flurry of excitement. Among all the dramas, comedies and reality shows that are available to us, this one is special.
It follows the real-life stories of people on the autism spectrum as they navigate the world of dating with real heart and honesty.
Even those who work on the show, particularly relationship expert Jodi Rodgers, are moved by it.
“When I watch it I laugh and I cry and I get really emotionally invested in it,” Rodgers said.
The show has opened up a conversation, about what it means to be neurodiverse and even changed people’s attitudes.
“I’ve had so many people say to me: ‘Because of that show, my interaction with somebody when they’re a little bit different, or when they communicate in a different way, has actually changed’,” she said.
“It’s actually helping the general public who have never met an autistic person or don’t understand neurodiversity to find some common link or more empathic understanding of people. For me that’s a brilliant outcome.”
Rodgers’ role in the show is to give some of the participants on the autism spectrum guidance for going on dates. “The tips I give to autistic people are not ‘autistic’ tips, they’re tips I’d give to any single person who’s saying ‘What do I do on a date? How do I talk to somebody? How can I communicate better?’ It’s not autistic-specific, but the way in which I deliver things and support people with autism is very autistic-focused and comes from an autistic perspective,” she said.
Rodgers has been working with neurodiverse people her whole life.
“For me it’s just provided me with a great life because
I’ve had the opportunity every day to stand in the shoes of an autistic person and get to view our world from a different perspective. And it’s a beautiful perspective. And it also makes you think about the way that you interact with people or how you build relationships, or how we support one another,” she said.
“Every single person I work with comes to me with a different need.”
But there are some common factors that Rodgers notices.
“For many autistic people, their self esteem has been really impacted, they can feel really different to other people. Many people have been bullied, so they don’t feel confident,” she said.
“One of the most attractive things about an individual is when they are confident but if you’ve had a lifetime where you have felt like an ‘other’ or where you’ve been bullied then it’s really hard to have that confidence.
“So most of my job is spending my day saying ‘You are amazing’. Most of it is just helping somebody see themselves as somebody that everybody wants to know.”
Rodgers has had the joy of seeing that confidence grow in the participants largely because of the TV show.
“I saw the confidence build for people who were in the first season and the second season, there was definitely a confidence build in them because of the really positive response to the show,” she said.
“But in my mind, this show is not for autistic people, this show is for the general population to just break down those barriers and those myths about autism and to help people understand that there’s a lot of similarities. We’re not that different, we just might do it differently. It’s about the general population having a greater understanding.”
■ Love on the Spectrum, Tuesday, 8.30pm, ABC TV