Two cast members from Netflix’s hit dating show “Love on the Spectrum” condemned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s disrespectful comments about people with autism earlier this month.
The reality show explores the personal lives of several individuals with autism as they try to find a life-long partner. It won two Primetime Emmys in 2024, for Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program and Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program.
“Autistic people have the same hopes, dreams, and yes, the same awkward dating moments as anyone else,” star Dani Bowman told NewsNation. She continued by saying “to generalize and say none of us can work, date or contribute to society, is completely false.”
Kennedy, who has been known to spread conspiracy theories about vaccines being linked to autism, has faced backlash since earlier this month after labeling autism spectrum disorder as a “preventable disease.” He said his department will find the cause of what he called an “epidemic” by September.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
“These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,” Kennedy said.
While Kennedy later said he was only referring to the approximately 25% of people with autism who do have severe limitations, many advocates and individuals took his remarks as an offensive blanket statement.
The health secretary’s plans reportedly include collecting private medical records and creating a registry to track people diagnosed with autism.
James B. Jones, who garnered a massive fanbase after being featured on “Love on the Spectrum,” told People that Kennedy’s remarks “were made from a position of extreme ignorance” and “one should not apply a blanket approach or make generalized presumptions about people who have autism.”
“I have a permanent 40-hour per week job with benefits, which I have held steadily since 2017 and am in no danger of losing. I can operate a vehicle with no issues. I pay all of my own expenses,” Jones said.
Jones posted a video earlier this week in reaction to Kennedy’s remarks, opening up about his experience growing up at a time when society “did not have a very thorough understanding of autism or similar forms of neurodiversity.”
“Society has made great progress in the past 20 to 30 years, so we certainly do not wish to lose that progress,” Jones said. “We do not wish to step backwards. We wish to keep moving forward to the future, rather than looking back to the past.”
Despite Kennedy’s claim that people with autism will “never write a poem” or “go on a date,” Jones is dating his girlfriend Shelley Wolfe and wrote a song titled “Heavy Metal Queen.” Wolfe is featured in the music video.
“I have a huge relationship with a woman whom I love very much, who loves me very much, and everything’s going great for me in my life right now,” James told People.
Bowman expressed her concerns to NewsNation about Kennedy’s pledge to identify the cause of autism by September.
“Wanting to cure autism implies that our way of being is wrong, and it isn’t,” Bowman said. “We don’t need to be fixed. We need to be supported. But the answer isn’t erasing autism, it’s building a more inclusive world for all of us.”