Autism in the media is often portrayed stereotypically and over-dramatised. Though there are people out there with those “stereotypical” traits, in reality for many people on the spectrum, it isn't obvious at first glance - it's subtle, different for everyone, and not easy to deal with - and Hudson portrayed that perfectly.

He’s says weird things without realising,

He is always trying to please his members with things he thinks they’ll like yet he never does it right due to the fact that he’s ’not like them’ ,

He has clear fixations on things such as Bees,

He starts falling apart/emotionally shutting down when things don’t go as planned.

Not to mention in the new trailer, we see him playing around with a couple of toys in his office, like a rubix cube and one of those metal bead things. Popular toys used for fidgeting.

He was at the gym with Johnny when you appeared in front of him. "Are you single?" He glances over at Johnny, ready to see the Scott bag another baddie, when you scoff. "Not him, you. Look at me." He doesn't know why but he obeys.

"You. Are you single?" He nods once, and you take his phone from his hand and add your contact. "Meet me at Main Street Sandwiches for lunch tomorrow, noon. Our first date." And without another word, not even your name, you walked away back to your weights.

When he gets to the sandwich shop, you're already at the front counter chatting with the owner. "Why would you change it? The original recipe was better."

"We changed the salt we use, Y/N, there's no way you noticed that." Your eyes narrow at the man, and you cross your arms.

"It's Himalayan pink salt, not celery salt. I can tell." The man's face falters, clearly defeated, and he perks up when he sees Simon, hoping the huge hunk of a man would save him from your scolding.

When you turn to face him, you smile wide, eyes lighting up. "Oh, you came! I wasn't sure you'd actually come." You hum happily, reaching out and taking his hand. "He shouldn't have changed the salt, I'm trying to get him to change it back."

The deli owner looks at Simon with wide pleading eyes, begging him to be on his side, not yours.

There are more and more autistic actors out there nowadays. Can't people just hire them to play autistic characters?

A. Literal children

B. Portrayed as "mentally children" and thus incapable of understanding sex

or

C. Taught a very heteronormative idea of sex and relationships by other characters

Shane Hollander is a breath of fresh fucking air. He's allowed to be socially awkward, routine oriented, monotone, etc, while equally being sexy and sexual. And while part of his story is learning about his sexuality and his desires, he's not portrayed as some wide-eyed virgin for Ilya to teach. He's submissive, but not passive. He's allowed to be horny and to want sex.

So often Autistic people in media and IRL are desexualized, meaning we are stripped of our sexual autonomy, leading to the belief that we are incapable of having or wanting sex. Because of this, Autistic people are often not given proper sexual education, not allowed to engage with sexual content, and have less opportunities to explore our sexuality. But the truth is Autistic people are just as diverse in terms of our sexual identities, desires, and experiences as our neurotypical counterparts. This does not mean Autistic people experience sexuality the same as neurotypicals, as our sensory needs and communication differences do impact our experiences (another thing we can see in Heated Rivalry), but that our sexualities deserve to be equally celebrated.