Singer Sia is under fire for how her film portrays autism

A new movie in Australia is coming under fire for an actress portraying a character with a disability without having a disability herself. This has been an issue in Hollywood for a long time. The pop singer-songwriter Sia, who is also the Director of the film, was asked on Twitter why she did not cast a person with a disability to play the role in her upcoming movie. She replied, “she tried her best to lovingly represent the disability community.”

This topic needs to become more of a focus in the advocacy community. In my opinion, if you are going to tell the story of an often misrepresented group in our society, the least you could do is include and consult them. Otherwise, are you really advocating for them?

-Jamie Lazaroff, Self Advocate Coordinator