A few people have contacted me about singer Sia’s decision not to cast an autistic actor for a nonverbal autistic character in her new movie “Music” coming out in 2021, based on my role as an autism entertainment consultant.
They’ve wondered if I was asked to consult on the film, which I wasn’t. Allegedly, Sia was looking to cast an actually autistic nonverbal girl, however, it was apparently too “stressful” for the girl, which made her decide on Maddie who is neurotypical.
Sia, my questions for you are: 1. Was any other autistic individual auditioned for the role? 2. Was there any autistic consultant behind the scenes helping Maddie make the role realistic (so far Sia mentioned Autism Speaks as a consultant)?
Read more on themighty.com