I’m just gonna point out something I haven’t seen anyone else say -

In the trailer for Music, Maddie Ziegler is actually mimicking movements, facial expressions, and sounds that are closer to non-verbal cerebral palsy than nv autism.

It’s a really typical mistake people make.

Everything else has been said 1000 times today, but this is one thing that really illustrates WHY non-disabled people can’t play disabled characters authentically, why it hurts us ALL, and why us disabled folk see through it.

They can’t see the difference between us!! For REAL.

Even with apparent research we’re all the same to them! If we’re non-verbal = “spastic” but that is actually a very specific medical term turned slur/insult relating to very particular disabilities/diagnoses.

It’s been misused to portray everything from Autism to Down Syndrome.

Plus, the way non-disabled people tend to act out this type of disability is a super offensive and ableist interpretation. In the trailer Maddie looks like another person taking the piss out of disability & being cruel.

This trailer made me cry. It’s wrong on so many levels.

It’s so disingenuous for Sia to say she cast Maddie because an autistic person wouldn’t be able to cope. Beyond how cruel and effed up that is we know it’s a lie!

She cast her very famous fake niece/protégée because of her dancing abilities and their close relationship.

I always want to believe we don’t have the whole picture and don’t know the nuance of the situation, but if 3 years of “research” lead to Maddie doing an impression of school yard bullying ala “spazz” I don’t even know what to say.

I just... wanted to add this perspective.

Excuse the use of slurs/medical terms. It seems the only way to show just how inappropriate and offensive this whole thing is.

It’s not only ableist and harmful to the autistic community... the whole disability community has a right to be pissed about this. What is this 1988???

Yes, that is when Rain Man came out.