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Dear @ItGetsBetter @fakedansavage,
I wanted to send you a msg, even though I've got a tiny account with zero weight. Today, I opened up your newsletter for #GivingTuesday
and, to my great sadness, I discovered a message from Sia. You see, I'm queer and #ActuallyAutistic.
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I wanted to send you a msg, even though I've got a tiny account with zero weight. Today, I opened up your newsletter for #GivingTuesday
and, to my great sadness, I discovered a message from Sia. You see, I'm queer and #ActuallyAutistic. 1/
Perhaps you aren't aware that Sia recently released a trailer for a movie that purports to tell the story of a nonspeaking autistic person. She got criticism from #ActuallyAutistic people and responded quite badly.
2/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisonnorlian/2020/11/24/sias-trailer-for-music-struck-a-nerve-with-the-disabled-community-her-tweets-only-made-things-worse/?fbclid=IwAR0aZCo3SuHqjaZUDcHqnQEew1p4s0WTaT-JON_KmiDJtsgpyPd7d-XxnVw&sh=476c62575ad9
2/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisonnorlian/2020/11/24/sias-trailer-for-music-struck-a-nerve-with-the-disabled-community-her-tweets-only-made-things-worse/?fbclid=IwAR0aZCo3SuHqjaZUDcHqnQEew1p4s0WTaT-JON_KmiDJtsgpyPd7d-XxnVw&sh=476c62575ad9
Here's just one of the many tweets dissecting the many reasons for that criticism:
3/ https://twitter.com/JustStimming/status/1329897877372612610?s=20
3/ https://twitter.com/JustStimming/status/1329897877372612610?s=20
However, I wanted to express why it also hurt so much as a #queer person. I loved the #ItGetsBetter project from the first. I was obsessed w/ watching all the early videos with my gay Portuguese roommate, who was thrilled to see a contribution from a friend at Pixar.
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I also remember seeing the video that @fakedansavage made with Terry, and how I just wanted to cry. The Savage Love advice and podcast played a central role in helping me to finally leave an abusive relationship.
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I long had a sense of myself as queer, but I lacked the words to really understand my identity. @NeuroRebel spoke about this last night during a master class with @NeurodiversityI, and it is quite common for #ActuallyAutistic people to feel this way.
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Finally being diagnosed as autistic, in my 40s, things started to make a lot more sense. And I'm not alone. There are many studies that suggest there is a greater representation of LGBTQIA+ people among autistic people than among non-autistic people.
7/ https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/largest-study-to-date-confirms-overlap-between-autism-and-gender-diversity/
7/ https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/largest-study-to-date-confirms-overlap-between-autism-and-gender-diversity/
You know another thing that is sadly similar? The higher rate of suicide for both groups compared to the general population.
https://www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/people-with-autism-are-dying-younger-warns-study/#:~:text=The%20average%20age%20of%20death%20for%20people%20with%20ASD%20was,reached%2040%2C%20at%2039.5%20years.
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https://www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/people-with-autism-are-dying-younger-warns-study/#:~:text=The%20average%20age%20of%20death%20for%20people%20with%20ASD%20was,reached%2040%2C%20at%2039.5%20years.
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Throughout my life, I have often had suicidal ideation. Getting a diagnosis has helped me grapple with these feelings at their roots. And you know what didn't help me (or many others) with getting a diagnosis? That acts as a hurdle for many others? Movies like #RainMan.
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That f*cking movie continues to affect how autistic people are seen to this day. It feeds discrimination in diagnosis against people who are not white men, which has real consequences. Just see the cases of #OsimeBrown and #MatthewRushin and 
10/ https://twitter.com/MorenikeGO/status/1331670936525942786?s=20
10/ https://twitter.com/MorenikeGO/status/1331670936525942786?s=20
And guess who wanted to make
Rain Man.
The Musical.
With Girls.
(Twitter echolalia of @fodderfigure)
11/ https://twitter.com/fodderfigure/status/1329805376523526144?s=20
Rain Man.
The Musical.
With Girls.
(Twitter echolalia of @fodderfigure)
11/ https://twitter.com/fodderfigure/status/1329805376523526144?s=20
Sia created a situation ripe for hate with her responses to valid criticism from #ActuallyAutistic people and has allowed incredible abuse to occur in replies from her fans.
12/ https://twitter.com/YessicaYesOrNo/status/1330191833180336134?s=20
12/ https://twitter.com/YessicaYesOrNo/status/1330191833180336134?s=20
In the #GivingTuesday newsletter that Sia wrote for you @ItGetsBetter, she said:
"...when I was younger, I had a lot of shame about being different. I overcompensated by devaluing myself and putting myself down, something a lot of queer people can probably relate to."
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newsletter that Sia wrote for you @ItGetsBetter, she said:"...when I was younger, I had a lot of shame about being different. I overcompensated by devaluing myself and putting myself down, something a lot of queer people can probably relate to."
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Guess who else can relate to that sentiment?
QUEER #ActuallyAutistic PEOPLE
I'm sure you've seen #Disclosure, the powerful documentary about the media representation of trans people. Well, Sia has created a movie in that same vein of horrific and damaging representation.
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QUEER #ActuallyAutistic PEOPLE
I'm sure you've seen #Disclosure, the powerful documentary about the media representation of trans people. Well, Sia has created a movie in that same vein of horrific and damaging representation.
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Not sure where any of this will go, but I couldn't stay silent about this. I'll close w/ this great thread by @ekverstania to learn more about nonspeaking autistic ppl. Sia could've made a more authentic movie by collaborating w/ various nonspeakers.
15/ https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1330231916985987073?s=20
15/ https://twitter.com/ekverstania/status/1330231916985987073?s=20
For #ActuallyAutistic people, she has definitely not helped it to get better. Indeed, she has actively contributed to making things worse.
16/ https://twitter.com/fodderfigure/status/1329519783910445064?s=20
16/ https://twitter.com/fodderfigure/status/1329519783910445064?s=20
