i’m a speaking autistic, so i’m not an authority on this matter. but to all of the friends/family of non speaking and ID autistics who are praising Sia and are upset at speaking autistics about making a fuss, i do want to say something 1/7

yes, all of our narratives and voices should be represented and shouldn’t be washed out by those who are the loudest in our communities but that doesn’t mean that inaccurate and disrespectful representations of the spectrum of experiences 2/7

present in autistic people should be tolerated just because it gives voice to a commonly unaddressed experience. these deserve just as much respect and consideration as speaking stories and it still perpetuates harm and misunderstanding about the experience. 3/7

no, i don’t believe a speaking autistic should have been cast for this role. i also don’t believe this role should have existed in the first place. why? because this character was made without input or guidance from non speaking autistic teens 4/7

i believe that if Music was crafted by non speakers the character would be different than the Music we have now. bc the current iteration of Music is constructed from stereotypes and an outside understanding of non speaking autistic experiences. 5/7

so basically after you read this thread, find non speaking autistics and *listen to them*. because the #AutismAwareness you will get from Sia’s film will still not be accurate and respectful and until these roles are we *really* 6/7

need to listen directly to the sources of these experiences and stop getting information by proxy and stop assuming it to be accurate and representative of the inner workings of complex people who did not guide/inform it #IStandWithNonSpeakers #Sia #Music 7/7

I RT’d and pinned some nonspeaking autistic advocates to my page! please check them out and follow and engage and listen and uplift them :)