This week Sia released the trailer for her new film, “Music” about a non-verbal autistic woman played by the non-disabled Maddie Ziegler.
This is nothing new. We know that 95% of the dismally few disabled roles that exist are currently played by non-disabled actors, despite the fact that 25% of the population is disabled according to the CDC, and one out of every 54 people is autistic.
So if this is the norm, why is it such a big problem? First, let’s look at Sia’s response to the autistic community, and then let’s look at the real world difference authentic representation makes in employment in industries across the country.
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