Published on 12, July, 2020
When I woke up yesterday morning I had never heard of Sia or the film Music (Yeah ok! I was born in the 60s and am behind the times, it would seem, lol). Goggle tells me that Music has been a bit controversial. I watched the film last night I see why. No, "crushing" autistic people "with love" mid meltdown is the last thing anyone should try. Bloomin' dangerous! No, she didn't pick an autistic actor and yes, the character Music does only seem to be there to further the stories of the other protagonists. So, ooooh yes, I do see why.
Anyway, Sia was brought to my attention because apparently, she has just announced that she is late diagnosed autistic! That said I see posts here a year old on the topic, so I'm a bit confused.dot.com as to how recent this really is.
Sia says she's on autism spectrum two years after Music controversy | Metro News - dated this week
With that the Metro approached the NAS for comment on being late diagnosed from some actually late diagnosed people. Amanda and I from the Now I Know campaign obliged. Actually, I quite like the article. They've picked three very different experiences. And it is great to be given the chance to open public eyes, so I'm happy about that.
What it's like to be diagnosed as autistic as an adult | Metro News - today
I'm curious now though to see whether and how perceptions of Sia might have changed. And whether people think it will be helpful for the public to know her story in the same way that other public figures disclosing their diagnosis, say the lovely Chris Packham, Christine McGuiness, Melanie Sykes and Fern Brady, have done.
I understand Sia later apologised for her approach in Music and recognises now that she is both in recovery from alcoholism and getting to know her autistic self. As a Spiritualist, I do rather believe that the path of change and growth is open to all, and we don't have to suffer forever for their mistakes. We've all made them, after all.
So, what are folk's feelings about the latest celebrity autism reveal, given the context?
Deing diagnosed Autism Spectrum isn't necessarily Autistic. She could be dyslexic or ADHD - doubtful she has the added bonus of the Autistic communication difference from what I've heard about her from those who actually know her in the film/music industry. I've worked behind the scenes in editing roles.
In the US, companies might diagnose anyone as "On the Spectrum" who doesn't fit the Extrovert 'Typical' American profile along with random DSM criteria. Australia has adopted the DSM.
Understanding what is and isn't Autism is vital. Resources allocated to companies like ABA with malpractice who have 'success' stories for kids "on the spectrum" do more harm than good to Autistics who have added communication barriers and deal with being accused of being immoral simply for having a loss in translation.
JuniperFromGallifrey said:Deing diagnosed Autism Spectrum isn't necessarily Autistic. She could be dyslexic or ADHD
I mean that's just technically wrong. Autistic spectrum condition is the new standard terminology for autism. If some people are referring to dyslexia or ADHD as being conditions 'on the spectrum' then they are doing so incorrectly. It's not the kind of mistake in terminology I'd expect someone with clinical training to make.
Confusing for folk, I think. No dyslexia, dyspraxia etc are not on the ASC "spectrum", but are related neurodivergence with a few elements of commonality. The general public might not know this.
That's exactly how I had to explain it the other day, co-occurring conditions are not critera for Autism, they are their own thing, but a problem is people think they are caused by autism or guaranteed to also happen, this is what I have gathered from what people mean when they say "you don't seem autistic, my cousin is autistic and he has - insert list of things that aren't actually autistic criteria" which causes more medicalised demonising of autistic people imo.
Also (sort of related infodump sorry) I don't believe all co-occurring conditions are equally as heritable as autism anyway (AKA reason 5 why I think 10k is a futile waste of expenses) I've been able to pin point a single highly suspected Autistic Grandmother as the source of all criterial meetable traits in my cousins and estimated around 1/2 to 1/10 of all cousins (and their parent on that bloodline) depending on how nitpicky you want make the arbitrary cut off point for suspected/not suspected autistic. And an interesting thing is we all developed some kind of IBS symptoms as we left our youth, but the co-occurring condition none of the kids, grandkids, or great grandkids have is epilepsy, which Nan did have. My family is also full of people who even if they don't meet enough criteria are eccentric personalities and all of them are bright but then almost all except were pants in the structure of academia, it's only as academia in further education gets more accessible we are all going back and getting or certificates etc. But yeah there is a reason I always felt normal even when the other kids at school treated me like I wasn't, and it's because among my family my autistic self is normal.