Current Events > Outrage after a Former Child DANCER is cast in AUTISM Movie Role!! Is She Hot??

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Aussie Singer Sia is hitting back at people after coming under fire for failing to cast an autistic actress in her debut movie "Music" about a girl with the condition

She instead cast friend and former child dancer of Dance Moms, 18 y/o Maddie Ziegler in the role whom she worked with in the past

When the trailer was released, people branded it offensive and disappointing seeing Maddie there who does not have the condition

In a stream of emotional messages, she responded that she did 3 years of extensive rsearch and decided it would be "cruel to cast somebody with Magic's level of functioning"

The movie tells the story of an autistic teen who ends up in the care of her drug dealer half sister, Zu played by Kate Hudson

It was supposed to be showcase Sia's music which is integral to the story of the film

The CDC states people with autism have trouble with social, emotional and communication skills that usually develop before the age of 3

Sia eventually lost it from the backlash and said "I cast 13 neuroatypical people, 3 trans folk and not as f***ing prostitutes or drug addicts but as doctors, nurses and singers. F***ing sad nobody's even seen the dang movie. My heart has always been in the right place"

When asked if she did any research at all she said "Duh, i septn 3 f***ing years researching. I think that's why i'm so f***ing bummed"

Some people with the condition defended her however and said they were not offended

Is Maddie Hot?

https://i.imgur.com/J3gdn0q.jpg

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It widely varies

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People get offended over the lamest shit.

Its acting. You dont need someone who is literally the character to play the character.

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do people even know what A is

seems to me the ones getting offended and harassing her are the ones that should confront their own preconceived ableist notions

Tom Hanks played Forrest Gump and that was fine. Maddie has been Sia's girl forever. People need to let it go.

If youre into flat face... maybe

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There's a weird push to reframe autism as some sort of normal variation rather than a disorder. It really distorts the conversation.

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COVxy posted...

There's a weird push to reframe autism as some sort of normal variation rather than a disorder. It really distorts the conversation.

who is doing that?

As long as she doesn't go full r-word, she'll be ok.

How many autistic actors are there, that those people could name off the top of their heads?

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What is A-C-T-I-N-G for $500, Alex?

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She's hot. I'm not outraged.

I have an autistic cousin and I'm not even remotely interested in this movie.

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Yup

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BroHelpImStuck posted...

who is doing that?

It's the reason that there's widespread criticism of Autism Speaks, because they view autism as a disease. It's the reason people describe ABA therapy as "torture".

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COVxy posted...

There's a weird push to reframe autism as some sort of normal variation rather than a disorder. It really distorts the conversation.

It doesn't help that psychiatrists considered homosexuality a "disorder" at one point and the rhetoric used to paint autism as a disorder is really similar to conversion therapy bullshit.

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COVxy posted...

It's the reason that there's widespread criticism of Autism Speaks, because they view autism as a disease. It's the reason people describe ABA therapy as "torture".

Autism Speaks provided funding to these guys:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Rotenberg_Educational_Center


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COVxy posted...

It's the reason that there's widespread criticism of Autism Speaks, because they view autism as a disease. It's the reason people describe ABA therapy as "torture".

How about the fact that they supported the conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism, giving a clear indication that they have no clue what they're talking about?
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DeadBankerDream posted...

How about the fact that they supported the conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism, giving a clear indication that they have no clue what they're talking about?

That would be a valid criticism, but not why people dislike Autism Speaks.

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Shes cute

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It shouldn't be offensive for an actor to pretend to be something they're not. It's the very nature of acting.

The only reason playing a member of another race became a taboo is because it was done deliberately to malign people or to see to it that white actors were paid rather than people of color. Saying "you can't pretend to be a member of another race" should not have become a slippery slope. Not everything is a variation of blackface.

If a man plays a woman or a woman plays a man, that's acting. If a straight person plays an LGBTQ character or an LGBTQ person plays a straight character, that's acting. If an individual without disabilities plays a person with disabilities or vice versa, that's acting.

What's next? You have to be a veteran to play a soldier?

COVxy posted...

It's the reason that there's widespread criticism of Autism Speaks, because they view autism as a disease. It's the reason people describe ABA therapy as "torture".

Can confirm.

I still remember averagejoel giving me shit a couple years ago, because I had my autistic daughter participating in ABA therapy. "Torture" was the exact word he used to describe it.

My daughter still has significant communication issues, which has delayed her development in other areas, but I would credit the time she spent with ABA as taking her from virtually no ability to verbally communicate at all to having at least the ability to engage in very basic communication (simple requests, identifying people and things, rudimentary emotion identification, etc).

I've increasingly gotten the impression that a lot of people mistakenly think autism is just some kind of personality quirk, or something. Like they don't realize it also frequently accompanies and contributes to other developmental delays.

"Former child dancer" is such a weird way to describe her. She's still a dancer, so it's really just calling her "former child."

Esrac posted...

Can confirm.

I still remember averagejoel giving me shit a couple years ago, because I had my autistic daughter participating in ABA therapy. "Torture" was the exact word he used to describe it.

My daughter still has significant communication issues, which has delayed her development in other areas, but I would credit the time she spent with ABA as taking her from virtually no ability to verbally communicate at all to having at least the ability to engage in very basic communication (simple requests, identifying people and things, rudimentary emotion identification, etc).

I've increasingly gotten the impression that a lot of people mistakenly think autism is just some kind of personality quirk, or something. Like they don't realize it also frequently accompanies and contributes to other developmental delays.

ABA therapy was invented by this guy who was a child torturer who was also involved with gay conversion therapy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Ivar_Lovaas

If modern ABA therapy is anything like this it's easy to see why people call it torture.


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cymbaline posted...

ABA therapy was invented by this guy who was a child torturer who was also involved with gay conversion therapy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Ivar_Lovaas

If modern ABA therapy is anything like this it's easy to see why people call it torture.

From what I read there, you would need more to characterize him as a "child torturer". The use of negative reinforcement to prevent injurious or aggressive behavior isn't something I would call torture.

Bringing up the gay conversion therapy bit is irrelevant to ABA and seems like you're kind of poisoning the well there.

And if you'll read article, it says the use of aversies was discontinued because they were only temporarily effective.

Edit: if you click on the link they have for the ASA, it says he would have them physically beaten and shocked with cattle prods. Which really would be torture.

https://blogs.uoregon.edu/autismhistoryproject/people/lovaas-ivar-1927-2010/

He had learned that aversive reinforcement might free children, perhaps making it possible for them to function with fewer restraints and in less restrictive environments.
Lovaas incorporated quick slaps on hands or bottoms into his research, but the quantity of this reinforcement (not to mention the possible injuries inflicted) could not be precisely controlled. In his quest for more consistent aversive techniques, Lovaas experimented with electric shocks administered through electrified floor grids and small remote control devices taped to childrens wrists. The most satisfactory technology was a hand-held instrument called the hot-shot. It was applied quickly to a childs leg, delivering a painful, one-second shock.
The experimental data persuaded Lovaas that aversives could alter negative behaviors quickly, and that was very compelling in cases of children whose destructive behaviors were directed against themselves. Isolation or electric shock may seem harsh, but these are acts of affection for children who have spent large parts of their lives hurting themselves. Parents gave Lovaas permission to use negative reinforcement and became some of his strongest supporters, especially when his work made a discernable difference in the quality of their childrens lives. Everyone understood that this approach was a last resort, to be used sparingly and only after positive reinforcement had failed.

Though this makes it sound a lot more reasonable. Regardless, as his contributions to the development of treatment programs seem to have been considerably positive, I'm not going to be too harsh if he had some questionable treatment options that were eventually phased out.

its a slam dunk yes
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