Sia Controversy, Bad Autism Representation, and How to do Better

Описание: What the controversy surrounding Sia’s movie Music can teach us about neurodiversity and disability representation in media and art.

Autistic creators:
Jessie Gender:    / lostrekkie  
Paige Layle:    / @realpaigelayle  
Yo Samdy Sam:    / @yosamdysam  

#BoneItch #Tourettes #Representation
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I am more interested in education than just drama, I want to use this topic as a way to talk about how to write about neurodiversity and disability, especially if you yourself don’t fall into these categories. If you find this content interesting, don’t forget to subscribe and join our Bone Itch family.
But, even though I am neurodivergent, I can’t and won’t speak for the autistic community. So I urge you to check out some of the great autistic creators on this platform, that have covered this topic in a way that I could never do.
Yesterday I watched the video by Jessie Gender on this topic, and I absolutely recommend watching her and others. There will be some channels in the description, and if you know any autistic creators, big or small, that you enjoy, put them in the comments!
This video will consist out of 2 parts: some background, what happened, what is the controversy?
And then we take a step back and look at the 5 rules or guidelines of writing neurodiversity and disability.
Sia is an Australian musician known for songs such as Chandelier and The Greatest. I first started listening to Sia with her song Breathe Me, since it was the background music for every sad teenage music video in the early 2000s.

5 rules of representation:

1. Reflect: Be honest to yourself: Why do you want to include this disability?
Do you want to do right to that community? Or is it more like inspiration p nr? Do you feel like you can do the lived experience of these people justice?

It doesn’t seem like Sia did this. She just jumped into this project, while some healthy self-reflection would have probably stopped this project before it even happened.

2. Research: Research, research! Know your stuff. Know about the disorder, the different ways people experience it, the community, the terminology, the myths and misconceptions. Use as many sources for this as possible. The most important source of all: actual people with that lived experience.

3. Respect: Have respect for the disorder, the people that live with it, and their community. We are real people, with real lives. What I’m going to say may sound harsh, but hear me out: You are not a saviour or philanthropist just because you want to include a disability or disorder in your work, so don’t expect to be treated as such. If people are willing to take time out of their days to help you with your project, be respectful and thankful for that. Take that seriously. Don’t pretend it’s some “unique opportunity” for them, it’s an opportunity for you.

4. Real representation: Are you creating a movie or a play? Then use real people with that disorder or disability as the actor. If you are writing a story, a game, or a song, make sure that you speak and consult with those people regularly and continuously. This will help prevent you creating a caricature, and instead create a whole rounded person or representation of someone living with a disability. And not just 1 person: Get as many people on board as you possibly can. Just having 1 friend with Tourette’s is not enough to have a grasp on what the community is like. You need to do more.
A great example is the game Hellblade. This is a game that deals with the experience of psychosis. To make sure that they did this well and respectfully, they consulted with a panel of people that have a lived experience of psychosis and voice hearing. And the result is a beautiful, well-rounded, artwork of a game.

5. Review: go back to point 1, does the work accomplish what you aimed for? Let different real life people that have experience with the subject review it as well.




MUSIC:
Tonight by Rexlambo   / rexlambo​  
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/-tonight​
Music promoted by Audio Library    • Tonight – Rexlambo (No Copyright Music)  


Track: Into The Light
Music by Oak Studios
Creative Commons - Attribution ND 4.0
   • [Background Music] Into The Light - Chill ...  


Track: Woods
Music provided by Oak Studios
Creative Commons - Attribution ND 4.0
   • [No Copyright Music] Woods - Acoustic Folk...  ​