Must Hollywood cast an actor with autism to play a character with autism?

Hollywood strikes again with another film where non-disabled actors play disabled roles. Having a neurotypical play an autistic person is offensive enough; rolling this trailer out at the start of #DisabilityHistoryMonth is a kick in the bloody teeth.

No captions, either. https://t.co/VJOnVUv9Mz

— Liam O'Dell (@LiamODellUK) November 19, 2020

Criticism and responses here, at Twitter: "Sia faces backlash after casting Maddie Ziegler as an autistic teen in upcoming movie Music." Answers from Sia: 

"The traveling, the air conditioning is so weird. You become like a lizard."

From Howard Stern's big book of interviews, a little insight into the travails of travel:

Howard: Then when this song becomes a hit, they send you out on tour, and that’s where you freak. You hated it.

Sia: Well, there were parts that I loved.

Howard: What’s the worst part of it? Is it just being in a hotel? Not being around your stuff?

Sia: It’s lonely. You have this family with you, this traveling family of wolverines that you create, and that’s not lonely. But if you’ve developed relationships outside of that, when you leave them it’s really hard to nourish them. I couldn’t ever maintain a love relationship. I don’t know. The traveling, the air conditioning is so weird. You become like a lizard.

The song mentioned above is "Breathe Me," which became a hit after it was used in the brilliant ending to the great finale episode of the TV show "Six Feet Under." Here's the official video for the song:



And here's that fantastic final sequence for "Six Feet Under":



When you travel, you're not 6 feet under, but the air conditioning is so weird and you do become like a lizard.