Sia Opens On Autism + 'Ableist' Criticisms: 'We Feel Seen For the First Time'

Sia is one of the most mysterious artists in the music industry; when she first began, she hid her face and performed with her back facing the audience.

Some might have been put off by her unusual way of being a celebrity, however, many years later, it all seems to have finally fell into place.

"I'm on the spectrum, and I'm in recovery and whatever," Sia revealed during her appearance at the "Rob Has a Podcast." "There's a lot of things."

The "Cheap Thrills" singer eventually explained why it took her so long to reveal her autism, but apparently, she just found out recently herself.

"For 45 years, I was like ... 'I've got to go put my human suit on," she explained. "And only in the last two years have I become fully, fully myself."

New Life

Sia went on to explain how much her autism has caused her to think very differently about herself and how she operates day to day with other people and, in her case, her husband.

"Nobody can ever know and love you when you're filled with secrets and ... living in shame," she revealed.

"And when we finally sit in a room full of strangers and tell them our deepest, darkest, most shameful secrets, and everybody laughs along with us, and we don't feel like pieces of trash for the first time in our lives, and we feel seen for the first time in our lives for who we actually are, and then we can start going out into the world and just operating as humans and human beings with hearts and not pretending to be anything."

Backlash

This is the first time Sia has opened up about her "being on the spectrum," and how it has affected her personal life as well as her career.

The "Titanium" singer faced backlash two years ago when she decided to cast Maddie Ziegler, who is neurotypical, to play a character on the spectrum in the movie "Music."

According to reports, several groups criticized Sia and the production team for choosing Ziegler to play the role, instead of an actor who is actually on the spectrum.

However, it seems like there is a reason behind Sia's choice to cast Ziegler, her long-time collaborator.

"I realized it wasn't ableism, I mean it is ableism I guess as well, but it's actually nepotism because I can't do a project without her," the singer explained. "I don't want to. I wouldn't make art if it didn't include her."

Tags

Sia