Many questioned the depiction of Ziegler's character, arguing that an autistic actor should have been cast in the role and that disabled people should be hired to tell their stories.

"Sia has got this one wrong.

Sia also wrote that she spent three years researching for the film, which she described as "both a love letter to caregivers and to the autism community."

The controversy sparked the use of hashtags #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs and #ActuallyAutistic on social media and continued the conversation about the portrayal of disability in the media without including representation and the voices of those who actually experience life as a person with disability.

In response to criticism that the film excludes "disabled and neuro diverse actors" from their own narratives, the singer said she cast "thirteen neuroatypical people and three trans folk" as doctors, nurses and singers, not as "prostitutes or drug addicts."

"I hired plenty of special abilities kids.