A new film directed by the singer Sia is a "missed opportunity" to change how we see autism depicted on screen.
That's according to Adam Harris, the Founder and CEO of Ireland's national autism charity 'AsIAm'.
Music is the directorial debut from Sia and is a musical drama centring on Music, a young girl on the autism spectrum.
While it has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards, the film has faced criticism for its failure to cast an autistic actor in the lead role.
Instead, the main character is played by Maddie Ziegler, a long-time Sia muse who has appeared in several of the pop star's music videos.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh, Adam Harris outlined some of the issues with the film.
"I feel like the problem with the movie is that it's been pegged by Sia as a love letter to the autism community," he said.
"However, the movie has been created without any input or involvement of autistic people whatsoever.
"You see this person in very vulnerable situations and there was a concern they would be portrayed in a very stereotypical way."
If an on-screen depiction of someone with autism is done in this way, it can lead to less public understanding, Adam stated.
"When you don't depict minority groups on screen, that can lead to further damage, further confusion, further stereotypes, creating barriers for autistic groups or other minority groups in society," he said.
"At the time, Sia said that an autistic person would experience too much stress and wouldn't be able to play the role.
"I think that raises the question of if you're not able to support someone to depict autism, you have to ask is it appropriate to depict it at all?
"Also I think it's concerning in that it demonstrates a lack of understanding of autistic people because we believe autistic people can work in all sorts of jobs if they're provided with the right support and the right approach is given."
He added there are some "highly damaging" scenes in the film, especially the use of restraint.
Missed opportunity
With the film, Adam said there is a real feeling that it has been a "missed opportunity" to change how we see autism depicted on screen.
The decision to nominate Music for two Golden Globe awards is "very disappointing", he added.
"I think we have to also look at, there's many autistic people involved in the arts, involved in the creative world, but there's not enough opportunities," he said.
"Somewhere been 1.5% and 2% of the population are autistic, so therefore movies and theatres should reflect that.
"But I think what we see in this movie we see autism as not being something that drives the plot, we see it really being about the characters around Music and they're the central point of the depiction as opposed to really telling Music's story."
Adam said that autistic characters in the arts need to be played by people with autism.
He added: "Autistic people are people that live lives, who have jobs, who go to school, who have friends, and being autistic is just part of their story and we need to see that portrayed on screen."
