Sia Reveals Neurological Disorder That Unknowingly Played A Huge Role In Her Life

Sia dropped the bombshell that she is on the autism spectrum after a late diagnosis shocking herself and her friends.

The singer's late diagnosis of autism came as a surprise but allowed Sia to put a handle on why she has always felt a little different. "For 45 years, I was like … 'I've got to go put my human suit on,'" she explained on the "Rob Has A Podcast" with "Survivor" Season 44 finalist Carolyn Wiger.

"And only in the last two years have I become fully myself," she continued, noting that she is sober as well. Sia was happy to speak with Wiger about this discovery because she had related to the Survivor contestant and their particular habits that make her stand out on the reality show.

The "Chandelier" singer had to take the time to accept herself now that she had a label for what she believed was this weird part of her. "Nobody can ever know and love you when you're filled with secrets and … living in shame," she says.

Sia finally felt like she was seen but, more importantly, understood. "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."

Sia has found her happy place. "We feel seen for the first time in our lives for who we 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."

It's beautiful that the singer finds herself after feeling so on the outside for years, but some fans are questioning when the singer found out about her diagnosis and why she didn't go into details about that.

This may seem like a small detail, but let's not forget that the singer made an entire film about an autistic child called Music. It received backlash because the star, Maddie Zeigler, was not an actor on the spectrum, and it wouldn't have been too hard to hire a casting director to do that.

At the time, Sia spoke up about the backlash tweeting that her "heart has always been in the right place" and urging critics to "watch my film before you judge it."

Despite the tweet explaining her choice of actor for the role, she eventually had to apologize for her perceived ignorance. She also added a warning to the film's beginning, released in 2021.

It says: "'Music' does not condone or recommend restraint on autistic people. Some autistic occupational therapists specialize in sensory processing, which can be consulted to explain safe ways to provide proprioceptive, deep-pressure feedback to help with meltdown safety."

Sia later revealed that the backlash from the film left her "suicidal." She subsequently relapsed and entered rehab. Her movie being nominated for a Razzie pushed the singer far over the edge.