Pointer to Silverlight Scriptable Object is Null when Silverlight Object is Hidden

Question

When referencing a silverlight scriptable object using javascript via,

var uploadControl = document.getElementById("FileUpload1"); uploadControl.Content.FileUploader.UploadFile();

I get a null pointer (FileUploader ref) when the silverlight object has an added attribute of style="display:none" or visibility set to hidden. This only happens when using IE8 ( firefox is fine ). If I remove "hidden" style, the reference to FileUploader in non-null.