Autistic Uma HC's (Mostly from Descendants 2)
It's me again with another headcanon post with yet another one of my comfort characters! This time, we've got Uma from Descendants! I want to emphasize that I've never seen someone point Uma out as a possibly autistic character before and that it is in no way canon. I'm simply doing this because it's what I think and I really love Uma. Finally, I'm not giving these headcanons about her actor either, just Uma as a character. With that all out of the way, let's start!
If you've watched Descendants 2 at all, or seen any clips that feature Uma, you've probably heard her song, 'What's My Name?' I believe this was more than just a song opportunity and is actually her stimming verbally by saying that phrase. At the end of her fight scene with Mal where she escapes with Ben, we see her do this without a song. She repeats the phrase 'what's my name?' over and over again. The phrase probably calms her out of anger because of things that happened in her past. Saying that phrase reminds her that she's herself and not who people (like Mal) precieve her to be. In fact, the first time she said that phrase in the movie was after Gil jokingly called her 'shrimpy' (a nickname Mal called her back when they were kids to make fun of her.)
There are many reasons to interpret that Uma may in fact be stimming throughout the two movies she's featured in. She flips/plays with her hair, feels the texture of her seashell necklace, paces while she's talking to other people (like Ben or Harry,) and of course, her ecololia that I mentioned earlier. It makes sense that Uma would stim because her stims have characteristics (she plays with her hair when she's happy, she paces when she's nervous or upset, she touches her necklace when she's really happy or unsure, etc.)
3. She gives a nod to the fact that she has meltdowns.
There's two crucial pieces of evidence that makes me think Uma may experience meltdowns. First, where she was talking to Ben about going to Auradon. Uma laughed at Ben when he bought it up and says, "That was the angriest I've ever been in my life, and I've been plenty angry." I know that sounds like a line to emphasize how mad she was about not being invited to Auradon like Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, but I think it's more than that. Also, back to that scene where Mal got away and Uma was repeating her ecololia phrase, the scene cut off after that with no sight of her again until Cotillion. Having something she planned out go wrong could very well cause a meltdown and stimming heavily before a meltdown isn't uncommon either. I think she had one off camera while Mal and Ben got away.
4. She only looks Harry in the eyes.
I was thirteen the first time I watched Descendants 2, and ever since then, I thought there was a deeper meaning behind Mal and Uma's arm wrestling match they had to settle their deal. Mal's eyes glow green when she wants to make people less powerful to her advantage, however Uma wasn't affected at all and won the arm wrestling match anyway. If she didn't look Mal in the eyes, it wouldn't have had any effect on her and that's because she didn't look Mal in the eyes. Now, you could say she didn't look Mal in the eyes because she knew she was capable of that power, but after a closer look, she only looks one character in the eyes, and that's Harry Hook. It makes sense why, she trusts Harry and he's been with her through a lot. He was there during Uma's possible meltdown on the ship and he's probably been there for a lot of others too.
Well, those were my terrible headcanons! If you like them, please reblog! And before you go, you know I had to make an autistic Uma icon too! So, here they are! You're welcome to use it if you'd like! Thank you for reading!