Heroes do make others feel seen, after all.
When Disney’s quirky, irreverent and intergalactic animated film “Lilo & Stitch” premiered in 2002, it became a box office success (helping to bring Disney out of its notorious Dark Ages of the times), earned an Oscar nomination and brought the concept of “ohana” to the mainstream.
As is the way, Disney revealed earlier this year that it would be creating a live-action version of the film, and on April 2nd, announced that Maia Kealoha would be playing Lilo—one of the show’s titular characters and everyone’s favorite eccentric young Hawaiian girl who adopts an alien dog.
With Lilo coming back into the spotlight after a couple of decades, it feels apropos to explore how this loveable outsider became an unexpected hero to the neurodivergent community.While there appears to be no evidence that creators Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois intentionally made Lilo autistic, it is a widely accepted theory among fans—especially for those who are on the spectrum or believe themselves to be—that her neurodivergence is at least implied, much in the same way that other Disney characters are believed to be queer-coded, or exhibiting LGBTQ+ traits without being explicitly described as queer.
Anyone who loves Elvis can't be all bad.
Looking back, Lilo’s labeling kind of makes sense. She has an obsessive interest in Elvis Presley and taking photos of overweight tourists, whom she wholeheartedly calls “beautiful.” She gets almost feral when angry by biting. She relies on rituals and routines, like feeding her pet fish Pudge the same thing at the same time every day (because he “controls the weather”). She rarely smiles, unless Agent Bubbles from social services is paying them a visit and she needs to mask. These all fall in line with the CDC’s list of autism signs and symptoms.
Of course, one could argue that Lilo is simply a neurotypical kid who doesn’t fit in or that the trauma of losing both her parents has impacted her social skills. But through this specific lens, people in the autistic community have shared how seen they feel by the character. Entire essays and video blogs have been created about it, for crying out loud. Whether or not she was written that way, it’s pretty heartening to know what a huge impact Lilo's story has made on people.
Even certain health professionals have argued that when Lilo is seen as autistic, viewers of the movies might find more understanding and compassion for neurodivergent folks in real life.
In the Youtube series “Cinema Therapy,” licensed therapist Jonathan Decker explained that:
“Especially with neurodivergent children, there is often a real profound wisdom that people don’t see cause they’re not used to seeing it in someone so young. And neurodivergence [in Lilo’s] case means an ability to see and accept things as they are that others aren’t psychologically or emotionally ready for yet. Lilo, through the whole movie, sees and speaks the truth, which also means, because she lives in truth, she doesn’t have the clinginess of a lot of children. That is a level of maturity that a lot of neurodivergent people often don’t get credit for.”
It will certainly be interesting to see if Disney decides to lean into this aspect of Lilo's character for the live-action remake, as the company has continuously evolved to be more and more inclusive in its representation. And judging by how much Lilo has meant to people as an unofficial neurodivergent mascot, making her definitely autistic could have a really positive impact.
And if Disney doesn't go in that direction, clearly fans will find a way.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."