Understanding the Use of the Term "Weaponized Autism" in an Alt-Right Social Media Platform

Autor/inn/en	Welch, Christie; Senman, Lili; Loftin, Rachel; Picciolini, Christian; Robison, John; Westphal, Alexander; Perry, Barbara; Nguyen, Jenny; Jachyra, Patrick; Stevenson, Suzanne; Aggarwal, Jai; Wijekoon, Sachindri; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Penner, Melanie
Titel	Understanding the Use of the Term "Weaponized Autism" in an Alt-Right Social Media Platform
Quelle	In: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53 (2023) 10, S.4035-4046 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Welch, Christie)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0162-3257
DOI	10.1007/s10803-022-05701-0
Schlagwörter	Autism Spectrum Disorders; Social Media; Technological Literacy; Attitudes toward Disabilities; Social Bias; Interpersonal Competence; Social Attitudes + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Autism; Autismus; Soziale Medien; Technisches Wissen; Interpersonale Kompetenz; Social attidude; Soziale Einstellung
Abstract	Background: The term "weaponized autism" is frequently used on extremist platforms. To better understand this, we conducted a discourse analysis of posts on Gab, an alt-right social media platform. Methods: We analyzed 711 posts spanning 2018--2019 and filtered for variations on the term "weaponized autism". Results: This term is used mainly by non-autistic Gab users. It refers to exploitation of perceived talents and vulnerabilities of "Weaponized autists", described as all-powerful masters-of-technology who are devoid of social skills. The term "weaponized autism" is simultaneously glorified and derogatory. For some autistic people, the partial acceptance offered within this community may be preferable to lack of acceptance offered in society, which speaks to improving societal acceptance as a prevention effort. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01