Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35947316›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2023

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

Christie Welch, Lili Senman, Rachel Loftin, Christian Picciolini, John Robison, Alexander Westphal, Barbara Perry, Jenny Nguyen, Patrick Jachyra, Suzanne Stevenson and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Christie WelchUniversity of Toronto, 500 University Ave, M5G 1V7, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4082-4018
Lili SenmanBloorview Research Institute, 150 Kilgour Rd, M4G 1R8, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Rachel LoftinDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 60611, Chicago, IL, USA.
Christian Picciolini, Chicago, IL, USA.
John RobisonWilliam & Mary Williamsburg, 23185, Williamsburg, VA, USA.
Alexander WestphalChild Study Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.
Barbara PerryOntario Tech University, L1G 0C5, Oshawa, ON, Canada.
Jenny NguyenBloorview Research Institute, 150 Kilgour Rd, M4G 1R8, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Patrick JachyraThe Palatine Centre, Durham University, Stockton Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK.
Suzanne StevensonUniversity of Toronto, 6 King's College Road, M5S 3G4, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Jai AggarwalUniversity of Toronto, 6 King's College Road, M5S 3G4, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sachindri WijekoonBloorview Research Institute, 150 Kilgour Rd, M4G 1R8, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Simon Baron-CohenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre, Douglas House 18b Trumpington Road, CB2 8AH, Cambridge, UK.
Melanie PennerBloorview Research Institute, 150 Kilgour Rd, M4G 1R8, Toronto, ON, Canada. mpenner@hollandbloorview.ca.

Funding

Government of Canada New Frontiers in Research Fund NFRFE-2019-01579
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe 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.

methodsWe analyzed 711 posts spanning 2018-2019 and filtered for variations on the term "weaponized autism".

resultsThis 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.

conclusionsThe 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.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderSocial MediaHumansSocial SkillsAlt-rightAutismDiscourse analysisHate speechSocial media

Identifiers

PMID35947316
PMCPMC10499683

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.