Understanding the Use of the Term “Weaponized Autism” in An Alt-Right Social Media Platform

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Welch, C., Senman, L., Loftin, R., Picciolini, C., Robison, J. E., Westphal, A., Perry, B., Nguyen, J., Jachyra, P., Stevenson, S., Aggarwal, J., Wijekoon, S., Baron-Cohen, S., & Penner, M. (2022). Understanding the Use of the Term “Weaponized Autism” in An Alt-Right Social Media Platform. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(10), 4035-4046. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05701-0

Publication date: 10 Aug 2022 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
14
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 14 (7.1%)
  1. Christie Welch
  2. Lili Senman
  3. Rachel Loftin
  4. Christian Picciolini
  5. John Elder Robison *
  1. Alexander Westphal
  2. Barbara Perry
  3. Jenny Nguyen
  4. Patrick Jachyra
  5. Suzanne Stevenson
  1. Jai Aggarwal
  2. Sachindri Wijekoon
  3. Simon Baron-Cohen
  4. Melanie Penner

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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

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Cited references
64
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
4 / 64 (6.2%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
5 / 142 (3.5%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 5 / 26 (19.2%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 4 / 132 (3.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
26 / 142 (18.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 20 / 132 (15.2%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
21 / 26 (80.8%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 21 / 142 (14.8%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 16 / 20 (80.0%).
4 cited bibliography entries could not be fully enriched from DOI metadata.
Crossref: not found (3) · DataCite: not found (1)
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