Please Be Patient I Have Weaponised Autism - Meme T-Shirt

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While not well studied or documented in academic literature (our search of available literature uncovered only one source exploring this - see Lovett ( 2019) for an exploration of alt-right recruitment tactics), journalistic reports have indicated that hate groups are working online to actively seek and engage autistic people for recruitment (Borrell, 2020; DEO, 2017; Schroeder 2019). Autism advocacy groups and community service organizations have begun to voice similar concerns and are calling for an organized response that is based on evidence and informed by autistic people (Autism Against Fascism, (no date); Braune 2020). Phillips J, Yi J. Charlottesville paradox: The ‘liberalizing’alt-Right,‘authoritarian’left, and politics of dialogue. Society. 2018; 55(3):221–228. doi: 10.1007/s12115-018-0243-0. [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Let us praise all the fine meme war soldiers on the Right side of history! Your weaponized autism is appreciated and will not be forgotten

May R, Feldman M. Understanding the alt-right. Ideologues,‘Lulz’and hiding in plain sight. In: Fielitz M, editor. Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag; 2018. pp. 25–36. [ Google Scholar] Jasser, G., McSwiney, J., Pertwee, E., & Zannettou, S. (2021). ‘Welcome to# GabFam’: Far-right virtual community on Gab.New Media & Society,14614448211024546 How has this definition of autism been influenced by media, social media, and academic / medical literature? What values underpin the way Gab posters have defined / labeled autistic people?

Dekker M. Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. From exclusion to acceptance: independent living on the Autistic Spectrum; pp. 41–49. [ Google Scholar] Gillespie-Lynch K, Kapp SK, Shane-Simpson C, Smith DS, Hutman T. Intersections between the autism spectrum and the Internet: perceived benefits and preferred functions of computer-mediated communication. Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities. 2014; 52(6):456–469. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-52.6.456. [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Schroeder, J. (2019). A Warning to Moms of White Teen Boys. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/12/opinion/sunday/white-supremacist-recruitment.html

Our team has also been concerned with the ethics surrounding reporting and dissemination of our findings from this study and from our larger study. We are aware of the potential to cause harm in the greater autistic community by highlighting an association between autism and engagement with online hate material, when our best information suggests that autistic people are much more likely to be targets of online aggression than perpetrators (Ashburner et al., 2019; Campbell et al., 2017). We have attempted to mitigate this concern with careful use of language in our reporting, with special attention to suggestions made by our autistic coauthor (JR). Our analysis was complicated by obfuscating language used within Gab, which is among several known communication tactics in alt-right spaces (May & Feldman, 2018). Gab, like many online spaces dedicated to alt-right or white nationalist interests, deliberately use humour, sarcasm, irony, and “playful” imagery (including memes) to obscure their intentions to spread hate (May & Feldman, 2018). These so-called “LULZ” (an adaptation of laugh out loud, or LOL) tactics are employed to rebrand and obfuscate fascist ideology and allows users a level of deniability when called out for their hate. These tactics work to make their offensive material more palatable to the mainstream, enhance their recruitment of young people and people who would be repelled by overtly violent or racist material, facilitate identification of insiders (those who know the vernacular) and outsiders (those who do not), and ultimately allow groups to “hide in plain sight” (May & Feldman, 2018). These tactics also pose a challenge to discourse analysis. Humour, sarcasm, and layers of irony are designed to leave many statements “open to interpretation”. Because of these tactics, extended immersion in the data was required to develop confidence in detecting the intended message of a post. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of weaponized autism. Even if we have harnessed a fraction of its power, we will be nigh on unstoppable.Each of these posts collapse autism with both social ineptitude and technical competencies. Interestingly, the reference to the risk of being on their “bad side” enables the weaponization: it is this implied potential for retaliation along with technical skills that makes autistic people useful to the movement. These posts suggest that “meme battles” are central to their tactics, and the greatest warriors are thus autistic people. Weaponized autism, then, is also considered to be something uniquely owned by the far right. It is claimed as something that has been and will be helpful in advancing their agenda, which is sometimes overtly linked to promoting favoured political figures and defeating their political enemies.

Autism Against Fascism. ((no date)). Autism Against Fascism - Home. Retrieved from https://autismagainstfascism.wordpress.com/ Ah dude its the nature of being a weaponized autist_x000D_ It destroys sanity and replaces with raw memes Weaponized autism is a wonder to behold to us regular people. You guys are thermonuclear! Thank you for never giving up on anything! How do Gab posters claim authority? Who has “power” in this space? How do users gain and exert power? What kind of knowledge or status is privileged in alt-right online spaces?On October 25th, Redditor elsuperj submitted a post asking for /r/AskThe_Donald [3] readers to "explain the 'weaponized autism' in-joke." On November 29th, Urban Dictionary [1] user BarrySoetero submitted an entry for "weaponized autism," defining it as "the focused application of nerdiness, computer tech avvy and social awkwardness in the cyber pursuit of justice" (shown below).