Autism Spectrum Disorder on Twitter during COVID-19: Account Types, Self-Descriptions and Tweeting Themes

Abstract

Social media can be used to share experiences of health-related conditions, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and to advertise support. Knowledge about how this occurs can inform those seeking to guide those with the condition. This article reports three related studies to investigate ASD on Twitter in the USA, derived from COVID-19 tweets between March 10 and June 30, 2020. Study 1: Twitter accounts mentioning ASD in author biographies were classified with content analysis by type, finding parents and people declaring ASD to be both common, with support, advocates and specialists also represented. Study 2: The biographies of these accounts were analysed using word association thematic analysis (WATA), finding a strong family relationships theme amongst the parent tweeters, for example. The results also suggested common identity aspects of people declaring ASD, including gaming and artistic interests. Study 3: COVID-19-related tweets from the same accounts were analysed using WATA, finding no ASD-specific themes for parents or people declaring ASD. The results suggest that ASD in the USA is represented for COVID-19 through parents, individuals declaring it, and supporters, but without raising concerns particular to the disorder.

Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Autism, Twitter, Social media