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Exploring Factors that Influence Autistic People Who Engage in Online Hate


Summary

We are conducting this study because we wish to better understand the experiences of people who identify as autistic (or having autistic traits) and who have participated/interacted with a hate group. We hope to learn more about people’s experiences before and during participating in hate group activity and how people with this experience understand and describe this part of their lives.
The first part of this study will examine online posts that have been taken from public online hate speech forums. The second part of this study involves interviews with people who identify as autistic or as having autistic traits and who have experience participating in or interacting with a hate group. The interviews will focus on participants’ experiences, descriptions, and understandings of hate group participation. 
 

Researcher(s)

Principal Investigator: 

Melanie Penner MD FRCP(C)

Research Contact: 

Christie Welch, PhD, OT Reg. (Ont.), Post-doctoral fellow, Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital,  cwelch@hollandbloorview.ca ,416-425-6220 ext. 3018

Deadline:

March 31, 2022

Funding Agency

This study is funded by a New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration grant (Grant number: NFRFE-2019-01579).

Conflict of Interest:

There are no conflicts of interest to declare related to this study.