Twitter usage about autism spectrum disorder

Lay abstract What do we know? Stakeholders within autism spectrum disorder communities use Twitter for specific purposes. Researchers have examined words that are used in autism spectrum disorder-related tweets, content of tweets shared from people who self-identify with autism spectrum disorder, and emotional writing of autism spectrum disorder bloggers. What does this paper adds? This study captures tweets from a broad scope of topics and users as compared to previous studies. It examines content related to autism spectrum disorder shared on Twitter, the language and sentiment used within the tweets, the types of users employing Twitter to share autism spectrum disorder-related content, and the types of communities in which users are clustered. What are the practice implications? Results provide insight into perspectives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, their families and significant others, and other stakeholders. This type of research may help in developing and distributing appropriate and evidence-based autism spectrum disorder-related information.