Ground-breaking study examines phenomenon that is a growing concern for the autistic community

Canada, the U.S and the U.K. will embark on a two-year study funded by a prestigious New Frontiers in Research Fund grant. This research team comprises autism and hate studies experts, health-care practitioners, as well as people with autism and lived experience with online hate extremism.

According to the researchers, recent reports suggest some individuals on the spectrum are participating in hate speech forums themselves – a phenomenon that is a growing concern among clinicians and experts in the autism field.

(Note: Many autistic self-advocates prefer to use identify-first language rather than people-first language in describing themselves. With this in mind, we are consciously choosing identify-first language for the purposes of describing and reporting on this study.)


Holland Bloorview's research institute leads this ground-breaking international study examining link between autism and radical online communities.

The research team:

  • Principal Investigator:

  • Dr. Melanie Penner, Holland Bloorview, Bloorview Research Institute, and assistant professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Canada


  • Co-investigators:

  • John Elder Robison, College of William & Mary, U.S.

  • Barbara Perry, Ontario Tech University, Canada

  • Suzanne Stevenson, University of Toronto, Canada

  • Christian Picciolini, Free Radicals Project, U.S.


  • Collaborators:

  • Dr. Rachel Loftin, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, U.S.

  • Christie Welch, Autism Research Centre, Holland Bloorview, Canada

  • Patrick Jachyra, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada

  • Simon Baron-Cohen, Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge, U.K.

  • Ricardo Rivera, Southern Poverty Law Centre, U.S.

  • Azadeh Kushki, Autism Research Centre, Holland Bloorview, Canada

  • Dr. Alexander Westphal, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, U.S.


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