[Quantitative analysis of autism online forums]

Social media platforms are becoming increasingly popular for discussing health-related topics. Our research focused on analyzing autism-related posts on the Reddit platform, including the r/autism, r/aspergers, and r/AutismIn - Women subreddits. We employed multiple approaches in our investigation: we conducted word frequency and sentiment analysis, defined symptom-based categories, and explored their interrelations. For the analyses, we used machine learning models in a Python environment, including BERT and DistilRoBERTa. Final statistical analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4. Our findings indicate that the discussions primarily focus on challenges related to emotional regulation, social relationships, and sensory issues. In the textual data analysis, emotional expressions prominently featured fear beyond the neutral category, while expressions of joy were less prevalent. The results of our study highlight the distinctive characteristics of online conversations about autism. These insights can help professionals and healthcare providers better understand the everyday challenges and needs of individuals with autism, enabling them to offer more effective and targeted support.