Autism in YouTube: Content Analysis

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which usually occurs in the early developmental stage of a child and can be detected from social communication issues and repetitive sensory motoric behavior. Autism is considered a new topic in Indonesia and the public’s awareness of it has developed with the emergence of social media. One such platform that Indonesians often use is YouTube, due to its accessibility. In total, there are 84.500 videos about autism on YouTube, a large number that is not followed by a proportionate rise in research analysing such content. This study aims to fill the gap that occurs from related research about autism and YouTube, especially about autism videos in the Indonesian language. It uses qualitative content analysis method to analyze 20 videos that are selected based on their view counts, according to the type of framing utilized by their creators. The results revealed that 19 videos utilized the human-interest frame in their content such as highlighting personal stories, displaying some visual information to generate sympathy, and offering a new perspective from the autistic individuals. In addition to only one video emphasizing the morality frame, five other videos combine the human-interest frame and morality frame.