Do you believe that school should be a safe space for children to learn and socialize with their peers?
What can you do if you discover that school is not a safe space for your child who has a diagnosis of autism?
Children with Autism May Be Especially Susceptible to Bullying.
Ideally, school is a safe space for kids regardless of academic abilities or social skills. Unfortunately, school can sometimes be an atmosphere where children feel unsafe because of how they are treated by their peers. When a child's peers continuously say hurtful things or do things that subject him or her to embarrassment, it's called bullying.[1] A recent study children with autism spectrum disorders are bullied almost five times as often as children without a diagnosis of autism.[2]
What Makes Children with Autism Attractive Targets for Bullies?
Only about a third of children diagnosed with autism are on the severe end of the spectrum, making the children who are higher functioning and who attend mainstream classes easier targets for bullies. Children with autism have characteristics such as repetitive behaviors and/or stimming,[3] failure to understand social cues when interacting with their peers, talking and/or focusing obsessively about particular topics, the inability to communicate smoothly, frustration which typically leads to frequent meltdowns and overly sensitive to changes in routine, rules or environment. These characteristics can make children with autism targets, but the one characteristic which seems to attract bullies to children with autism is when the autistic child has conversational ability.[4] "Children with autism who could speak well, for example, were three times more likely to be bullied than those whose conversational ability...
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...Medicine, Pediatrics: Bullying Involvement and Autism Spectrum Disorders
Prevalence and Correlates of Bullying Involvement Among Adolescents With an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paul R. Sterzing, PhD, MSSW; Paul T. Shattuck, PhD; Sarah C. Narendorf, PhD, MSW; Mary Wagner, PhD; Benjamin P. Cooper, MPH, Nov 2012
6. Psychology Today: Fending Off Bullies, 2013
7. The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The fight-or-flight response was first described in the 1920s by American physiologist Walter Cannon. Cannon realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body help mobilize the body's resources to deal with threatening circumstances.
About.com Psychology: What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?, 2014
There are multiple types of schools in the United States; especially when it comes to dealing with children with Autism. Some schools do not handle autistic children well. There are multiple reports on how these children are put in isolation from other students in the school. Society frowns upon the mentally disabled, and many people feel as if this should not be. Most psychologists have said that there are no “right” schools for children with autism. However, public schools seem to have more pros, than cons. In public schools, the ratio (for teachers to students) is 1:1. There is special support, just like mainstreaming. Also, Autistic children don’t feel different than other students because the classroom has the same type-of setting and any other class. Just as there are pros, cons seem to follow however. One of the main, and only cons is simply that the parent does not agree with the choices, or setting of the school. The parent might feel the classroom is not adequate for their child.
Over the last decade, bullying has really been a worldwide issue. Bullying is affecting children all over the world and has grown into a huge epidemic. According to the National Education Association, “160,000 kids stay home from school each day to ...
Children with autism have social skills deficits, which cause them to not socialize with their peers or learn from their peers (Carpenter, Soorya, & Halpern, 2009). In general, children with autism do not attend specialized schools for their needs. Instead children with autism attend regular schools with typical peers (Laushey, Heflin, Shippen, Alberto & Fredrick, 2009). Typical peers are children of the same age that display no mental or physical delays; as a result, they are normal. Without a foundation in social skills children with autism will continue to be left behind as their typical peers grow and learn more.
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
Bullying is a growing concern in a society where status and exercising power over another human being are increasingly important in developing one’s social circles. Dan Olweus (Norwegian researcher and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program) defines it as an “aggressive behaviour that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power. Most often, it is repeated over time” (Violencepreventionworks.org). School victimization is an especially delicate matter that has only really been in the public eye for the past half century, as more and more researchers and psychologists pointed out its short- and long-term negative effects on targeted individuals. It has since been widely investigated and numerous programs have been developed in an effort to address and prevent the many forms of bullying that exist today. The negative effects of such an abusive behaviour are various and can greatly differ from individual to individual. However, there are three main consequences that can be associated with school bullying, which are: school avoidance, depression/anxiety and even suicidal attempts.
One of the most difficult things teachers will face when dealing with Autistic children is their lack of communication skills and inappropriate or nonexistent social skills. In addition to academic instruction children with Autism require instruction in communication techniques and social skills. Kamps et.al. says “A key to accommodating students with autism in public school settings is the provision of social and behavioral programming to develop meaningful participation with nondisabled persons” (p.174).
Everyone has been bullied or encountered someone being bullied at some point of their life. Whether it would be physically or verbally both can be exceedingly traumatizing and can have a long-term psychological influence on children’s development. Majority people may define bullying in a more physical term; nevertheless that’s not always the case. The act of bullying can occur in several ways and in reality affect the individual in the same way. Bullying is generally defined as repeated, negative, and harmful actions focused at target throughout a course of time, exhibiting a sense of power difference between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993; Limber & Mihalic, 1999 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). A survey was conducted in the United States estimating that over six million children, about 30% in grade six through ten have experienced frequent bullying in a school environment (Nansel, 2001 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). Many people might debate that bullying is something that every child goes through and is simply a part of growing up, although there are several damaging consequences that happens to the child’s brain. Bullying causes the child to feel upset, isolated, frightened, anxious, and depressed. They feel like they reason they are being picked on is because there is something wrong with them and may even lose their confidence feel unsafe going to school (Frenette, 2013 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005) Anthropologically, sociologically, or psychologically, bullying can be analyzed through different perspectives and several questions can be asked based on the topic:
Bullying is a major problem and needs to be prevented. A bully is defined as aggressive behavior or to harm a person repeatedly overtime. School bullying can start anytime from elementary to high school. Over 5.7 teens in the United States are involved in school bullying(about.com). Boys tend to be more physically bullied as girls are more prone to being bullied verbally. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, boys who are often bullied can be five times as likely to be more or severely depressed and four times more likely to be suicidal. Girls are three times more likely to be severely depressed and eight times more likely to be suicidal. Some children are afraid to go to school, which can lead to poor grades or lack of concentration. It is hard for students to focus at school when they are worried about their bully. Bullying can make school a place of fear and can lead to school violence.
Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places
Bullying is a devastating issue that threatens the well-being of today’s youth. Those who are most likely at risk are those who; have a learning or physical disability i.g., autism or ADHD, are underweight or overweight, are gay/lesbian/transgendered, or speak a different language. Of course, there are no specific guidelines of who will become victims of bullying. Children who are bullied experience lower self-esteem, greater loneliness, greater anxiety, and more depression in addition to the already stressful adolescent years. The longer the bullying occurs the more profound the symptoms can become. As a low-level, subtle form of violence, bullying creates an unsafe school environment and can lead to more serious types of violence among students (Whitted & Dupper, 2005).
Have you ever been personally bullied by another person? Maybe you have not had your head forced into a locker, but verbally hurt? Bullying today can be quite serious. Bullying is when someone tries to hurt another person by hitting them or by simply hurting them with their words. Bullying is something that can have a huge impact on its victims. It might be something that lasts throughout their lives, or something that might cause them to take their lives. Bullies make small groups so that they can pick on other students who are small, fragile, and who can not defend themselves. Picking on someone should not be accepted because it can affect a person's well being in a drastic way. Bullying is believed to be a normal part of school life. However, when people begin to have that mentality they forget that bullying is psychologically and physically harmful to both the victim and the bully.
Bullying of students in school is an abuse that affects and produces a number of negative experiences on the victim. It is proven that those students who bully do so merely because they see themselves superior than those being bullied. They use this as a tactic to make juniors fear them and show them that they are not equal in any way. Some will even bully as a revenge of the bullying they suffered in the past. I have been bullied before and I know some of the effects it could have on a person. Bullying is a serious cause of many issues and has effects that may be long lasting.
The fight or flight response is a physiological reaction to a perceived threat of danger, in which the body prepares itself to either fight or flee an attacker. During this response certain hormones are released, which speed the heart rate, slow digestion, and reroutes blood flow, in order to elicit the desired response of fight or flight.
An estimated amount of 160,000 students across the United States misses school each day due to being a victim of bullying. From a present study, 29% of students involved in bullying, 14% of the children were said to be victims, 7% were bullies, and 8% were bullies and victims. The worst type of social behavior stems from bullying, and leads to complications in a student’s future. Bullying is a way of expressing aggressive behavior that is intended, and continues that sometimes leads to physical or mental injuries. Those who are victims of bullying, lack self-esteem, and become easily depressed by small objects. There are four common types of bullying: verbal, physical, relational aggression, and
In recent times bullying has become a national issue, notwithstanding the fact that it has been in existence for many years. Traditionally, bullying has been seen as horseplay, but with the increase of harassment in schools and suicides; parents and schools are now forced to take action to prevent bullying in schools. Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance which has the potential to be repeated over time. Strategies to prevent bullying in schools are grouped into identifying the causes of bullying, creating policies and rules, building a safe environment and educating students and staff.