Information Sheet Bullying and Autism Spectrum Disorders - Amaze

Information SheetBullying and Autism Spectrum DisordersTaken from The Spectrum, Vol.2, No. 1, Autumn 2006, pp 4‐6. Reviewed April 2011Community awareness and understanding ofbullying behaviour has improved in recentyears. Nevertheless, students with an AutismSpectrum Disorder (ASD) remain highlyvulnerable to bullying behaviour, andparents, teachers, other students and thecommunity must be sensitive to theparticular needs of these students.them unhappy, or you may notice injuriessuch as bruises or scratched, torn clothing ormissing items 2 . Alternatively, changes in yourchild’s behaviour may alert you to thepossibility of bullying.Protecting the student withAutism Spectrum Disorder frombullying behaviour at schoolOccasionally we received calls from parentswho are concerned about their child beingbullied at school. The majority are parents ofchildren with high‐functioning autism orAsperger Syndrome, attending mainstreamschool. British statistics suggest thatstudents with special education needsattending a mainstream setting are threetimes more likely than their age peers to bebullied 1 . How can you tell if your child hasbeen bullied? What characteristics makestudents with Autism Spectrum Disorder atarget of bullying? What can parents,teacher and peers do to prevent bullying andkeep the student with Autism SpectrumDisorder happy and safe?Identify that your child is beingbulliedYour child may be able to tell you whensomething happened at school that madeA child who is being bullied may havedifficulties with eating, or sleeping whichwere not previously present, havenightmares with the theme of being verballyor physically hurt, or refuse to go to school 3 .There are other reasons for such behaviour,so it is important to do some furtherinvestigation with the child. A direct (butleading) way is to simply ask the child ifanyone has made them sad. Parents maywish to use a less direct (and neutral)approach by use of an emotions timelinewith their child. This lists routines of the dayin chronological order. The child is givenpictures of happy, sad and angry. The parentstarts at the beginning of the day and saysthe name of the activity (for example,recess) and the child selects the correct faceto represent the feeling at that time. If theAutism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 1

3. The child’s sensitivity may maketheir reactions to provocation seem comicalto bullies. The child may become teary orangry quite easily after being taunted, andso this is an instant pay‐off for the bullytrying to get a reaction. This is particularly sofor those with Asperger Syndrome.Strategy: Develop a bullying shield with thechild. This is a concrete and visual way torepresent protective thoughts for the child.The shield can be as simple as a sheet ofpaper, or as complex as whatever model thechild wants to make. An adult helps the childcome up with some statements to counterwhat is being said to them (for example, thebully says ‘you smell’, and the child’sstatement could be ‘I smell like flowers’ or ‘Iwash every day so I smell pleasant’). Theagreed to statement is written on the shield.The child is prompted to think of the shieldwhen being bullied – and of the bully’sstatements bouncing off the shield. This isnot necessarily so they can say their counterstatement,but more so they can see thatthe taunt is not true, and so remain calm.Some children like to visualise putting on araincoat as a barrier to teasing words insteadof using a more abstract ‘shield’.4. The child who has difficulties withgeneralisation may repeat a mistake from aprevious occasion, retriggering the bully’shumiliation of them. Luke Jackson, author ofFreaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome 5recounts how he would go to the same placeeach day where the bullies were, notmodifying his behaviour from the last timethey had taunted him. When he did seek tochange this pattern, he went to secludedplaces in the school ground, thinking he washiding from the bullies, but really makinghimself vulnerable to attack withoutwitnesses or other people to intervene.Strategy: The school may provide a safeplace inside to go if needed, such as asupervised indoor activity. If this is notpossible, teach the student who plays in theyard where he can play in plain view of otherstudents and staff. If incidents occur withinthe line of sight of the duty teachers or thestaffroom, teachers are more likely to see,and respond to an incident.5. The child may not recognise theintent behind the bullying behaviour andmay actually think the bully is being friendly.Carol Gray highlights an example where achild was asked to ‘shake hands’ withanother child, then pushed to the groundand hit.Strategy: Teach the child how to recognisesuspicious or unfriendly behaviour. Ingeneral, shaking hands is an adult activity, sochildren should be suspicious of anotherchild offering this. Similarly, a child offeringto be friends if given money is not a realfriend – teach the child that friendship doesnot need to be paid for. You could also teachthe child that a real friend doesn’t ask you todo something that would hurt yourself orsomeone else.6. A child’s literal interpretation oflanguage may set them up for furtherteasing (for example, showing unusualapproaches to join a group, and being told‘go away’. The child may then genuinelyquestion ‘go where?’).Autism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 3

Strategy: If a child recounts an incident suchas this, correct their confusion by providing aconcrete example: ‘when a child says ‘goaway’, they really mean ‘go away from me’,and you should move to a different areawhere people look more friendly. If you can’tfind friendly students, go to the duty teacherand ask for help.Many of the above strategies havesuggested ways to increase the child’sabilities and skills. This is not to say that theirdifficulties are to blame for the bullying,rather that even the most caring teachersmay not see the bullying incidents as theyoccur. In that case, the most immediate wayto help the child is to equip them with themeans to prevent some bullying incidents.Of course the best way to stamp out bullyingaltogether is to deter bullies, catch them outif they persist, and then provide appropriatepunishment (see more suggestions forteachers below).More strategies to help the childwho is being bulliedFor ParentsKnow the school’s bullying policy, anduse this information to your advantage.Every school is required to have abullying policy. Visitwww.education.vic.gov.au/healthwellbeing/safety/bullying/policy.htm for moreinformation.Meet with the school to discussincidents, how these were handled, andwhether this is in accordance with theschool’s policy. If you have a goodrelationship with the class teacher, beginby talking with them. For more seriousmatters, such as physical violenceagainst your child, or ongoing teasing,requesting a meeting in writing throughthe principal is suggested. For such ameeting, making a list of the issues tocover, and bringing alongdocumentation of the events over time(see reference to the ‘grievance book’above) can help keep the meeting ontrack. Ask your partner or a friend tocome to the meeting as a supportperson if you feel overwhelmed speakingto the teacher and principal by yourself.If a resolution of grievances cannot beachieved to your satisfaction at teacheror principal level, parents can thencontact the Education Department’sDisability and Student Welfare Section intheir region OR the Student WellbeingBranch at Head Office.For TeachersLead by example. Show in your attitudeand actions that bullying behaviour isnot tolerated by you. Address everyincident you witness or hear about.Don’t turn a blind eye, thinking that thestudents involved should just sort thingsout themselves. Although this may workfor other students, the student withAutism Spectrum Disorder does not havethe social understanding, or perspectivetakingability to do this. They will neededucation about what went wrong, andwhy. They will also need a clearguideline about what to do next time totry to avoid the same situationreoccurring.Incorporate specific bullying training intothe curriculum, such as informationabout how to recognise bullying. UseCarol Gray’s ‘How to respond to abullying attempt’ 6 to set up teamsamongst classmates who will then watchout for each other in the playground.This method also teaches childrenexactly what to say and do when theyare faced with bullying behaviour.Autism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 4

Other preventative measures, like a‘buddy system’, or a ‘circle of friends’ 7can help the student with AutismSpectrum Disorder be included in agroup of students who look out for themin the playground. Although this takestime to set up, it can save time for dutyteachers later on if they are not dealingwith bullying incidents, and therefore isa good investment. Choose carefullywhen assigning an older buddy or wheninviting potential members into a circleof friends as there is the potential forbullying within these programs!Highlight pro‐social, inclusive and caringactions by classmates as a model of howto treat others. Reward such behaviourwith your overt approval.Provide consequences for bystanders.One way to stop bullying goingunnoticed is to treat bystanders as ifthey are as guilty as the bullies. Thisthen gives students the choice to stay onwitnessing and possibly encouraging thebullying, or to leave, providing less of anaudience, and going to seek teacherintervention.Many more suggestions about how totackle bullying at a class level can befound in ‘Perfect Targets: AspergerSyndrome and Bullying’ by RebekahHeinrichs 4 .Other IssuesPerceived bullying. Sometimes the studentwith Autism Spectrum Disorder willmisinterpret an unintentional bump in lineas purposeful physical aggression, andretaliate. At other times, the student maymisinterpret good‐natured teasing or‘banter‐ aimed at including them (see also‘what if my child is the bully?’ below). Forexample, peers may say to the student‘How’s it hanging?’, meaning ‘How are you?’.The student with Autism Spectrum Disordermay misinterpret this as somehow an insultabout their being droopy. Another exampleis where teen boys use phrases borrowedfrom American gang speak, such as‘dog/dawg’ meaning ‘homeboy’ or ‘friend’.The teen with Autism Spectrum Disordermay interpret this literally, and feel insultedthat they are being likened to an animal.When the student withAutism SpectrumDisorder reports thatthey are being teased, itis therefore importantto determine exactlywhat words were said tothem. Then teachersand parents need tolearn more about theterms that teenagersuse, and demystifythese for the student with an AutismSpectrum Disorder. Brenda Boyd offers someguidelines for assessing a child’s level ofunderstanding in relation to bullying, banterand teasing, and unintentional hurting in herbook ‘Parenting a child with AspergerSyndrome 8 .What if my child with AutismSpectrum Disorder is the bully?If it has been reported to you that your childhas been the perpetrator of bullying, it isimportant to establish exactly whathappened during the incident (that is,everything that was done and said). It canthen be determined why your child isresponding in this way, and teach alternativeresponses. Reasons for bullying mayinclude:retaliating for perceived purposefulbumping,retaliating for perceived insults,Autism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 5

sensory overload and lashing out,learning that bullying is a way to be leftalone 9 ,not recognising the emotional effect onothers,being set up by other classmates 1 , andattempts to be part of a group of otherchildren who are bullies 1 .Comic strip conversations 10 are a useful tool.Developed by Carol Gray, comic stripconversations are a way to visually andconcretely represent a situation that hasoccurred, such as the incident whereanother student felt the student with AutismSpectrum Disorder was bullying them. Stickfigures are drawn to represent each personinvolved, and speech bubbles show whateach person said. Thought bubbles are thenincluded to show what each person thoughtor was feeling. Misunderstandings can beidentified and the student with AutismSpectrum Disorder can be helped to gaininsight into how the other person wasaffected by their actions. Traditionalpunishments will not be effective inchanging their bullying behaviour unless thestudent understands why the behaviour wasnot appropriate, and what they should doinstead the next time a similar situationoccurs.What if the teacher is the bully?Often when disciplining a student, theteacher will reprimand them in front of theclass. This works well with most students –they are sufficiently embarrassed that theywill not repeat the undesirable behaviouragain. The student with Autism SpectrumDisorder may not have the desire to pleasethe teacher, and such a reprimand mayserve to confuse them. The child may realisethey are in trouble, but not understand whatthey need to change in order to put thingsright. Consider the following excerpt fromthe book ‘Blue Bottle Mystery’ 11 where themain character, Ben, who has AspergerSyndrome is reprimanded by his teacher.………“Listen son”, Miss Browning‐Lever saidin a hard voice, “I’m sick of your attitude.When you will speak to me, you will addressme as Miss Browning Lever, understand?”.Ben felt sick. What did ‘address her’ mean?He didn’t understand any of thisconversation. He didn’t know why he was introuble. How he hated school!The student with Autism Spectrum Disordercan appear to be defiant and provocative attimes if they do not understand what isexpected, if they correct the teacher in apedantic manner, or if they interpret literallywhat the teacher has said. A teacherunfamiliar with the characteristics of AutismSpectrum Disorder may repeatedlyreprimand a child in the manner above,wondering why the child just won’t do asthey are told, and leading the child to fearthem as they would a bully.Strategies: Ensure the teacher knows aboutAutism Spectrum Disorder, and how thismay affect the student’s behaviour and levelof comprehension. Most teachers who areinformed will try to be sensitive to thestudent’s needs. A comic strip conversation 9can help a teacher understand which partsof an interaction the child misunderstood,and how both can avoid the same situationoccurring. If the child continues to feeldistressed about a teacher’s response tothem, utilise the suggestions for parents inthe ‘more strategies to help the child who isbeing bullied’ section above.Bullying in Specialist SchoolSettingsCalls to Autism Victoria for advice aboutbullying are rarely from parents of a child ina specialist school setting (SDS, SpecialAutism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 6

School or autism specific school). This maybe because the other students, due to theirown difficulties are not aware of the child’sdifferences, and therefore teasing does notoccur. Alternatively it may be that childrenattending these settings are less able toreport bullying to us. If behaviour changeindicative of bullying is apparent in the child(as described at the start of this article),investigate further with the child’s schoolstaff and enlist their help to increasesupervision at those times where bullyingmay be occurring.Other resources available fromAutism Victoria library:Boardgame: Searle and Streng. The Anti‐Bullying Game. (#2687)Carter, M and Santomauro, J. SocialSpectrum, Bullying issue (#2677)BibliographyAll references used in compiling this articleare available for loan from the AutismVictoria library (the accession number # is inbrackets):1. National Autistic Society. Words willreally hurt me. How to protect your childfrom bullying. (#1948)2. Gray, C. Gray’s Guide to Bullying(including ‘How to respond to a bullyingattempt’) (#2474)3. Attwood, T. Asperger Syndrome: A guidefor parents and professionals (#1560)4. Heinrichs, R. Perfect Targets (#2436)5. Jackson, L. Freaks, Geeks and AspergerSyndrome (#2252)6. Gray, C. How to respond to a bullyingattempt. (#1992 discussion of methodand examples for implementation and#1993 workbook for children)7. Victorian Parent Advocacy Collective.Circles of Friends ‐ video and manual(#1375)8. Boyd, B. Parenting a Child with AspergerSyndrome. (#2402)9. Attwood, T. Asperger Syndrome PartTwo DVD (section on anger) (#2695)10. Gray, C. Comic Strip Conversations (#1912)11. Hoopman, K. Blue Bottle Mystery(#2013)_________________________________©2011 Autism Victoria trading as Amaze.Permission is granted for the use of thematerials in this information sheet to bereproduced in their entirety, provided thatAutism Victoria is acknowledged at thesource.Autism Victoria Trading as Amaze T: 1300 308 699 W: www.amaze.org.au 7