http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2020/06/when-autistic-children-get-bullied-how.html
I'll start out by saying I was bullied in elementary school, from grades K to 3. It only stopped when I changed schools. Particularly galling was the fact that it was a Christian elementary school, and a small one. You'd think people would have, I don't know, noticed, cared, and done something about it. Apparently not.
This is not uncommon, as I understand it. I can't honestly remember how much I told my parents, or the school. I do think I told my mother, and despite her crippling depression she did give me some pointers that helped somewhat. The situation wasn't resolved, though. And I don't think the school did anything that helped, assuming they believed me at all. Upon arriving at the new school district in a different state, I essentially resolved to be antisocial forever to avoid being in a similar situation ever again.
That resolution lasted right through middle school, where one of those "let's help the outcasts and outsiders make friends!" groups slapped me together with a pair of fraternal twins who decided to adopt me as a friend. As things sometimes do, one friendship led to another and by the time I moved again, I was losing a small network of people I'd grown fond of. So it goes.
This was in the 90's, which was before smartphones were invented, before social media became a thing, and before everyone carried the Internet in their pockets at basically all times.
This article focuses on in-person bullying, specifically that experienced in schools. While this is absolutely a current concern, notably missing is any discussion of cyberbullying.
Some of the same considerations apply: presume competence, believe the autistic person, and take care how you ask for information about what's going on.
For an article more focused on cyberbullying, Kevin Healey has this story, and there's an additional resource here.
So far in my life, I have yet to meet an autistic person who hasn't been bullied. Usually we're the favored targets, above and beyond all typical bullying, due to our tendency to take people at face value, our unusual mannerisms and passions, and our smaller support networks. Let's do better for today's kids.
I'll start out by saying I was bullied in elementary school, from grades K to 3. It only stopped when I changed schools. Particularly galling was the fact that it was a Christian elementary school, and a small one. You'd think people would have, I don't know, noticed, cared, and done something about it. Apparently not.
This is not uncommon, as I understand it. I can't honestly remember how much I told my parents, or the school. I do think I told my mother, and despite her crippling depression she did give me some pointers that helped somewhat. The situation wasn't resolved, though. And I don't think the school did anything that helped, assuming they believed me at all. Upon arriving at the new school district in a different state, I essentially resolved to be antisocial forever to avoid being in a similar situation ever again.
That resolution lasted right through middle school, where one of those "let's help the outcasts and outsiders make friends!" groups slapped me together with a pair of fraternal twins who decided to adopt me as a friend. As things sometimes do, one friendship led to another and by the time I moved again, I was losing a small network of people I'd grown fond of. So it goes.
This was in the 90's, which was before smartphones were invented, before social media became a thing, and before everyone carried the Internet in their pockets at basically all times.
This article focuses on in-person bullying, specifically that experienced in schools. While this is absolutely a current concern, notably missing is any discussion of cyberbullying.
Some of the same considerations apply: presume competence, believe the autistic person, and take care how you ask for information about what's going on.
For an article more focused on cyberbullying, Kevin Healey has this story, and there's an additional resource here.
So far in my life, I have yet to meet an autistic person who hasn't been bullied. Usually we're the favored targets, above and beyond all typical bullying, due to our tendency to take people at face value, our unusual mannerisms and passions, and our smaller support networks. Let's do better for today's kids.
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