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Proof Inclusion isn't Working! (Bullying Statistics)

IntenseWorld

I read this yesterday:

Over 40% of parents of children and young people on the autism spectrum report that their children have been bullied at school, rising to 59% of children and young people with high functioning autism and Asperger syndrome.

http://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-for-change/education.aspx

So basically, as high-functioning children are the ones that are by majority going to be the ones in mainstream, they are clearly getting bullied because of being integrated with NT children.

I don't agree with integration in schools.  For a lot of reasons.  Because the staff rarely have the right knowledge to support an ASC child.  Because schools as a whole often don't deal with bullying adequately, which means that a child who already has special needs also has to suffer from bullying on top.  Because the environment in mainstream is anathema to what an ASC child needs because of sensory issues and anxiety.  Because mainstream schools focus on academics at the expense of the wellbeing of the child.  And more.

I'm sure there are odd success stories about ASC children getting the right support and thriving in mainstream, but on the whole I think it's wrong.  I think there should be specific schools for children with HFA/AS as their needs cannot be met properly in special schools for more severely autistic children, or mainstream.

Their disability is under-accommodated because of having average-high IQ and good verbals skills.  That doesn't mean that their other autistic traits aren't just as problematic as a lower functioning child.  And yet the expectations on them are to be entirely "normal" in school, to perform normally in the face of sensory issues and anxiety, to perform normally socially in groups and to not have their academics affected adversely.  The strain of that is substantial.

No amount of integrating into mainstream will ever fit a square peg into a round hole.  No amount of mainstream education will make you not autistic and make or even necessarily help you, to function "normally" in society when you have finished your education.

I think the NAS should campaign for a school in every large town that caters solely for HFA/AS children.

Parents

  • Can someone define the bullying experienced by young people on the spectrum? This seems fundamental to the whole question.

    Several years ago I emailed the various anti-bullying groups to ask if they took account of austic spectrum as a factor in bullying. The response I got was that none had ever considered it, though several said they would look into it.

    Bullying in school takes a number of forms. The conventional image is the actual bully types, with their back-ups, who pick on the more vulnerable, intimidation, extortion - a microcosm of the adult criminal world in some respects. Where there are weaker people around there will always be someone to pick on them. Usually a lot of other kids take the role of approving bystanders, glad its not them.

    A lot of school bullying now is gossip based and name calling, exacerbated by the media opportunities of mobile phones, chat rooms and facebook, where people enjoy rubbishing others, sometimes with extraordinary cruelty. A recent variation is trolling. Its about settling scores, and again reflects adult behaviour. It includes calling kids who are different gay or ***, which causes extraordinary misery for some vulnerable kids.

    Neither of these are particularly associated with how autistic spectrum kids get bullied. Rather this probably relates to lack of social integration and different behaviour, and is the collective reaction to someone who is odd, isolated, easily riled and easily taken advantage of. It is more akin to racism, or other hate crime, which includes hate crime against disabled people generally.

    That's my perception of the situation. It might be useful if others would comment on whether bullying of young people on the spectrum compares to the first two types in my third and fourth paragraphs or to the discriminatory bulying in my fifth paragraph.

    To use my own experience, I grew up very tall and very strong. I was potentially quite capable of responding. But the kind of bullying I got, from primary through to the end of secondary arose because:

    Firstly, I said strange things, talked about the wrong things, behaved oddly. Autism not being around in my day as an excuse, I was told by everyone that it must be something I was doing wrong, that I might be better to keep my mouth shut. Most of that led to name calling, including "rusty brains", "head case" and "mental".

    Secondly I was (and still am) sensitive to loud noise, sudden movement, complex noise and movement. Also I was then prone to meltdowns, though seem to have left in behind in my twenties. My peers found that I could be made to create a show, usually by making loud sudden noises behind my head, waving arms around just on the edge of my field of view, crowding in and making strange noises, they could trigger an explosive reaction to order. I was entertainment, and attempts to retaliate added to the entertainment.

    Both of these types of bullying that I experienced are discriminatory - having a go at a disadvantaged/disabled person. Despite the Disability Acts and the Autism Act, this sort of bullying still happens.

    My worry, and my reason for writing to anti-bullying groups several years ago is that I don't think the causes of bullying specific to children on the spectrum are being addressed or even recognised. Professionals connect bullied persons on the spectrum with being overly-sensitive to conventional bullying.

    NAS please pay attention - until we properly research and properly address bullying specific to autistic spectrum, we can expect no resolution here.

Reply

  • Can someone define the bullying experienced by young people on the spectrum? This seems fundamental to the whole question.

    Several years ago I emailed the various anti-bullying groups to ask if they took account of austic spectrum as a factor in bullying. The response I got was that none had ever considered it, though several said they would look into it.

    Bullying in school takes a number of forms. The conventional image is the actual bully types, with their back-ups, who pick on the more vulnerable, intimidation, extortion - a microcosm of the adult criminal world in some respects. Where there are weaker people around there will always be someone to pick on them. Usually a lot of other kids take the role of approving bystanders, glad its not them.

    A lot of school bullying now is gossip based and name calling, exacerbated by the media opportunities of mobile phones, chat rooms and facebook, where people enjoy rubbishing others, sometimes with extraordinary cruelty. A recent variation is trolling. Its about settling scores, and again reflects adult behaviour. It includes calling kids who are different gay or ***, which causes extraordinary misery for some vulnerable kids.

    Neither of these are particularly associated with how autistic spectrum kids get bullied. Rather this probably relates to lack of social integration and different behaviour, and is the collective reaction to someone who is odd, isolated, easily riled and easily taken advantage of. It is more akin to racism, or other hate crime, which includes hate crime against disabled people generally.

    That's my perception of the situation. It might be useful if others would comment on whether bullying of young people on the spectrum compares to the first two types in my third and fourth paragraphs or to the discriminatory bulying in my fifth paragraph.

    To use my own experience, I grew up very tall and very strong. I was potentially quite capable of responding. But the kind of bullying I got, from primary through to the end of secondary arose because:

    Firstly, I said strange things, talked about the wrong things, behaved oddly. Autism not being around in my day as an excuse, I was told by everyone that it must be something I was doing wrong, that I might be better to keep my mouth shut. Most of that led to name calling, including "rusty brains", "head case" and "mental".

    Secondly I was (and still am) sensitive to loud noise, sudden movement, complex noise and movement. Also I was then prone to meltdowns, though seem to have left in behind in my twenties. My peers found that I could be made to create a show, usually by making loud sudden noises behind my head, waving arms around just on the edge of my field of view, crowding in and making strange noises, they could trigger an explosive reaction to order. I was entertainment, and attempts to retaliate added to the entertainment.

    Both of these types of bullying that I experienced are discriminatory - having a go at a disadvantaged/disabled person. Despite the Disability Acts and the Autism Act, this sort of bullying still happens.

    My worry, and my reason for writing to anti-bullying groups several years ago is that I don't think the causes of bullying specific to children on the spectrum are being addressed or even recognised. Professionals connect bullied persons on the spectrum with being overly-sensitive to conventional bullying.

    NAS please pay attention - until we properly research and properly address bullying specific to autistic spectrum, we can expect no resolution here.

Children
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