Bullying:(

Why are autistic kids being pushed around?

Below is a consensus from college students in an exploring autism class to the above question of why autistic kids are being pushed around:

We agreed that autistics are likely targets for a couple of different reasons. For one, autistic individuals are simply different than non- autistics and they act and react differently which could cause them to be at the heart of bullying. Another reason is that since autistics have a hard time understanding non autistics, they probably have a difficult time understanding what is happening to them and would have no concept of how to fight back. Autistics do not always understand the social norms that are required of them and as a result they act very differently. These differences are difficult to spot and that makes them an easy target. Finally, many bullies bully for attention and to fit into a social clique. We decided that unlike non autistics, most autistics do not crave social interaction and therefore they usually have no group of friends to ally and protect them in bullying situations.

As a solution to this, we decided that education would be a very effective way to start. Both teachers and students should learn about autism right in the classroom. This would hopefully help the children increase their sensitivity to the behavior of the autistic child in their class or school. This would also create a tight community within classrooms that would cause the students to be more accepting and protecting of one another.

We then thought about how to better punish bullies. One idea was to have the bully write an apology letter to the student. Another way would be to have them see a school counselor and learn about how their words are affecting their peers.