Youths With Autism Are Targets For Bullying

Date: Sep-08-2012According to a new study published in the American Medical Association's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 46.3 percent of youths with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been victims of bullying.

This study was part of a pioneering program of research on teens and adults with autism led by Paul T. Shattuck, PhD, and assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. As more children are diagnosed with autism, research needs to be done to see what life is like for teens and adults with this condition. Previous research has been limited on this subject.

Bullying is characterized by negative actions towards a peer involving a power struggle between the victim and the perpetrator. Until this point, there has been little to no research on the correlation between ASD and bullying.

Nationally represented survey data was used to establish how common bullying can be in adolescents, and compare these rates with developmental disabilities that coincide with major shortfalls of ASD, as well as point out social ecological connections with bullying involvement.

Findings show bullying involvement for youths with an ASD was 46.3 percent for victimization and significantly higher than the national percentage for the general adolescent population. Rates of being the perpetrator (14.8 percent) and rates of being the perpetrator as well as the victim (8.9 percent) were comparable to national estimates of typical adolescents.

Shattuck says:

"Spending more time in a general education setting, as opposed to a segregated special education classroom, was associated with a higher rate of being bullied. Schools need to work harder at the successful integration of students with disabilities."

Shattuck suggests more parental interaction for plans and policies that will positively include students with disabilities, such as staff and teacher training on bullying prevention to ensure a violence free school environment.

Written by Kelly Fitzgerald

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