• Evidence-based practices are implemented for prevention and intervention

• Students, parents, and staff play an active role in creating and implementing the strategies

• Consistent, effective, and informative training is provided to ALL stakeholders

• Reward positive, helpful, inclusive behavior that builds peer-to-peer learning and inclusive practices

• Teach the DO’s and not the DON’Ts

• Clearly defined policies for dealing with bullying situations when they arise

• Clearly defined ways to report cases of bullying for both students and staff

• SEL workshops and support resources

• Access for all stakeholders to school psychologists and highly trained professionals in the study of bullying 

The major reason that children with special needs are targets for bullying is that they often lack peer support/relationships.  This is why it is vitally important that prevention strategies help students to understand, appreciate, and accept the various aspects that make us different.  It is also important to celebrate those differences and help students to understand that even though we may have our differences, we probably have even more things in common.  These evidence-based practices should help students to become more empathetic.  Therefore, a shift to compensatory strategies must also be a major focus of school-wide programs.  Specifically, coping strategies, skill development, and cognitive behavior approaches.  Recognizing that bullying is never going to fully disappear, teaching students these skills is more likely to produce positive outcomes.  For students with special needs, this is a win-win because these are often skills that they need further developed, even if they are not being bullied.  

-50% of bullying situations stop when a peer intervenes

-49% of children with autism in grades 5th-8th were bullied

-Of children with autism who want to interact with others but have a hard time making friends, 57 percent are bullied

Verbal- is when someone uses words to hurt or scare another person.

Cyberbullying- is a type of verbal or social bullying that happens through instant messaging, social gaming sites, email, texting, or social media.

Relational (or social)- involves hurting someone's relationships or reputation.

(Marshall-Seslar, 2022)

-Collaborate with parents, teachers, and counselors to determine the root cause of bullying or school refusal and discuss possible solutions

-Limit time spent away from school. The longer a child is out of school, the harder it may be for him to return

-Medication

-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

-Exposure Therapy

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2022, January 21). Bullying and children with autism: How to help your child. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. https://www.chop.edu/news/health-tip/bullying-and-children-autism-how-help-your-child

Ian Research Report: Bullying and children with ASD. Kennedy Krieger Institute. (n.d.). https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/ian_research_report_bullying

1. First thing you have to do is document, document, document.” Write down the date, the time, and exactly what happened.

2. look up the laws and policies related to bullying in your state. Understanding what violates the law can help parents as they document what they see and hear.

3. If the situation isn’t too egregious, meet with the teacher to see if you can find a resolution. If that doesn’t work,

4. Volunteer at school, drive the carpool, keep your ear to the ground, all the while documenting everything you learn. During this fact-finding period, start building a support network of parents — after all, one parent’s complaints can easily be waved off, while a group of concerned parents has more chance of being heard.

5. Follow the chain of command; teacher, vice principal, principal, principal’s supervisor, and superintendent. This approach works in your favor for two reasons: One, the closer someone is to the problem, the more likely they’ll be able to take swift, effective action; and two, when you go to the top, one of the first questions will be, ‘Who have you talked to about this, and what did they say?’ If you can’t answer effectively, you’re likely to be directed back to those you’ve skipped.

6. And always, document every bullying incident. If you have documentation for a couple of months, they can’t ignore that

   (Kelmon, 2022)