Bullying & Autism Spectrum Disorders Staci Carr, Doctoral Candidate VCU Autism Center for Excellence Bullying & Autism Objectives Understanding how bullying of students with ASD compares to general population. Understanding types of bullying & it s impact on students with ASD. Understanding why students with ASD are perfect targets for bullying by peers & siblings. Individualized bullying prevention for students with ASD. What is Bullying? a repeated oppression, psychological or physical, of a less powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons. with the intention to do HARM! This power imbalance can be because of: Size Age Social status Bullying is.. Purposeful. Harmful. Repeated 1
Research & Statistics: ASD Facts Bullying Research Are all students affected by bullying? US Student Population Statistics 17% for MS & HS students targets of moderate or frequent bullying. 75% school aged students reported being bullied at least 1x during yr. 160,000 students miss school every day, they re afraid of being bullied. At least 1/3 of students attending schools in U.S. directly experience moderate to frequent bullying. 10% are seriously targeted & require significant support from adults. Peers are present when bullying occurs. 83% indicated they felt sorry for the bullied student. 26% don t do anything but think they should. 32% try to help the bullied student. Limber 2010 Bullying Research What about students across Autism Spectrum? Research study on bullying, Cappadocia and Weiss (2012) surveyed over 190 parents and children diagnosed with ASD, ranging in age from 5 21 years old. Bullying Research What about students across Autism Spectrum? FACTS 77% of parents responded peers had bullied their child at least once in a year. 30% reporting victimization 2+ times per week. 68% of youth experienced more than 1 form of bullying. Verbal and Social bullying were most likely to occur. Cyber Bullying: Nearly 43% of kids bullied online. 1 in 4 had it happen more than once. 70% of students report seeing frequent bullying online. Over 80% of teens use cell phone regularly, making it most common medium for cyber bullying. 81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person. Cyber Bullying: 90% of teens who have seen social media bullying ignored it. 84% have seen others tell cyber bullies to stop. Only 1 in 10 victims inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse. About 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out 10 say it happened more than once. About 75% have visited a website bashing another student. 2
4 Types of Bullying 1. Physical: hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching and pushing or damaging property 2. Verbal: name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic or racist remarks, or verbal abuse (disability related comments Retarded) 4 Types of Bullying (cont) 3. Covert: (also social or indirect) lying & spreading rumors, negative facial or physical gestures, menacing or contemptuous looks, playing nasty jokes to embarrass and humiliate, mimicking unkindly, encouraging others to socially exclude someone, damaging someone's social reputation or social acceptance. (Girls are really good at this one often called relational aggression) 4 Types of Bullying (cont) 4. Cyber: overt or covert, using digital technologies: harassment via a mobile phone, setting up a defamatory personal website or deliberately excluding someone from social networking spaces. (Girls are good at this one as well.) THE PERFECT STORM: Middle School and Asperger Syndrome Student in Gen Population Student with ASD In MS most kids want to fit Students with ASD stand out, in, not noticed as different. can t easily fit in. Peers more important than ES Students with ASD are alone Peer pressures influences more often than their peers. much of what is considered Their natural tendencies to be socially appropriate alone puts them at greater risk. behaviors. White and Winford 2007 In Danger Students with ASD Have higher levels of anxiety & fear. Anxiety often associated with not being able to assert oneself & to say what one wants. Have an inability to predict what will happen in a social situation or stay out of harm s way. Have inability to predict which areas in school that are unsafe & unsupervised. May suffer increased levels of anxiety & stress because of interpersonal isolation. Lack of contact with others can lead to more awkwardness & lack of opportunities to practice social interactions. White and Winford 2007 Vulnerable Students with ASD Have difficulty taking perspective of others or predicting what others might be thinking or feeling in a social situation ( theory of mind). Have a learning from past experiences & generalizing to future situations to make predictions. Have difficulty picking up on social cues (verbal & nonverbal) and reading into a social situation. 3
Signs if your child is being bullied: Emotional and behavioral signs Changes in sleep patterns Becomes withdrawn or stammering Changes in eating patterns Becomes aggressive & unreasonable Frequent tears or anger Refuses to talk about what is wrong Mood swings Begins to target siblings Feels ill in the morning Continually 'loses' money or stealing. Physical & School Signs: Physical Unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches Comes home with missing or damaged belongings or clothes Comes home hungry. School Doesn't want to go to school Changes route to school or frightened of walking to school Doesn't want to go to school on the bus School grades begin to fall. Case Study 1: Billy 12 yrs. Asperger s Syndrome Dx Location: Bus Type of bullying: Covert (yet played out overtly) Situation: Boys on bus told Billy to pull down his pants because everyone will think it is funny & laugh. It will be really funny & cool. Result: Billy did what the boy said, everyone did laugh AT him, he was suspended from the bus. Parents had to follow up with school. Case Study 2: Mary 16 years ASD Dx Location: Hallway at school Type of bullying: Physical and Verbal Situation: 2 3 other girls call her names, take her backpack, empty it onto the ground or knock it off her back. Result: Does not want to go to school. Stopped taking her backpack to school. Not turning in homework. Case Study 3: Jennie 17 yrs. Asperger s Syndrome DX Location: Classroom Type of bullying: Cyber and Covert Situation: Inappropriate pictures of her texted to her and others with vulgar, suggestive texts Result: In trouble for texting during class. Does not want to go to school. Thoughts of suicide. Case Study 4: Tommy 7 yrs. ASD Dx Location: Playground Type of bullying: Physical Situation: Asked to play, then tormented (throwing ball at face, tripping, etc.) Result: Increased problem behavior prior to recess, resulting in him being sent to office during recess. 4
So what do we do? Bullying prevention programs Zero Tolerance No weapons in school of any kind (1995) Same punishment for ANYONE Implementation Reactive instead of proactive Does not treat the problem Not terribly effective Comprehensive School Wide Bullying Prevention Programs What is needed: We need to find out from staff, parents, students where the problems are. Adult involvement across the board SUPERVISION! Class & school rules against bullying Serious talks with parents of bullies and with bullies Support for victims Sample Programs: need to be adapted for students with ASD PATHS (Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies) www.channing bete.com/prevention programs/paths/paths.html PeaceBuilders www.peacebuilders.com Second Step www.cfchildren.org/second step.aspx What about our kids with ASD? Everyone at a school needs to be educated on ASD & social, learning, & behavioral challenges. Peers, Teachers, Staff, Parents Social Skills Supervision in areas where likelihood that bullying can happen is high (locker rooms, cafeteria, playground, hallways, busses) Peer Involvement 5
Are we doing the right thing? In the public school setting, children with autism are often integrated into the general education classroom with the hope that social skills will be absorbed through proximity to normal socialization. Instead, direct instruction of specific skills combined with an awareness of appropriate models is required. The Effectiveness of an Interview Template in Children with Autism: Structured Peer Interview to Facilitate Peer peer Interactions Crooke, Pamela J. (2005) Poor Social Skills Leads to: Poor Academic Performance Peer Failure Rejection Isolation Anxiety Depression Substance Abuse Suicidal Thoughts Violence Towards Self or others. Bellini 2007 Resources worth having! The Hidden Curriculum Refers to set of rules that everyone in school knows, but that no one has been directly taught: How to dress What type of backpack to carry How to greet a peer Where to hang out between classes What games are acceptable to play Who to ignore Others? Interventions & Supports 5 Point Scale Power Card Social Narratives/Scripts Video Modeling The Incredible 5 Point Scale: Kari Dunn Buron What behavior are you going to address? Anxiety Social Space Anger Voice Control Fear Dating Making Friends Break into 5 sections The next step is to break the problem area into 5 part clearly illustrating the degrees of the situation and putting this information onto a visual scale. 6
Power Cards Uses students' special interests to help them make sense of common situations. Finally, using visual strategies the student with support from other can regulate his emotions. In the Power Card Strategy, a brief scenario is used to explain how the hero or special interest has encountered or solved a problem. Then, a small Power Card is created that summarizes the strategy and contains a picture of the special interest. The child carries this card with him/her as a reminder when similar situations surface. Ex. of a Power Card with Embedded Interest Social Stories & Scripts Concept devised by Carol Gray in 1991 They address Social expectations or the proper way to respond when interacting with others are typically learned by example. People with communication difficulties and/or behavior problems sometimes need more explicit instructions. Social stories are meant to help children understand social situations, expectations, social cues, new activities, and/or social rules. 7
What Does Luke Skywalker Do When He is Angry? When Luke Gets Angry he Waits does not act. Takes 3 deep breaths. 1..2..3 I am OK. I can handle this. Asks Jedi master, teacher, or family member for help. Thinks about the people who love him and remembers the force is with him. What can parents do? TALK! To your child. Find out what is going on in school (especially if you see any of the signs). Journal Email or Text Draw pictures Use videos (you tube = search bullying) Take & keep data Try to find out the W s: Who did what to whom? When did it happen? Where did it happen? What was done after it happened? Discuss with school staff (principal, teacher, guidance counselor, etc.) As soon as you have your data! Find out what bullying prevention program the school has and how they are implementing it. GOOD IDEA! Gray (2004) suggests making a map of your child s environment with color coding areas that are safe and those that might not be. Let s take that one step further: Safe place + Safe People Other place + where to find Safe Person 8
At Dick s find someone with: A green shirt & A name badge Dealing with Cyber Bullying If: Then: Your son or daughter wants to Allow them to! BUT Set rules around have a Facebook account, text using this type of media. AND set up friends, visit chat rooms the account with them and view FB with them. There is inappropriate chats or posts Child gets an inappropriate text Instruct him/her to leave the chat room immediately and save and print chat logs. Call service provider, change number, block incoming texts/calls, teach who child can give number to. How to reach me 9