The Silent Bullying of Asperger's and HFA Students

“My high functioning autistic son continues to be bullied at school, but nobody there seems to take it seriously. His teach said that ‘he seems to start the arguments by annoying some of the other students.’ O.K. Fine. Maybe this is true, but that doesn’t justify bullying. How can I get the school to take this seriously?”
 
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Sure it against the law to bully, but I live in Central VA and my son was bullied throughout high school and nothing was even done...even on the school bus. This area is full of redneck people with redneck kids who only like other gun-toting rednecks and don't have the slightest idea of what Aspergers is all about. Shame on this school system and these rednecks!
February 1, 2011 at 4:51 PM
Unknown said…
I live in Northern VA, and my 8 yr old son with Asperger's was the victim of bullying this past monday. Fortunately, the school has a zero-tolerance policy and suspended the boys, but still. What happens the next time? and the next time after that???
March 1, 2011 at 9:05 PM
Anonymous said…
I agree with you Grace. same thing happened to me. And this time when he comes back form Easter recess. I will approach the principal this totally has to stop.
April 17, 2011 at 4:04 PM
Anonymous said…
I'm 32 and STILL bullied for my Aspie tendencies. I had no luck in school and was often bullied just as much by teachers and school employees as I was by other students.
April 17, 2011 at 7:27 PM
Anonymous said…
My son has been diagnosised with PTSD because of the bullying from two elementary schools in the same district. Now, there have been teachers bullying him.
December 6, 2011 at 6:48 PM
Unknown said…
How are we supposed to find lawyers? I've been looking for one. My son had to be operated on 3 times because of a bully incident. The school moved my son off the team and took away all field trips from him because he was "acting erratically" by calling things out in class that the other kids told him to. I even had an assistant principal tell me it was time to get a lawyer. There are no lawyers that help with this, not unless you can afford them.
November 1, 2012 at 4:26 AM
Forsythia said…
It is a good idea to demand an anti-bullying clause in your youngster's Individual Education Plan (IEP) Please suggest the wording for an anti-bullying clause in the IEP.
April 5, 2013 at 1:28 AM
Unknown said…
We went through this last year with my son and I had to call the parents of the bullies and I threaten legal action. One of them had hit my son in front of other children and an adult. My youngest son told us what happened, the adult did not. I kindly informed the parents that if they didn't handle it and his child touched mine again I'm pressing charges. I told the school I would sue under the ADA as a violation of my child's civil rights. Amazingly, we never had another problem and magically they were able to find an aide to monitor the playground and cafeteria more closely.
December 3, 2013 at 10:37 AM
Unknown said…
We had a meeting after the 2nd incident of my son being held down and kicked in the stomach by other children. My son's teacher, the principal and a school psychologist, said, and I quote, "He asked for it." It's not only the kids, it's adults who should know better. Now that he's 14 & going into high school, I'm terrified.

He had an intervention education plan in place up until the end of this year. We had a meeting and against my better judgement, I was told that since he has a high IQ and tests well that there was no reason to keep it going in high school. I argued that he would get lost in the shuffle in a large high school. I know my son and this could really cripple any progress we have made. It took many years to undo the damage that occurred at "He Asked For It" Elementary School. I moved him to the school where I worked. He was blessed to have several teachers that worked to pull him out of his shell that he retreated into after such a bad experience.

Many people don't realize he has Asperger's. They just see him as annoying, moody or strange. Sometimes he tries too hard to be "normal". It's really a struggle for a child with Asperger's to put themselves out there. I know he would rather retreat and be by himself. Many times his attempts result in someone chastising him. So then, not only do you have a child that has to deal with the "Spectrum" disorder, you have a kid who gets depressed and turns further in on himself. I would too if someone told me I was rude or sounded stupid.

Kids like my son have a tendancy to totally shut down at times. Sudden change in every day can bring this about.
August 2, 2016 at 6:37 PM
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