I think one of our biggest fears as Autism Parent’s, it that our Child/ren will be subjected to bullying. Directly or indirectly it doesn’t matter, it is still bullying and it hurts. It hurts being bullied and it hurts seeing someone you love being bullied.
I am the proud Mum of two amazing little humans who both happen to have Autism (ASD). Hearing that diagnosis was probably one of the hardest things to hear as a parent. Not because of the thought that your child is different, because they are still the same person they were before their diagnosis. But because you know the world will look at them differently.
Let’s go back to when we were at school, how many children in your class had disabilities? For me, none! At my school any child with additional needs were put in a ‘special class and excluded from the rest of us and then when they did mix with us, there were always that particular group of people who were mean and bullied them.
Also, let’s not forget the really smart kids who got straight A’s – they were picked on for being ‘nerds’. Then there were the kids like me, who struggled with school because of learning difficulties and used to act up and get sent out of the room unless it was for hands on activities, which we would be held highly for by our teachers, But we still got bullied.
Bullying has been going in since the start of the human race, it’s just getting worse each generation, especially now we have social media and camera phones.
What bullying looks like.
.exclusion
.verbal abuse/ taunting
.physical abuse
.poking fun at others
.spreading rumours
Just to name a few.
Now, I can only speak for my family here but I’d like to think that to some degree that everyone can relate to this.
Sometimes a person who has ASD can be withdrawn and it may seem they like their own company and it may also seem that they are oblivious to anyone around them. But I can assure you from seeing my own Son that they can hear your snickering comments, they can sence the social exclusion and it hurts them.
For my own children I see that one of my boys is a social butterfly and people love bring around him and my other son is more of an introvert and struggles with human interaction.
For that son, I see children exclude him because he is different and can not mask his struggles like his twin can.
Parents at the park move their children away from my Son because he seems scary, he is not!
Other kids and their parents laugh and point at my Son when he is having a meltdown or a hard time. This is bullying!
My Son, like All Children notices the way people react to him, he feels exclusion and he just wants to be accepted, even by just one friend.
So i ask you as parents to teach your children to be kind to everyone, regardless of their skin colour, height, weight, age, gender, sexual orientation and of course if they have a disability. Teach your child to be thoughtful, to have respect and compassion to treat everyone the same.
It starts with us as parents, we must model the behaviors we want to see in our children, to our children.
So the next time you see a child out at the park with their mother or father and they may seem like they are struggling, go over and say hello, teach your child to play safely with the other child and watch how much both children enjoy the interaction.
*you may need to assist your child with playing as it may be tricky for the other child, so please stay off of your phones while doing this*
Elle x
Our Autism Journey 