Autism and School Bullying: The P.E.A.C.E. Pack program

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022) reports that 12.1% of children and young people aged 0-24 years (946,300 people) have a disability. In Australia SEND  refers to those with special needs and disabilities  while in the United Kingdom and Canada  SEN refers to  those with special education needs and in the United States the term used is disability. Presently, the term ‘disability’ is used in most Western jurisdictions to encompass individuals with intellectual and developmental impairments, autism spectrum disorders, speech and/or language, physical and sensory issues,  dyslexia, dyscalculia and non-verbal learning disability, along with an array of emotional and behavioral disorders.

 One particular group of young people consistently identified with SEND are those with an autism spectrum disorder. The definition of autism  has recently  shifted to embrace the concept of neurodivergence. Autism is  now considered as a spectrum and  is no longer broken down into separate isolated diagnoses like Asperger's, with support levels of 1, 2 and 3 indicating the level of assistance in required in daily living. International research consistently identifies that young people on the autism spectrum are  two to four times more likely to experience bullying compared to their neurotypical peers (Jordan, Roberts & Hume, 2019).

Ideas for the school and classroom :Look around your school and classroom and make an audit of the accommodations that are made for SEND students. These may involve environmental modifications, e.g. ramps for ease of wheelchair access or use of larger lettering for important notices, or social items such as inclusion of success stories of SEND students in the school newsletter.

The Australian research (Bottroff , Spears & Slee, 2019) in Jordan et al report that school bullying has a strong impact on the lives of students with ASD. It showed a significant relationship between bullying and  (i) unhappiness at school (ii) feelings of unsafety at school (iii) lower self-esteem and (iv)poorer coping skills.

Reflection :Why might poor social skills be associated with autism and bullying? (see Wotherspoon et al  -ch 12.  IN Shute & Slee (2016) for ideas.

The P.E.A.C.E. Pack program

Visit www.caper.com.au  for details of the P.E.A.C.E. pack intervention to support SEND students

In particular the P.E.A.C.E. Pack supports autistic students in the following ways:

• Special Needs Guidelines: The pack includes specific resources and fact sheets directly focused on addressing bullying and supporting students with special needs including autism.

• Building Coping Skills: Instead of taking a punitive approach, it empowers victims by teaching productive coping skills and actively involving students in reviewing their own schoolyard experiences.

• Whole-School Approach: It involves the whole school community—educators, bystanders, and the perpetrators themselves—to build a relationship-based culture that respects diversity and reduces isolation.

References

Jordan, R., Roberts, J. M., & Hume, K. (Eds.). (2019). The SAGE handbook of autism and education. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526470409

Shute, R & Slee, P.T. (2016) (Eds). Mental health and wellbeing through schools. The way forward. Routledge.