Recommendations of school students with autism spectrum disorder and their parents in regard to bullying and cyberbullying prevention and intervention

ABSTRACT

Accumulating evidence suggests that the prevalence of bullying is significantly higher for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) than for typically developing students. Additionally, the prominence and growth of social networking and resultant focus on cyberbullying in the last 10 years has added a new dimension to the traditional definitions, environments and experiences of bullying. This paper describes current anti-bullying strategies and the legal climate in regard to bullying in Australia. It then reports on interviews with 10 students with ASD and their parents, and discusses recommendations based on their perceptions for dealing with bullying in schools. Data analysis indicated that both students and parents made a range of recommendations to increase awareness of bullying; improve policies and procedures that can be more clearly communicated to students, teachers and parents; and support programmes that develop communication and relationship building within families and in schools to both prevent bullying and provide coping strategies to deal with bullying if it occurs. Parents also called for schools to give harsher penalties for offenders, particularly repeat offenders. These student and parent recommendations may contribute to the development of school and government policy and practice to help reduce the incidence of all forms of bullying in schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyberbullying
• bullying
• autism spectrum disorder
• students
• parents

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the students with ASD and their parents for their contribution of time in participating in the interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Suzanne Carrington http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8944-7674

Marilyn Campbell http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4477-2366

Beth Saggers http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5877-2164

Jill Ashburner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8528-5855

Julie Dillon-Wallace http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5285-4986

Yoon-Suk Hwang http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6952-0117

Notes on contributors

Suzanne Carrington is the Assistant Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. She teaches and researches in the areas of inclusive education, policy and practice, learning support, autistic spectrum disorder, teaching/professional development, and service learning.

Marilyn Campbell is a Professor in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education in the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. Her main teaching area is in the Masters of School Guidance and Counselling and in the Masters of Educational and Developmental Psychology. Her research expertise is in anxiety disorders in children and adolescents and in bullying, especially cyberbullying.

Beth Saggers is a Senior Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology. She teaches and researches within the fields of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), catering for diversity, inclusive practices and behaviour support. She has over twenty-five years of teaching experience working with students on the autism spectrum and in a range of education positions across Queensland, Australia.

Jill Ashburner is the Manager, Research and Development at Autism Queensland. Jill’s career in the disability sector has spanned almost four decades, including a number of senior positions in education and disability-specific organisations. Her doctoral study explored sensory processing and classroom behavioural, emotional and educational outcomes of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Fiona Vicig is a Research Assistant with the Faculty of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests include inclusive education practices and the visual arts.

Julie Dillon-Wallace is a Lecturer in the QUT Faculty of Education’s School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education. Her research and teaching interests include: maternal well-being, maternal employment, inclusive education, quantitative methodology, and pedagogical practice.

Yoon-Suk Hwang is a Research Fellow at the Learning Sciences Institute Australia. Yoon-Suk’s research aims at listening to the voices of disadvantaged people and investigating ways of enhancing the quality of their school, family and community life. Her recent research examined the applications of mindfulness intervention for improving behavioural and psychological wellbeing of individuals living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Additional information

Funding

We would like to thank The Trust Company as trustee of the Woodend Foundation for their funding of this project.