Bullying & Autism and Related Disorders

Youth with autism spectrum disorder and the transition to adulthood.

“…Sibling bullying can also be a problem (Toseeb et al, 2018). Although it can start earlier, sibling bullying usually becomes common in middle school and then frequently continues through high school and into adulthood (Volkmar & Pete, 2021). Students can be bullies, bullied, or both, and various adverse outcomes can be associated with all three categories.…”

“…A host of risk factors and learning differences are a major source of risk for bullying (Hebron et al, 2017;Zablotsky et al, 2014), and students with learning issues of all types are at special risk. For youth with ASD, bullying risk is at least doubled and higher if additional comorbid problems are present (Volkmar & Pete, 2021). Bullying can occur within both inclusive and specialized educational settings and can be seen as part of a broader set of issues, including increased risk for victimization (Mitra et al, 2016).…”

“…Bullying can take various forms-physical, verbal, social-emotional (group ostracism, taunting, social exclusion), or online (cyberbullying). There is not one single satisfactory definition of bullying, and although all 50 states now have laws against it, they use varying definitions (Volkmar & Pete, 2021). Cyberbullying (Tokunaga, 2010) has been notoriously difficult to define.…”

“…Boys are more likely to engage in direct aggressive bullying, whereas for girls, indirect methods (gossip, social media) are more likely (see Volkmar & Pete, 2021). In the United States, rates of bullying are approximately 20% (Volkmar & Pete, 2021), but with a disability this risk doubles to 40% and, for youth with ASD who are especially frequent targets, rates of bullying may approach 75% (Volkmar & Pete, 2021).…”

“…Boys are more likely to engage in direct aggressive bullying, whereas for girls, indirect methods (gossip, social media) are more likely (see Volkmar & Pete, 2021). In the United States, rates of bullying are approximately 20% (Volkmar & Pete, 2021), but with a disability this risk doubles to 40% and, for youth with ASD who are especially frequent targets, rates of bullying may approach 75% (Volkmar & Pete, 2021). Substantial increase in risk arises with the presence of comorbid conditions or additional differences of any kind, for example, different patterns of sexual/gender identity (see National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016; Vitoroulis & Vaillancourt, 2015).…”