Bullying and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Across schools, bullying under all of its forms (e.g., physical, verbal, relational, cyber) is a concerning phenomenon. Prevalence studies suggest that children with ASD are a particularly vulnerable population. Specifically, children with ASD are at a considerably higher risk of being bullied than their peers with other or no special educational needs. This chapter aims to examine in what way bullying occurs in ASD populations and what particular challenges individuals with ASD have to deal with. More specifically, the chapter describes and discusses key points in the existing literature on bullying and autism spectrum disorder, such as (1) types of bullying, (2) causes and determining factors, (3) risk and protective factors, (4) consequences of bullying, (5) prevention strategies and interventions where the transition to recommendations is made through thorough research specifically applied to this topic in order to provide theory and evidence-based practices for educators, teachers, school counselors, parents, and any other interested party.