By Dr. Heather Hurd
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Kids with Autism and Social Skills Deficits are especially at risk for being bullied. Bam. They have trouble enough with things already, but being bullied on top of it all? Darn it, but yes.

 A common misperception about children, teens, and adults with Autism is that they do not pick up on social cues, so they do not understand or feel bullying. It is just the opposite, actually. An adult with Autism reported to me a few years back that he had been at a party in which the other men were laughing at his expense. He did not realize it at the time. But when it dawned on him later it was devastating. Even as adults words can sting us. 

By Dr. Heather Hurd
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Bullying is no joke these days. Bullying used to be a big kid taking a little kid’s lunch money, or knocking them down. That bullying still happens. But today there is another kind of bullying, bullying with words. Examples include telling everyone in the class not to be friends with a child or teen, or texting the class that they should post mean things about a child or teen on facebook. Enough of these actions piled on and it can lead to significant depression symptoms or even worse.


This “new” kind of bullying is also called relational aggression. You may think of the movie “Mean Girls” and while it sort of hits the mark, unfortunately it can be mild compared with what some children/teens live through. If children/teens are unique in some way this can unfortunately make them easy targets for bullies. Children and teens that dress, act differently, have unique viewpoints, and have problems in learning or social areas are especially at risk for being
targeted.