Middle Schools can be a tough place to navigate socially for all children. For children who have cognitive and social deficits it can be especially difficult. Recently while looking into different options to help support kids on our campus, I ran across the Ohio Center For Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI) website. On the site it has a multitude of resources including some on the topic of Bullying. They have an easy to implement anti-bullying intervention called “Be an Upstander”.

Anti-Bullying Supports for Peers: Be An Upstander
Be an Upstander is a video for use with middle- and high-school students. It demonstrates strategies that can turn bystanders (persons not directly involved in the bullying incident) into Upstanders, those who can help diffuse a bullying situation. Resources to help facilitators use this video include a Facilitator Guide and Strategy List.

Webcast and Resource Materials on Bullying

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Stats from the Autism Safety Site:

A 2009 survey on bullying revealed the following:

• 65% of parents reported that their children with Asperger’s syndrome had been victimized by peers in some way within the past year
• 47% reported that their children had been hit by peers or siblings
• 50% reported them to be scared by their peers
• 9% were attacked by a gang and hurt in the private parts
• 12% indicated their child had never been invited to a birthday party
• 6% were almost always picked last for teams
• 3% ate alone at lunch every day

Source: Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing (2009)