Abstract
There are few studies on people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their involvement in school bullying in Brazil, especially because many of these children have been enrolled in regular schools. In this cross-sectional analytical study, we investigate how students with ASD experienced bullying situations, according to themselves, their parents and their Physical Education (PE) teachers. We also investigate how much they know about this phenomenon. We interviewed a total of 133 individuals, 63 parents (97% female), 51 PE teachers (56.9% male and 78% public school teachers) and 19 students with ASD (18 male). We selected the participants from a special education institution in Fortaleza, Ceará. Our team performed structured interviews according to each category of participant. PE teachers showed a greater understanding of bullying than parents and students, but five teachers naturalized the problem by calling it “roughhousing”. A total of 30 parents (47.6%) claimed not to know whether the child had experienced bullying, while 33 (52.4%) were aware; 76% identified the child as a victim, 21% as a bully-victim, and 3% as a bully. According to the teachers, 53% of students with ASD were not involved in bullying situations, while 47% of teachers reported that special-needs children were victims. Finally, 63% of the students declared themselves victims. These differences were statistically relevant. Our results indicate that there is a need for educational programs for the entire school community in order to prevent bullying and promote the effective inclusion of students with ASD.
Bullying; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Regular Schools; Inclusion