Intervention Strategy

Mary Spanos

Intervention Strategy

 

Kennedy’s story appealed to me as I have a child with Asperger’s.  Although the specific reasons why they bullied him are unclear, knowing something about Asperger’s I can deduce that because of his disability he was different from the typical children.  The complete letter is not public but from the video you can take a glimpse at the letter and he apologized for having outbursts, which are common with individuals with Asperger’s because they overload of different types of sensory information. The parents indicated that he was empathetic and he felt more than others, felt others pain and enjoyed helping others.  Knowing someone that has this I can attest that it is true.  There was an underlying depression that may or not have been caused by bullying, as children of Asperger’s tend to be depressed slightly more than others, the bullying may have made those feelings more pronounced. Students with disabilities are often targeted as victims because of their lack of social skills and low self-confidence and are often bullied much more than their peers (Garcia, Biggs, Simpson, & Gaus,136)

 

The school system implemented a no-contact agreement with the bully.  They failed to address the verbal element of bullying. Verbal bullying is much more prevalent than physical bullying (Demaray, M. K., & Malecki . 484). They could have amended their said “contract” to include no more verbal abuse, however I feel it would have been more appropriate that they had a sit down and explained that other people are different and have different skills and preached tolerance of other individuals.  Maybe they could have sat down and pointed out each other’s positive traits and how if they were friends how it would complement each other. It has been found that parents of bullies often exhibit similar behaviors and that children have and in essence mimicked their reactions to a similar scenario (Cross & Barnes, 296). It would have been helpful to have a sit down with both sets of parents to explain what is occurring in the school and possibly explain other ways to approach the handling of it. Children are in school for a large part of their waking lives so the teachers become the role models that can help change the perception of acceptable behavior (Newman-Carlson & Horne, 260). With a teacher that focuses on “zero tolerance” for this behavior and teaches empathy and acceptance of individuals differences,  I feel it would have been instrumental.   The school social worker is usually the point person to coordinate with a case manager and other school members to develop a team approach to address and design effective interventions with and for a child with Asperger’s (Garcia, Biggs, Simpson, & Gaus, 139).The social worker could also take time to meet with the bully to ensure that they are coming from a nurturing and loving environment.   The bullying Kennedy experienced also seemed to have occurred during unstructured time such as at recess. The most popular place for bullying occurs in the playground with it occurring on average of once every 7 minutes and that recess supervisors only intervened only 4% of the time (Anderson-Butcher, Newsome & Nay, 136).

 

Biggs, Garcia, Simpson & Gaus (139,140) have provided excellent steps to help educate teacher and students about bullying and the steps needed to help encourage tolerance.

 

“1. Provide staff development to school personnel so that they can be aware of the specific needs of children with Asperger's syndrome (AS) in relation to bullying. The staff development should focus on not only the characteristics of bullies and victims, but also the prevalence and types of bullying that occur. A strong emphasis should be placed on how individuals with social deficits are at a greater risk of bullying. Involve community leaders in staff development when addressing the specific needs of students with disabilities in relation to extracurricular and community activities. Teachers can be a student with AS's strongest advocate when addressing on-campus bullying.

2. Educators should enforce a no tolerance for bullying policy for all students and enforce the policy to the full extent.

3. Establish a buddy system to assist the child with AS. This will allow for another individual with higher social Functioning to identify "life-threatening" bullying instances. This individual should be selected by an adult, with input from the student with AS.

4. Teach children with AS specific areas where they are most vulnerable to being bullied, identifying these locations will help the student with AS to avoid instances in which limited visibility by adults exists. Once these specific areas are identified, the child with AS can be instructed about ways to avoid these areas and be provided with alternative sites where he or she is less likely to encounter bullying acts.

5. Role play bullying situations in which the student with AS is specifically taught to respond to bullying. Prevention of bullying is a primary goal, but it cannot be relied on in every instance. Children with a limited ability to understand social cues may misinterpret acts of teasing and bullying as attempts by peers to establish friendships. Reading social cues can pose difficulty for children with AS and should be practiced on a regular basis.

6. Teach children with AS that safety exists in numbers. Students should be encouraged to play in areas near peers or where large numbers of students are present. Children with AS should be encouraged to participate in supervised activities. Supervised activities not only provide a safe house from bullying, but also create opportunity for social interactions.

7. Facts of bullying take place, they must be investigated. Simply asking the child to ignore verbal taunts is not addressing the issue at hand. Students who are perpetrators in bullying acts (toward students with or without disabilities) must receive consequences as outlined by the student code of conduct.

8. When developing games and activities for use in instructional and physical education settings, avoid activities that are exclusionary in nature. For example, a physical educator can select teams instead of having students select teams. Some children with AS are the last picked for activities that involve sports/athletic skills due to poor gait, balance, and motor coordination. Activities should be designed to include all children.

9. Educators should avoid elimination games—for example, games such as knock out, in which skill level determines the last student remaining in the game. This type of game may signal a child out for being seen as being "weaker" than his or her peers. Students perceived in this manner are often targets of bullying acts.

10. If bullying acts occur, teachers can use the opportunity to talk with the child or children performing the act of bullying to educate them not only about the ill effects it has on the child being bullied, but also about how that behavior can be detrimental to the child performing the act if used in society.

11. Educators should talk with children about individual differences and how these differences are not to be exploited. Teaching all children that everyone deserves to be treated with respect may help in reducing the number of incidents.

12. All children should be encouraged to report acts of bullying. Reminding students of the benefits that a safe environment has on their own well-being could help them commit to reporting bullying events. It is important not only for the child who is bullied to report it, but for the children who see it occurring toward other individuals, especially a child with AS who may be reluctant or fearful to speak up, to report it as well.”

I would have liked to incorporate the items above as mentioned by Biggs, Garcia, Simpson & Gaus  in working with Kennedy’s situation.  As a teacher I would have recommended extra eyes during recess and other unstructured times.  Make sure parents were informed of the precautions and what measures the school was taking.  I would recommend a DVD about bullying be sent home with all children to have the parents watch with their children so not to exclude just the parents of the bully. Inform and request the school social worker meet with Kennedy and the bully separately. If it was possible I would try to arrange a guest speaker to attend for an assembly regarding bullies.  I know that in my child school they have a kindness week that stresses the importance of being a good friend and being kind and accepting everyone. Unfortunately, for children with disabilities that are not easily seen, such as Asperger’s it can be hard for people to understand and there needs to be more education on all types of disabilities. 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Anderson-Butcher, D., Newsome, W. S., & Nay, S. (2003). Social Skills Intervention during Elementary     School Recess: A Visual Analysis. Children & Schools, 25(3), 135-146.

 

Cross, D., & Barnes, A. (2014). Using Systems Theory to Understand and Respond to Family Influences on Children's Bullying Behavior: Friendly Schools Friendly Families Program. Theory Into Practice, 53(4), 293-299.

 

Demaray, M. K., & Malecki, C. K. (2003). Perceptions of the Frequency and Importance of Social Support by Students Classified as Victims, Bullies, and Bully/Victims in an Urban Middle School. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 471-489.

 

Garcia Biggs, M. J., Simpson, C., & Gaus, M. D. (2010). Using a Team Approach to Address Bullying of Students with Asperger's Syndrome in Activity-based Settings. Children & Schools, 32(3), 135-142.

 

Newman-Carlson, D., & Horne, A. M. (2004). Bully Busters: A Psychoeducational Intervention for Reducing Bullying Behavior in Middle School Students. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 82(3), 259-267.

 

Whitted, K. S., & Dupper, D. R. (2005). Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools.     Children & Schools, 27(3), 167-175.