By Malia Jacobson
W
hen young Cody joined the peer inclusion preschool at his neighborhood public school, he fit in from the start. His class was a mix of neurotypical “peer mentors” and children with disabilities, including students like Cody with apraxia of speech, a motor speech disorder that made communication complicated. The school’s curriculum encouraged understanding and advocating for students with disabilities, says Cody’s mom, and he felt accepted and included. Because the peer inclusion program wasn’t offered after preschool, Cody enrolled in another local school for kindergarten. That’s when the bullying began—Cody began experiencing harassment and physical bullying nearly every day, mostly from students in his own class. When he reacted, he was punished by missing recess or simply sitting in “time out,” recalls
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Boston Parents Paper | Special Needs Guide
his mother, an active member of the local Special Needs PTA. “We were getting 4, 5, 6 disciplinary notices every week, and I knew something was really wrong, because that wasn’t an issue at his other school.”
Bullying and Disability Bullying at school—defined as disrupting or interfering with a student’s educational environment through intimidating, threatening, or physically harming a student or the student’s belongings—affects children with disabilities more often than other kids. While around ten percent of neurotypical kids experience bullying, the number jumps five-fold for students with disabilities. Through bullying is harmful to all children, it’s especially hurtful for children with disabilities. Children with certain conditions that affect speech or communication may not be able to tell teachers or caregivers
what they’re experiencing, making bullying harder to identify and correct, says David Camenisch, MD, a psychiatrist with the Seattle Children’s Hospital Autism Center. “A child with special needs who is bullied may internalize their distress, becoming disruptive at school or at home, developing feeding or toileting problems, or physical complaints like stomachache or headaches.” And bullying doesn’t just harm the child being bullied. Bullying negatively impacts students who observe it—the so-called bystanders—along with teachers and adults connected to the school. “Bullying is insidious because it erodes feelings of confidence and safety not only for those directly involved in bullying but for bystanders, teachers and parents,” says Camenisch. School districts are starting to take notice. “In recent years, there’s
