Exploring bullying in autism through a content analysis of autobiographies

Bullying is sadly an all too frequent occurrence for autistic children and adults which leads to low self esteem, loneliness, anxiety and depression. Autistic children and young people often fail to report this to teaching staff or their parents, so it remains hidden. This paper by Mary-Ellen Huxter summarises a piece of research which was submitted as a dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree MA Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MA CAMH) at the University of South Wales. The nature of bullying in childhood is explored from the perspective of eight autistic adults from their published autobiographies. Mary-Ellen analysed the contents and describes the forms of bullying they all experienced and its effects. She notes what these adults thought helped them to cope with being bullied and suggests how staff in schools and other settings might respond to bullying.