A significant number of children affected with autism in the country are victims of bullying, a new study reveals.
The findings come at a time when about one in every 88 children in the country is affected with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or the developmental disorder that leads to significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.
Bullying is the kind of behavior intended to hurt others,physically or mentally. According to the American Psychological Association, about 70 percent of middle and high school students become victims of bullying every year.
Paul R. Sterzing and colleagues initiated to examine the occurrence of bullying among adolescents diagnosed with autism. They found nearly half of the autistic children (46.3 percent) experiencing bullying.
"The rate of bullying victimization among adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder is alarmingly high, indicating a profound public health problem in the United States," lead researcher Paul Sterzing, an assistant professor at the School of Social Welfare of the University of California, Berkeley told Health Day.
For analyzing the risks of bullying for autistic children, the investigators looked at a data that included more than 900 parents, having a child with the disorder.
The investigators also found children having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), poor social skills and attending more general education classes, becoming victims of bullying than others, Health Day reported.
The findings expose the inability of the schools to protect children at higher risk of being bullied.
"I would argue that the bullying interventions that we're using now, if not tailored, are ineffective," Reuters quoted Sterzing, as saying.
Findings of the study have been published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Children affected with ASD are not the only group that has been found to be at a higher risk of being bullied at school. Earlier, in July a study found children with observable disabilities like language and hearing impairments or mild mental handicaps the highest victims of bullying at school and also more likely to bully others as a kind of revenge.
