Sunday, November 13, 2016

Bullying likely to result in aggressive responses by children with disabilities

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/uom-blt100316.php

Public Release: 3-Oct-2016
Bullying likely to result in aggressive responses by children with disabilities
Researchers say children should be taught better communication skills to prevent aggressive behavior
University of Missouri-Columbia

Children with disabilities--particularly those with learning disabilities, emotional disabilities and autism spectrum disorders--often are victims of bullying. However, very little research exists about how children with disabilities respond when they are bullied.

A new study from the University of Missouri has found that children with disabilities are more likely to respond aggressively when they are bullied, not only to their bullies but to other children as well. Chad Rose, a bullying expert and an assistant professor of special education in the MU College of Education, says this aggressive response often results in these children being labelled as bullies themselves, when that is not an accurate assessment of their behavior.

"Because students with disabilities often lack age-appropriate social and communication skills, they may act out aggressively as a response to being bullied," Rose said. "If a child reaches into their 'bully response tool box' and the only tools they have are physical or verbal aggression, they likely will respond aggressively. Unfortunately, many of these children are identified as bullies themselves, which means they will receive bully interventions from teachers, rather than what they really need, which is social and communication skill instruction."

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