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Children may find it hard to talk about bullying, read on for advice on how to discuss the subject... Because of his or her disability, your child may be bullying, be bullied or react violently to other people’s reactions. “I got a call from the head. The other parents had complained that my son had threatened their children. The head had tried to explain to them that he was autistic but the parents said that their children were no longer allowed to play with him in case he threatened them again.”
“My child dealt with bullying by swearing at them. The school responded by punishing him – not for standing up to the bullies but for swearing.”
Some children may find it hard to talk about it and may not respond well to direct questioning. You may not want to ask them straightaway if they are being bullied, but rather ask questions about their day, see if their behaviour has changed, how they’re feeling and give them time and opportunities to talk to you about it. If your child has difficulties in explaining what is happening to them and/or communication difficulties, you may need to use different ways to communicate with them.
Try to explain that bullying is behaving in a way that upsets someone and that this can affect other children so badly that they don't want to go to school. If the bullying involves physical abuse like hitting or kicking, recall a time when your child was upset because they were hurt and explain that this is how someone else feels when they are attacked.
Ask your child how he/she would feel if someone was behaving like this to him/her and what he/she would want to have done about it.