“The presenter kept emphasizing how to RESPOND to acts of bullying. As she went on and on about how to respond, I realized why I was getting so impatient with her: She was assuming that all the kids would know when an act was bullying in the first place. This is something all of us with autistic kids have learned is definitely NOT a given. So often, our kids think that if someone SAYS they’re being your friend, they are -- even if they do things to hurt you or ridicule you. The worksheet is intended to help autisitic kids (it’s geared primarily to the higher functioning ones) begin to GENERALIZE across incidents to discern WHEN someone is being a friend and WHEN they are being a bully. (The message for them to “get” is that it’s what the other kid DOES that tells you if they’re being a friend, and not so much what they SAY).”
You can find Julie's worksheet on Page Two of this article!
