Great news. Recently, Autism daily, Newscast.com, confirmed the 10 benefits of your child with Autism being bullied. Yaye!….hang on…Fuc$%*g what?

Okay, let’s just start this off by saying that the idea that you can take a positive from any form of bullying is a complete pile of poo!  In the interests of fairness though I will include the professed benefits below before continuing this blog.

“10 Good Opportunities from Bullying:

1. Promoting Autism-Friendly Programs: Bullying in schools can sometimes be the result of prejudice against the unexpected ways that children with autism speak and socialise. Not unlike other prejudices, this is an opportunity for parents and the school to promote social justice, tolerance, respect, and acceptance. Along with your help, schools should focus not only on integration within the mainstream for education but also guidance of how to better connect socially to their peers with autism – possibly through workshops or specially-structured activities.
2. Team Work: Working together as a team in partnership with you as the parent, the school’s teaching staff, aides, principal, counsellors, and psychologists will provide the safest environment for your child to learn and enjoy.
3. Autism Awareness Every Month: Not just during October’s National Bullying Prevention Month but always, more awareness of the bullying of kids with autism means more awareness of autism overall.
4. Kids Learn Skills: Teaching your child how to deal with bullies increases her verbal communication with words, nonverbal communication like body language and facial expressions, survival skills, civil liberties, and independence.
5. Builds Strength: As your child learns defensive skills from you, his friends, and his teachers, he is growing stronger connections with everyone.
6. More Friendships: Discussing the communication and social deficits experienced by kids with autism puts greater social responsibility on their peers who don’t have autism. When it comes to a child with autism, being a proactive observer can make all the difference to prevent bullying and protect them. As a result, your child will spend more time with good friends, make new friends, and possibly will want to get involved in different activities with them.
7. Overall Well-Being: Monitoring potential bullying activity requires the te7. aching staff to supervise more and create new interventions to ensure the well-being of your child.
8. Healthy Relationships: Ways to deal with bullying also help your child deal with sibling rivalry, ‘stranger danger’, or any other personal threat.
9. Increased Life Skills: With your child’s increased communication, survival skills, and independence, she will become more aware of the people around her. This makes your child a conscientious citizen and a good Samaritan towards other people who may be in need overall, not just due to bullying. 
10. Self-Esteem: Ironically, and in spite of the bully’s goal to do the opposite, your child will grow self-confidence and self-preservation esteem.”

Is it me? Is it just me? Do these people really feel that there’s anything beneficial from autistic people being bullied? Does this not smack of the system trying to find reasons to blame the victims rather than fixing the many issues with our schools, their teachers or the pupils within them? I’ve heard of many issues where pupils and/or their parents have approached a school to report that there is an issue with bullying yet, when this happens, it can often be met by blank stares and suggestions of “Well just let us see how it plays out.” or “Perhaps you should learn to stand up for yourself a bit.”

Yes I know that some teachers are great, yes some schools are dealing with bullying appropriately but seriously, is there any benefit from claiming that there might be positive outcomes from your child being attacked either verbally or physically? BASTARDS!

I want to blog more about this but will let the stupidity of the original suggestion stand for itself!