ABA and Anna Kennedy OBE www.annakennedyonline.com launched their Give us a break campaign during Autism Awareness Month in April 2013 and will continue throughout the year, to raise awareness of bullying of children with autism in schools and colleges. We surveyed over 200 parents and carers of children with autism and found that:
70% of parents report that other children react negatively to their child
42% of parents report that their child often tells them they are bullied at school
74% say their child finds break or lunch times particularly difficult or frightening
88.9% said structured break and lunchtime activities help children with autism feel safer
Through the campaign we aim to:
Raise awareness of bullying of children with autism ? particularly during break times in school and college.
Highlight the need to make sure children with autism feel safe during break times by providing opportunities to take part in positive activities
Encourage schools and colleges to share examples of their break time activities and the ways in which they keep all children safe and improve social skills.
Being-Bullied-1
?Most school kids strive to learn math and grammar. Aspergic children strive to make themselves invisible?.Venturing into the school playground can feel as hazardous as Scott leaving his Antarctic base camp. 67% of children with aspergers report that they are taunted and bullied at school lunch time. There is no such thing as normal and abnormal. Just ordinary and extraordinary.
It?s time we recognized kids with Aspergers for the exceptional people they are. Bullying makes them runners up in the human race.? Kathy Lette, Author
?I agree being autistic doesn?t mean helpless or incapable. Acceptance is also a key to opening up the brilliance people are capable of. Please follow Autism Warrior Anna Kennedy and support her campaign? Lennox Lewis
?Good Luck with the campaign Anna you do the work of 20 women. If there is anything I can do to help? Arlene Phillips
?Every child deserves a safe and caring environment. That?s why CRAE is delighted to support Anna Kennedy?s fantastic campaign to prevent the bullying that many young people with autism still face.? Dr Liz Pellicano, Centre for Research in Autism and Education
How can you get involved?
If you would like to spread the word of our campaign in your school and community you can download our promotional flyer HERE [pdf, 566KB], print it off and spread the word!
How can schools and colleges get involved?
We know that for children and young people with autism, break and lunch times in schools and colleges can be particularly daunting, and can put them at risk of bullying. With the ?Give us a break? campaign we are calling on all schools and colleges to provide positive activities during break times that support children and young people with autism to feel safe, have fun and build relationships with their peers.
Share your best practice examples?
if your school provides activities during break times that are fun and interactive ? and support children with autism and all children in the school to feel safe and build relationships with peers then please send any photos and videos that you have, and a short description of the activities that you run to [email protected]. With your permission we will share these on the ABA website to give inspiration and ideas to other schools.
A bit more about Anna Kennedy?.
Anna Kennedy OBE is winner of Tesco Mum of the Year 2013 for her amazing work supporting children and young people with autism. She set up Hillingdon Manor School ? the largest school in Europe for children and young people with autism, and supports over 50,000 parents of children with autism through her website.
Read a letter from Atwood Primary School about Anna?s visit to tell them about the campaign.
Helpful resources
We will be building a bank of resources on this website to help schools and colleges support children with autism. If you have a resource you would like to share please email [email protected].