Battling the Bullying of an Autistic Child

[lynn82md]

From the time she was a toddler, Abby Mahoney's parents knew she was different. She could name 200 dinosaurs by age 3, and offered up detailed theories about why they became extinct

Comments

[lynn82md]

Is it just me, or did this part rub anyone else the wrong way?
"I was angry at the bullies, but also frustrated and exasperated with her at her inability to cope," Mahoney said.
Maybe I'm taking it out of context a smidge bit or not understanding it, but does she mean she's exasperated at her daughter's inability to cope with the bullying or to cope with her disability? Or what?

Either way, that comment still rubs me the wrong way a wee bit. If she's referring to her daughter's inability to cope with bullying...yeah, a lot of people do and you don't need to be disabled to have that problem. If she's referring to her daughter's disability...while I don't have a disability myself (as far as I know), I can just imagine that it's not easy sometimes to deal with a diability...even if it's mild. As for any other possible situations, I can't think what they are but that remark still bothers me a bit. Again, not sure if I'm the only one that feels that way or not. It's just my take on it for the time being.

[prototype_evita]

Yes, that comment irked me as well. I have had Asperger's my whole life, and was only diagnosed as a young adult. I can safely say that Asperger's people may have more difficulty coping with abuse than a neurotypical. I was severely traumatized by my own experiences - both at school and at home. It is unfair and frankly unintelligent to make such a remark.

And by the way, individuals with any sort of disability experience more bullying than anyone else, whether or not the disability is obvious. Children may be taught to not tease such a person, but the fact is they do. They do it frequently. The article is incorrect in that assumption. Even adults - and teachers - abuse the disabled.

[khandreia]

Honestly, that doesn't bother me too much, largely because that sounds almost exactly like the sort of thing my parents might have said when I was that age. However, I wasn't diagnosed with AS until after I graduated high school, so none of us knew there was an actual reason for those struggles until after the damage was done. If nothing else, at least my parents (Mom especially, because she was the one most perplexed with it) eventually regretted saying such things once we got the diagnosis.

[lilenth]

It rubs me the wrong way as well.