Former Wayne Student Talks About Empowering Autistic Children

Scott Robertson still has nightmares about being bullied as a child. To this day he still has trouble using restrooms sometimes. Children would lead over the stalls while in the bathroom and make fun of him.

Robertson is autistic. He talked at the Monday night about how parents can empower autistic children and young adults to not only talk about their condition, but how to overcome them.

“They need to embrace who they are. They need to embrace their talents and gifts,” Robertson said. “People need to respect that we may react differently to things and have a sensory overload, but sometimes, that’s how we deal with things.”

Robertson, a graduate of Pines Lake Elementary School, attended , but left after only one year. He experienced incessant bullying during that year and attended a private school for the remainder of middle and high school.

Robertson received his bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently a doctoral student at Pennsylvania State University. He helped found the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a non-profit organization that works to protect the right of autistic adults and children and foster a better understanding and acceptance of what autistic individuals experience.

Bullying

“Bullying is more or less a repeated action,” Robertson said. “It’s often secretive. People often minimize it. They say ‘It’s just how we communicate' or 'we're just messing around'.”

According to studies Robertson referenced, autistic children are one of the two most bullied groups in schools today.

Some of the statistics Robertson referenced regarding autistic students made some attendees shake their heads:

• Between 45 and 90 percent of autistic adolescents experience bullying, the same percentage as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered adolescents.

• 54 percent of autistic students are not called by friends outside of school.

• 50 are not invited to social activities.

• 43 percent never see friends outside of school.

“The bullying for autistic students is often high because of bullies’ tendencies to seek out atypical behavior and what more atypical behavior is there than how autistic people because the way we deal with life is completely atypical,” Robertson said.

Self-advocacy and empowerment

Parents, caregivers, and educators are often the people who most often talk about a child’s autistic condition and how it specifically affects that person. But the conversation often does not include the child. Robertson said that needs to change.

Beginning at age 14, children with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) can attend their IEP meetings. Robertson suggests parents encourage their children to do this.

Parents and educators should also talk to children about how they best learn. So they can be better prepared as adults to join the workforce. Robertson said autistic individuals need to learn how to stand up for themselves when they are young so they can do so when they are adults.

“We think that we are people to be empowered to succeed,” Robertson said. “People think that autism is something that only affects children, but children grow up. Adults have autism too. It’s not something that’s outgrown.”