Bullying has become an epidemic in our society according to Maureen Calandra.  She’s a certified school counselor and says she has only seen an increase and it is more common among kids with special needs.

“Specifically for students with special needs, bullying is intensified because their risk factors are exasperated.”

So what do you do if your a parent?  More than a dozen parents asked that question Thursday night at a meeting with the Mainline Area Special Needs Advocacy group.

“Because he is different, more than likely there’s going to be incidents of bullying occurring so we’re trying to educate ourselves on how to deal with that,” Terry Figart, who attended the meeting, said.

More often kids with special needs don’t report bullying.  Amanda Holland has a five-year-old son who is autistic, an 11-year-old daughter with  ADHD, and a stepson who is also autistic.  She says last year her daughter had an issue with bullying, “I didn’t know the steps to take to be able to help her, so coming to this presentation really gave me an insight on how to help her this year if she has a problem.”

They encouraged parents to use resources online or through the school.  One of the steps is asking your kids the right questions.  Do your friends have a nickname for you?  What did you talk about?  You can also call a meeting with the principal, teacher, or coach.

“During this meeting they gave me the idea to type something up and give it to his coach.  I would then have his coach talk to his teammates about his autism,” Holland said.

“So there’s not so much of a stigma attached to certain behaviors,” Figart added.

Those meetings will then determine a plan of action.  Calandra said it is up to the parents to make sure they stick to that plan.