Bullying of youth with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or typical development: Victim and parent perspectives

• Youth with ASD were victimized more frequently than their peers with ID or of typical development.
• Both parent and youth reports provided an insight into the severity and impact of school-experienced bullying.
• Youth with ASD experienced different types of bullying when compared to their peers with ID or of typical development.
• Higher internalizing problems and conflict in friendships were significant predictors of victimization.

In-depth interviews conducted separately with 13-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or typical development (TD) and their mothers investigated the experiences of victimization in the form of bullying. Coded constructs from the interviews were utilized to compare groups on the frequency, type, and impact of victimization. Youth with ASD were victimized more frequently than their ID or TD peers, and the groups differed with regard to the type of bullying and the impact it had, with ASD youth faring the worst. Higher internalizing problems and conflict in friendships were found to be significant predictors of victimization, according to both youth- and mother-reports. These predictors were found to be more salient than ASD status alone. Implications for practice are discussed.