Bullying and Students With Disabilities
Strategies and Techniques to Create a Safe Learning Environment for All
- Barry Edwards McNamara - Dowling College, New York
Does your bullying policy protect all students?
A 2007 study uncovered a shocking fact: 80% of children with learning disabilities are bullied at school. As schools implement bullying policies, are they doing enough to address the unique needs of this 80%?
Drawing on extensive studies on bullying in schools, Barry McNamara provides a research-based overview to understand bullying. Additionally, this book shows how to identify bullies and victims and implement an effective and inclusive bullying prevention program.
Readers will discover:
- What research says about bullying against students with disabilities
- How programs typically fail to serve this population
- A roadmap for an inclusive schoolwide program
- Special intervention and coping strategies
Start down the road to create an inclusive and tolerant school climate where every student feels safe and valued.
“It has long been known that students with disabilities are targets for bullying or exhibiting bullying behavior. This book provides information on how teachers, paraprofessionals and parents can address bullying with students with disabilities within the schoolwide program to meet the individual needs of the child and create a safer school environment.”
— Barbara Hayhurst, Special Education Teacher
Lakevue Elementary, Nampa, ID
“Bullying of students with disabilities is often unaddressed in many schools. This book shines a light on a problem that often goes unnoticed and provides sound advice and guidance to all school-based staff.”
—Mary Reeve, Educational Administrator
Gallup McKinley County Schools, NM
“It has long been known that students with disabilities are targets for bullying or exhibiting bullying behavior; this book provides information on how teachers, paraprofessionals and parents can address bullying with students with disabilities within the school wide program to meet the individual needs of the child and create a safer school environment.”
"This book is a must have for all schools. Bullying of students with disabilities is often unaddressed in many schools. This book provides sound advice and guidance to all school-based staff. It shines a light on a problem that often goes unnoticed."
"Dr. McNamara provides an excellent reference for teachers, administrators and parents regarding bullying in schools. His thoughtful discussion of the implications for students with disabilities offers significant insights into how and why a youngster's disability may make them a target for bullying as provocative victims. Educators and parents alike will benefit from the subtle yet important distinction between a provocative victim and their bully."
"McNamara addresses classroom and playground teasing, taunting and physical aggression aimed at atypical students. 'There is a very limited but emerging body of research that suggests that students with disabilities are more likely to be victims than their general education peers,' McNamara writes. 'Why are students with disabilities more likely to be targeted? The most obvious reason is their vulnerability.'
The book goes on to suggest how to create a schoolwide bullying prevention program, detail what every teacher should do and outline intervention and coping strategies."
