A NEW Bahrain study has stressed the need for laws to penalise cyberbullying of people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
Kuwaiti research scholar at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) Jawa Al Mutairi studied a cohort of 205 parents of ASD individuals, aged seven to 25, from Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, who highlighted traumatic emotional, verbal and sexual bullying on social media.
Ms Al Mutairi said tough laws were vital as rampant bullying could have devastating effects on ASD sufferers, who are prone to be aggressive.
ASD is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain and the affected people often have problems with social communication and interaction, besides showing restricted or repetitive behaviours or interests. They may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention.
“People who spoke to me are parents of autistic individuals who said that they face acute and traumatic cyberbullying on social media that has affected their families,” Ms Al Mutairi told the GDN.
“Most of these mothers and fathers take to social media like Facebook or Instagram or Twitter for various reasons – some do it as a simple joy of sharing what their child did, for them it is a great feat.
“Some others do it to create awareness or guide parents like themselves, for example, on how to tackle a common situation.
“Some do it for networking, the sad part is that bullies do not realise the good intent and instead bother these people by sending indecent and vulgar pictures or emojis, share odd videos and even voice notes which are disgusting.
“Some of the ASD affected are old enough to be impacted by such reactions on social media – but mostly it is parents who are affected.
“We do have strict cyber laws, but not specific to the ASD community and hence my study calls for specific laws that would help criminalise cyberbullying of these people.”
The paper is part of Ms Al Mutairi’s Masters-degree thesis on autism at the AGU’s Learning Difficulties and Developmental Disabilities department. She had a bachelor’s degree in Educational Psychology.
Ms Al Mutairi said her study revealed three kinds of cyberbullying – emotional, verbal and sexual.
“Most of the cases were emotional cyberbullying which shows the bully’s sadistic approach of traumatising the victim who is already fighting a battle of his/her own. This can be disastrous,” she pointed out.
“The next lot was verbal, ranging from indecent and abusive remarks to blackmail attempts and they are equally damaging.
“Finally, the least was sexual bullying, perhaps the most disgusting kind.
“I personally feel most of the people who took part in my study have not revealed much due to the fear of social stigma.
“Only strict laws that are sternly implemented would help tackle this phenomenon.”
The study did not find any major gender-based differences on the impact nor on the type of social media used.
Ms Al Mutairi explained how technological development has opened doors to virtual abuses, which she said, were initially confined to schools or streets.
“This is not a phenomenon that is unique to the three countries that I studied, it is a global situation and has its own devastating consequences on these families, which will affect them socially,” she said.
“It will leave them with a sense of inferiority and insecurity and the spillover effects can be risky on the ASD people who are prone to be aggressive and lack skill in controlling anger.
“Failing to adopt societal ethical standards and ways to address this absence of moral conscience will push this community into a sense of psychological loneliness.
“As a society, we should also teach and spread awareness on the need to respect people with ASD. Parents should raise their children with values and principles, educating them on the uncouthness of bullying.”
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