I dealt with bullies by fighting back

HAVE you read some of the news items about the bullying of a Syrian refugee boy and his sister at their school?

Different children discover different ways to deal with being bullied. My son was diagnosed as profoundly autistic (with learning difficulties), was refused education and not allowed to attend school until he learned to speak at the age of about nine.

He was on the plump side, quiet and shy, and was bullied when he was allowed to attend classes. He learnt to deal with that by developing a great sense of humour and making everybody laugh. Even today, as an adult, he is regarded as eccentric, but is popular because of his good nature and sense of humour.

I was diagnosed as having Asperger’s and was allowed to attend school at three and a half, even though I did not speak until I was four or five years old. I was plump, quiet and shy, so was a target for bullies. I learnt to deal with them by learning how to be aggressive. For instance, when I was pushed to the ground in the playing field I went berserk, grabbing the leg of the ringleader who was kicking me, and biting it hard, hitting and kicking out at the others. It scared them off and they did not try to bully me again.

That was a long time ago and in those days bullying was just considered part of growing up. Times have changed so nowadays I would not recommend how I dealt with the situation. On the other hand learning how to deal with bullies helped me to face aggression in some of the threatening, harrowing and hazardous situations that occurred when I

served for a few years as a policewoman (including the vice squad) and the subsequent many years as a social worker.

Barbara MacArthur Cathays, Cardiff