New study finds typically developing peers quick to judge peers with Autism

Hey everyone!

In the spirit of anti bullying month I thought this was a great study to report on to you guys. A new study has just been published on how typically developing peers often judge their peers with Autism as unfriendly and untrustworthy within 30 seconds of seeing them! The journal of Autism’s study had typical 11 year olds watch silent movies of children, some diagnosed with Autism and some not, and judge how trustworthy they were. They were also asked if they would want to play with the children in the video or be friends with the child. Most of the typical 11 year olds stated the children on the spectrum were less trustworthy than typically developing children! Furthermore they were more likely to say they did NOT want to be friends or play with children on the spectrum!

I thought this study was really important to mention to our followers during anti-bullying month because it shows how important it is to teach our children about disabilities. The more we educate children the more likely we are to stop the hate! The video I am attaching below is what happens when we educate children on disabilities. I was so moved by this video of a boy helping his teammate with a disability score a goal during their hockey game.

Hope you enjoy the research and the video as much as I did!

–Steph