Schoolroom Bullying Connected to Autism

A San Francisco mother is keeping her daughter out of school because of trouble with a bully.

The bully isn't being handled properly by school officials, the mother alleges -- because the bully is autistic, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Children with autism "tend to exhibit repetitive behaviors and have difficulty with social interaction," according to the newspaper, and educators meanwhile have been challenged to properly accommodate autistic students in "regular" classrooms.

However, autistic students are bullied more often than they are bullies, according to data. About 14.8 percent of students with autism become bullies, roughly the same bully rate for "normal" students, while 46.3 percent of students with autism report being bullying victims -- double the victim rate for normal students.

The San Francisco mother reported that her child had been "chased with scissors," strangled about the neck, and thrown to the ground since August, the newspaper reported.

There are 666 students with autism among the San Francisco Unified School District's 56,222 students.