36 Sarah Feuerbacher, Travis Moore and Hannah Gill
during grade school and early high school years can cause long-term loss of
self-esteem, with sensitivity to slights that can lead to problems at home in accept-
ing limit-setting, or with authority later in life. From client reports, those who
graduate from high school and enter the workforce are just as likely to experience
victimization as those who enter college life.
Consequently, bullying is an ongoing problem for ASD individuals regardless of
age, setting, or developmental stage. Furthermore, the bullying endured by this pop-
ulation in childhood can and often affects them throughout their life. In extreme
instances, these individuals can experience post-traumatic stress due to the bullying
they endured (Attwood, 2007).
CASE STUDY: ROBERTRobert presented to counseling with symptoms of depression and a self-
proclaimed lack of motivation in life. His identified treatment goals were
to increase his overall happiness, motivation, and well-being. He was a
middle-aged adult who had never been in a romantic relationship, had
recently moved to a large metroplex to attend a specialized technology pro-
gram, and consequently left all of his friends and family behind. Robert had
attended this program for three years when I met him. When I asked him
what his day-to-day life looked like, he stated that he attended weekly indi-
vidual counseling one time per week and also attended individualized train-
ing from one of his professors each week. That was all. I asked him if he had
any friends at the technology program, and he replied, “No.” I asked him
if he had ever talked to anyone while he was working on his coursework at
school, and he again said no. He did not know any of his classmates names,
despite participating in group counseling with some of them for multiple
terms in a row, as well as seeing some of them in multiple courses through-
out his time at the specialized technology program.
When processing past experiences, Robert stated that he had felt a sense
of belonging and “zest for life” in his high school years, when he was a mem-
ber of the band, and when he had four friends (as perceived by him). Robert
stated that he still stayed in touch with these former friends, and visited them
when he returned home. Since high school, Robert reported that he has not
made any new friends, nor did he have any family members in the area he
currently lived.
Robert never specifically said that he felt he was being “bullied”, but he
often discussed being excluded, ignored, and feeling misunderstood by his
peers. Robert discussed one instance where he attended a comic book club at
his undergraduate academic institution, and was told by others that he was
basically not welcome there. This instance, along with others, left Robert feel-
ing hopeless and resistant towards even attempting to socialize with his peers.