Your poor son!  Does he know  the behaviour is wrong? Does it upset him?  I don't know how to help you with the part about teaching your son it's not ok, but what you do need to do is talk to the school and insist they focus on this bully and help him modify his behaviour, as well as helping your son learn what is acceptable and unacceptable schoolyard behaviour.  As your son has autism, I am sure you would be seeing a Psychologist so I wont recommend any to you!  But if not try CAMHS.  Get the psychologist to work with the school to come up with strategies.  This bully is really going to affect some kids...My son had a bully in 3yo and 4yo kinder and then in Prep was bullied by numerous kids due to lack of teacher supervision,  it has now effected him to the point where he has been diagnosed as one level below depression- he's only 6! and he has an anxiety disorder - his is due to a predisposition to react that way but also because the bully could not or would not stop.  My son flattened the bully on two occassions and it left him in hysterics, so while martial arts are a good discipline to have - I don't know it will empower your son to take care of himself - I really beleive the school should be doing that.  They are only young children and the school must stop the bully  and protect the kids...There's always legal action???? Goodluck

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to approach the topic with the parents of the child, just incase they decide to take legal action. Yeah, I know. Everything has to go through the school and if they aren't doing the job properly, then you can take it to the education department. Every school should have a bully policy but it is not always effective. Approach Alex's teacher after school, ask if she/he has some spare time for a chat in private. You may need to make an appointment but they should be available straight away. Just tell them how it is, they either already know and will talk about some strategies that you can all work on, or they won't have any idea and will put some strategies in place. Do it today. If you don't get the results you want, tell them that they need to do more.

A far as Alex is concerned, martial arts would not hurt at all. There is that stigma attached to martial arts that they raise thugs, which in fact it is the ooposite. They teach there pupils self dicipline first, which is an important life lesson for anyone. They also teach to never pick a fight, to try and resolve conflict through communication and if that does not work and personal safety is being threatened, they teach you how to put an assailant off guard so that you can retreat safely. I hope this has been of some help. Good luck, I know what you are going through.

 if you are really worried about it, i think you can request a meeting between (1) you, the teacher and the principle, and then (2) the bullies' parents, the teacher and the principle. This gets the teacher, the principle and the bullies parents VERY aware of the situation and it should go a long way in sorting it out. hope this helps.

I was bullyed as a child, so I have some idea what he's going through.

I was always told to just ignore what they said, but that didn't work. It still rattled around in my head, the things they'd say, and they lasted until I healed. I was a sensative, emotional, caring and compasionate kid. And they walked all over me, and it hurt badly.

I'd say this- teach him that you and the adults around him DO have the power to change his world. I didn't think my parents could do anything- I didn't think they'd be beleived, because I didn't thiink they'd beleive me and my parent's info was strictly based on what I said, so why would they be beleived? (I hope that makes sense...) I didn't want them to call the other kids' parents because the bully would retaliate on me at school as soon as they got the chance. But I was wrong.

Telling my parents, right away and in full detail would have been one of the best things I could have done. And I do beleive that, working together, we could have changed my world and maybe saved me some pain. So teach your boy that the adults around him have the power to change his world. Then he'll tell and keep on telling until he's beleived. And he'll tell you too.

in this case, I think you need to contact the parents. And if they don't do anything, there are other options. If he's being hit, and the bully is over 12 (here in Canada, ages vary country to country), the bully can be charged with assault. If he's under 12, and the parents are doing nothing to address the problem or refusing to take it seriously, you could consider contacting your local Child Protection service. They would reinforce how inappropriate the behaviour is.

And considering your son has a disability, raise all the fuss you can on his behalf. It is WRONG to discriminate based on disability, and that's what this bully is doing. Talk to the principal, the teacher, the school counsellor- everyone who'll listen. Be his advocate, your good at that!