Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Peer mentoring

A Saginaw, Michigan school system has set up a peer mentor programs for kids on the spectrum. Full article here.
"There are social skills that peers can teach and adults can't...These are the skills that are so critical in life, to get jobs and have relationships."
Also cool? Some mentors have siblings with autism. So they get to share what they know and be a positive influence. And this quote from the article really makes you think:
"I've given presentations to every grade level about autism and children have come up to me after each and said they hadn't known what it was," [Amy J.] Idzior, [ the district's autism coordinator] said. "They said they would have acted differently if they'd known. They seemed really sad and kind of disappointed in the adults for not explaining it before."

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