The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Social Mentors serve as social translators for students with learning differences and/or Asperger’s Disorder. They are similar in age to the student and act as role models to help students develop social competencies. In this session, participants will learn how to create and utilize a social mentoring program. An understanding of the importance of the social mentoring role in the lives of students with Asperger’s Disorder and Learning Differences will also be reviewed and discussed. Social Mentors serve as social translators for students with learning differences and/or Asperger’s Disorder.  They are similar in age to the student and act as role models for social skills and problem-solving skills.  Social Mentors assist the student in learning social competencies while participating with the student in a special interest or a recreational activity.  They may also mentor during activities of daily living like food shopping, eating out in restaurants or household organizational tasks.  They may take the student to a bookstore, retail shop, pet store, or other place of interest to practice social competencies that have been chosen to work on.

Social Mentors have a huge responsibility and can have a great impact as well.  They can help relieve a student from a life of isolation and social confusion.  It is extremely important that the mentor keep appropriate professional boundaries and follow the guidance of the Social Mentor supervisor.  Social Mentors are not therapists and should refrain from giving direct advice to students.  If a conflict or crisis arises, the Social Mentor supervisor or clinical director should be contacted immediately.  Social Mentors must be of strong character and possess good values as the students will likely look up to them as role models.

Research shows that in vivo modeling by positive peer mentors in real-life situations carries the highest degree of success.  Social Mentoring is a powerful tool and can appear as negative manipulation if there is poor preparation.  No one wants to have a friend who is paid to spend time with them.  Therefore, it is important that the student is aware of the proper role of the Social Mentor.  Just like a politician may hire an elocution coach, the Social Mentor should explain his or her role as a peer coach to show the student the “social ropes”.  The Social Mentor should be prepared for their role as Social Mentor as well.  This includes given educational materials on Asperger’s Disorder and NLD, review of the Social Mentoring Program, review of the Social Mentoring Task List, discussion of supervision procedures and crisis intervention guidelines.

The Social Mentor begins by reviewing the Social Mentoring Task List (39 Tasks) with the student.  The student is encouraged to select 3 to 5 tasks to work on developing with the Social Mentor.  The Social Mentor can help the student select if the student is not able to do so.  The Social Mentor supervisor provides feedback in advance to help the Social Mentor know which areas the student would benefit from working on. 

The Social Mentor brings those specific tasks to each session and loosely divides the sessions into 3 parts:

∙ Pre-teaching the skill before practicing the skill

∙ Practice time of the skill

∙ Feedback session with student leading the discussion and mentor contributing positive feedback as well as constructive feedback on how the student performed the skill

Learning Objectives: