Autism Matters

Making Friends

March 14, 2011
By Barbara Becker-Cottrill, Ed.D., Chair, Autism Society Panel of Professional Advisors; Executive Director, West Virginia Autism Training Center

Q. My son is 7 now and really has not made any friends. He is mainstreamed into a regular reading group, but he struggles with reading out loud. I thought another student might be able to help him. How do I arrange for this to happen in the school?

A. A “peer buddy” or peer tutor” would be a great support for your son. There is much research on the effectiveness of utilizing peers as buddies and tutors. The benefits to the buddies can be as great as they are for the student who needs additional support. The formal way to arrange for a peer buddy would be to discuss it at your son’s IEP meeting. You can also bring it to the attention of his teacher. The teacher would select the peer tutor(s) (it is sometimes recommended that several peer tutors be assigned) and teach them about their role as a tutor for reading out loud. They can also be taught ways to socially interact with your son. Those strategies can be as simple as setting up the opportunity to play a favorite game of your son’s together. There are many good resources online for teaching classmates how to be peer tutors and buddies. The following link will take you to a review of literature on peer-mediated interventions to increase social skills:

http://uscm.med.sc.edu/autism_project/disalvo_article_mod_4.pdf

Topics:Education

Comments

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Submitted by: luvmy2aces Date: May 19, 2011

This sounds like a wonderful idea. It might be something I can use for my son in the future.

Submitted by: Debbieg Date: April 14, 2011

I agree. Also, many schools have social groups, run by Speech therapists or ABA tutors for children on the spectrum. These can be very beneficial.

Submitted by: keychainaday Date: March 16, 2011

The Autism Acceptance Book: Being a Friend to Someone With Autism This book has great ideas and activities for peers. http://www.amazon.com/Autism-Acceptance-Book-Friend-Someone/dp/0975986821

Submitted by: garebear Date: March 16, 2011

I agree with the peer buddy, I have an8 yera old non verbal grandson who main streamed but in a special needs class and they bring down a student from high school who is interested in teaching as a career and they work with him on behavioral issues and we have seen a big change since last year. just have it added to his iep.