High School s Peer Mentorship Program - 1184 Words

Weston High School’s peer mentorship program provides a constructive relationship for students with intellectual challenges that helps them navigate through the obstacles of high school. The main focus of a mentor is to help make the mentee comfortable in an environment that is exceptionally stressful for them. In the school setting, people with Autism, specifically Asperger s Syndrome, experience a multitude of issues because they might have a sensory overload and struggle to socially interact with their peers. As a mentor, you need to stay with your mentee throughout the school day and help guide them through any problems that arise, while also attempting to prevent any tantrums. The main goal of your relationship with your mentee is to†¦show more content†¦There are many ways to successfully aid them in making it through the class period, including providing the mentee with consistency by supplying them with a schedule that outlines the structure of the class. Peop le with Autism or Asperger Syndrome crave consistency, structure, and predictability and if these elements are not present, they will mentally breakdown. Likewise, there is an underlying routine for every class period, even though a new subject is constantly taught by the teachers. As a mentor, it would be beneficial to create a schedule for the mentee, so, therefore, the structure and order that they crave is evident in the classroom environment. For this reason, the student might begin to feel comfortable, which would allow them to have a greater capability to focus on the specific tasks. In addition, another way to help the mentee in the classroom setting is to break down the information that was taught or attempt to present it to them in a different manner, if they do not understand it. Students with Autism or Asperger Syndrome sometimes struggle to understand the lesson as they cannot process the way the teacher has expressed it to the class. It then might be harder for them to complete an assigned task about that topic and by breaking it down, they will be able to complete more work. Also, there are many advantages to presenting the information to them in a different manner, including