Creating a Peer Mentorship Program for Incoming Autistic Students
Date
2023-09-28
Authors
de Wijze, Jacob
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Abstract
This summer was focused on building the foundation to create a peer mentorship program for autistic students at UVIC. I created a list of campus resources including financial and social supports that will be helpful for students. In addition, I developed a survey to learn what autistic students would want from a peer mentorship program. This survey will be circulated this fall. Dr. Ames and I also wrote and submitted a proposal to the ethics review board so that we would be able to distribute posters and surveys to student groups. Dr. Ames, Kai Punt, and I will be working this fall on creating a university-wide advisory council to help oversee the program and to make sure there are minimal barriers to participating. Future steps include creating a training program for mentors, recruiting interested students, and reaching out to university departments to help increase the likelihood of students hearing about this program. This is a long-term project, and the goal is to have it up and running in the next couple of years.
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Peer-Mentorship, autism, support, UVIC, psychology