Peer Volunteers "Mary & Max" – a befriending scheme for people with ASD. Defining guidelines for designing and implementation of peer-mediated interventions
Abstract
There is a growing understanding that peer support is a key element for both making people with ASD feel more connected with others and helping them develop and generalize social skills to different contexts. However,... [ view full abstract ]
There is a growing understanding that peer support is a key element for both making people with ASD feel more connected with others and helping them develop and generalize social skills to different contexts. However, peer-mediated interventions are not widespread in many countries and there are no solid guidelines ensuring their appropriate design and implementation.
The rationale for developing Peer Volunteers “Mary & Max” program was to set up a peer-mediated, relationship-based intervention for high-functioning individuals with ASD that would fulfill the requirements for evidence-based practice and adhere to the general standards for mentoring and befriending programs.
Peer Volunteers “Mary & Max” is a befriending scheme for high-functioning adolescents and adults with ASD who want to make friends and participate in social activities. The program is based in Warsaw, Poland. Participants and volunteers are matched on the basis of their common interests, age, sex and area of residence. The distinguishing features of the program are: (a) it’s grounded in extensive needs assessment, (b) it’s manualized, (c) it’s relationship-based, involving mostly dyadic, but also group activities, (d) the process of recruitment, matching, and on-going support of participants is enhanced by a state-of-the-art internet application, designed specifically for the intervention, (e) it’s being empirically validated, both quantitatively and qualitatively, (f) it’s also being disseminated to other regions in Poland, which will help to validate its effectiveness in different communities.
The presentation should foster a discussion about the international guidelines for designing and implementation of peer-mediated interventions for people with ASD. It should also encourage practitioners and policy-makers for introducing this cost-effective, community-based support system on the local and nationwide levels.
Ethics and permissions statement and / or disclosure of potential conflict of interest (if relevant)
The Peer Volunteers “Mary & Max” program was funded by the National Centre for Research and Development. The author serves as a program coordinator. The program has non-profit character and is operated by a... [ view full abstract ]
The Peer Volunteers “Mary & Max” program was funded by the National Centre for Research and Development. The author serves as a program coordinator. The program has non-profit character and is operated by a non-governmental organization – The Association for Social Innovations “Hidden Potential”. The program fulfills all ethical and legal requirements. Participation in the program is free of charge for both participants and volunteers. The name “Mary & Max” is used by courtesy of Melodrama Pictures.
Authors
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Mateusz Płatos
(Association for Social Innovations "Hidden Potential", University of Warsaw)
Topic Area
Topics: Practice
Session
S13 » Symposia: Parent training; family and peer support; mentoring (14:30 - Saturday, 17th September, Sidlaw Auditorium)
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