Buddy system
Peer-to-peer buddy systems for students with autism

A key element of education is to build empathy and understand other people in the society. This approach sees a small group of students in a class being made "buddies" for an autistic student. The students are made aware of particular challenge a student has and are asked to take special care to include them, to be on the lookout for any bullying or exclusion and to be supportive to the student if they get stressed out or upset at break time or in class. The students who are selected would be chosen for their maturity and kindness. Parental consent would be sought from the parents of the students involved. While not every autistic student will instantly begin to socialise or make friends, this approach will at the very least ensure inclusion and also that there will be a friendly pair of eyes when teachers are not present or are out of ear-shot. For instance – maybe a student is having a bad day, is upset about something or just is not very good at starting conversations or making friends alone. Under this system, a class would explore difference as a whole and recognize that everyone in a class is different and so have different needs, strengths, abilities and oddities. They would then either be paired up or each student would draw a name and become "buddy" to that person, perhaps without them even being made aware of it. Before the draw or pairing it could be discussed with the teacher, to ensure an autistic student gets an especially strong buddy.The advantage of this system is that it does not single out the autistic student, especially if they are not comfortable with that, and instead includes everyone. Additionally, it gives the autistic person a role in being a buddy too, which can be used to teach social skills, expectations and etiquette.
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