Effective Mentoring for Youth with Developmental and Other Disabilities

Topic

Standards & Good Practices

(linked to positive outcomes for participants)

Other Pertinent Info

(from other studies & reports)

Program Planning

When developing a mentoring program for youth with disabilities, staff should:

• Use accommodations to support full inclusion of mentors and mentees with disabilities, e.g., on program/agency website, paper materials, meeting locations, and procedures.
• Receive ongoing disability-related training.
• Ensure mentors have the capacity to handle their mentees’ particular abilities.
• Consider confidentiality and how disclosure issues will be handled.
• Support the mentors in acknowledging challenges associated with the mentees’ disabilities while also operating from a strengths-based approach.
• Plan for extra costs that may be incurred for accessibility services.^{2, 9}

Successful mentoring programs should be setup to have positive impacts for everyone involved- mentors, mentees, parents/caregivers, program staff, and community partners.²

Refer to Mentoring Youth with Disabilities article for examples of mentoring programs in the US for youth with disabilities.⁸

Refer to The Best Practices Guide in Mentoring Youth with Disabilities for examples of mentoring programs for youth with disabilities, best practices for implementing a mentoring program, resources, sustainability information, evaluation, etc.⁹

Program Implementation

Program advertising materials should be in multiple formats which make the material more accessible, e.g. braille, large print.⁹

• Youth with disabilities are less likely to graduate high school, continue to post-secondary education, receive employment, and move onto independent living than their able bodied counterparts.
• Differently abled youth are more likely to have lower self-esteem, which can make it difficult to create and sustain relationships.
• Youth with disabilities are more likely to experience sedentary lifestyles and other physical health challenges.^{1, 3, 11}

Mentoring can provide positive outcomes for youth with disabilities:

• Youth with disabilities who have mentors who share these experiences are more likely to develop self-efficacy more quickly.
• Youth who had mentors that lived independently with disabilities were more likely to learn, observe, and practice strategies for independent living from their mentors.
• Mentors help youth with feeling connected to their communities which is very important for differently able mentees who typically have greater difficulty forming strong, lasting relationships.^{3, 5}

Mentoring is particularly helpful for youth with disabilities transitioning from school to work.¹²

Mentee Referral, Selection & Training

Connecting with special education schools and departments, parent advisory groups, health care providers, and other social service organizations can help with recruiting.⁹

Mentee training should include establishing boundaries with the mentors, disclosure of disability-related issues, mandatory reporting about abuse/ neglect, and responsibilities and expectations of mentors and mentees.^{2, 9, 10}

Mentor Recruitment, Screening & Selection

Mentor Training

• Overview of program expectations and how to promote safe and positive experiences;
• Communication skills and how to provide feedback;
• Establishing boundaries with the mentees;
• Disclosure of disability-related issues;
• Reporting procedures for abuse/neglect;
• Responsibilities and expectations of mentors and mentees;
• Diversity and disability issues, including disability etiquette; and
• Consider having a local disability agency come to deliver a presentation.^{2, 5, 9, 10, 11}

Ensure training location is physically accessible and/or provide training online to make it accessible for mentors’ unique needs.⁹

Matching Process

• Experience a positive role model who is similar to them, which may help in developing confidence and feeling more able.
• Learn about adaptive technologies used for independent living and new activities in which they could participate.
• Normalize the disability.
• Developing a strong identity, which encompasses their disability.^{1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9}

Matching mentors and mentees based on proximity to one another to make meeting up easier was a strategy used by the I Can Do It, You Can Do It program.^{9, 11}

Mentoring Relationship Development

One program provided mentees with incentives to working on and achieving their goals.¹¹

Host mentoring activities that are accessible and at locations that are physically accessible.⁹

Parent/ Caregiver/ Family Involvement

• Requiring them to sign consent forms and assent to disclosure about their child’s disability;
• Providing opportunities for parents to give insight about how to make the program successful and safe for their child; and
• Providing opportunities to learn from the mentors how to help their child self-advocate.^{2, 5, 9}

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION:

E-Mentoring

E-mentoring can be effective for use in mentoring youth with disabilities because they provide a safe place for youth with disabilities to connect with mentors and may better accommodate communication challenges posed by disabilities, reduce challenges associated with travelling, and any health concerns.^{9, 12}

Face-to-face meetings can enhance an e-mentoring approach.⁴

Mentor should be screened as thoroughly for online mentoring as for in-person mentoring.⁹

Mentors studying social work related disciplines were more likely to be successful.⁷

Relationships where mentors and mentees communicated more regularly and both mentor and mentee were open (e.g., disclosed their disability) were more likely to be successful.⁷

E-mentoring can help reduce the communication challenges associated with in-person for those with limitations associated with their disabilities.^{4, 9, 12}

Online mentoring was less successful when the mentor’s first email was more formal and less friendly.⁷

Connecting to Success, DO-IT, and Partners Online are examples of online mentoring programs for youth with disabilities.^{2, 4, 9}