Participation vs Helping Model Info Sheet

In Peer to Peer, students with and without disabilities come together to engage in shared activities where ALL students learn together. This is a Participation Model. Participation is the foundation for high-quality Peer to Peer programs. The participation model shifts from a helping approach -- where one student is the helper and the other is the recipient of help – to a model where all students actively engage together in natural friendships.

Build your program with the resources you have and expand when opportunities present. But always lay the foundation in the participation model. 

All participants in Peer to Peer, regardless of whether or not they have disabilities, benefit. They learn, grow, gain new skills, and develop new friendships.

Quick Tips to Move Towards a Participation Model

• Use inclusive language. Replace words such as “mentor,” “mentee,” and “role model” with “peer,” “friend,” and “LINK.”
• Educate students and staff. Coach students and staff on an ongoing basis that Peer to Peer is about friendships and engaging together, not about having students acting as mini-teachers.
• Model participation. Show students what participation looks like through your own actions.
• Foster social opportunities in a range of activities. Emphasize that Peer to Peer is not only occurring during one period in one classroom, but it is the foundation of the entire culture of your building.
• Explore additional Peer to Peer resources.

Peer to Peer Program Self-Reflection Checklist

This checklist is an essential resource for school-based teams to reflect on and enhance their Peer to Peer programs. It is specifically designed to guide teams in self-assessing reflection whether their program follows a helper model or the recommended participation model, which actively engages students in meaningful, inclusive experiences.

Even well-run programs can shift over time. This checklist:

• Encourages teams to revisit the core values of Peer to Peer
• Helps ensure the program continues to build authentic friendships
• Promotes regular reflection to stay aligned a participation model

The checklist is available in the following formats: 

• Google Sheet: Make a copy of the file, select your answer in Column C, and the guidance/action steps will populate in Column D and E. 
• Survey Format: Enter your responses in the survey and receive an email with your responses and the corresponding guidance/action steps. 

Note: This tool is not a how-to guide for implementation. For comprehensive guidance, use START’s Peer to Peer Playbooks.

Peer Friendship Formula - Info Sheet

Peer Friendship Formula - Microlearning

The Peer Friendship Formula is the core of Peer to Peer. This program brings students with autism or other disabilities and their classmates together to engage in shared activities. These activities may occur inside or outside the classroom; they may be academic or social. Within the context of Peer to Peer, these opportunities occur regularly over time, and with repetition, they foster connections.

The Peer to Peer experience must also be nested in sufficient support and valued roles. These parentheses ensure that the program is framed in a participation model. While Peer to Peer is a program about and for kids, adults must still provide ongoing sufficient support. They model language, provide feedback, respond to questions, and offer flexible options to meet individual student needs.

As participants in the program, all students have valued roles. Their voices are engaged and respected. No group is better or less than others, no group is identified as helpers while others are helpees. Students are equally valued and they recognize and appreciate what they learn from one another.

Using this equation, peer friendships are likely to develop and flourish exponentially.

This structure may seem artificial at first, but it is similar to how families enroll their young children in extracurricular activities. As their child engages in these repeated, shared experiences with other children, they find commonalities and begin to build friendships. The process is similar for Peer to Peer. With repeated opportunities together, students find they share common interests, including topics they both enjoy, classroom experiences they have in common, and mutual interests in games and extracurricular activities. The sum of these experiences is the potential for authentic friendships.