Buddy-of-the-Week Program
Buddy-of-the-Week Program
A program to help kids on the spectrum make friends…
By Anne Reel
In order to facilitate friendship and understanding in my son’s first-grade classroom, we started a Buddy-of-the-Week program. My son is now entering the 4th grade in a middle elementary school. He has high-functioning autism. The program has helped him make friends and helped his classmates understand how to be his friend. The best thing about the program is that the Buddy skills have carried over outside the classroom and school. As one non-classmate noted to his mother after a birthday party my son attended, “Everybody is nice to him.”
Where to begin
The first step of the Buddy program is to meet with the immediate team prior to the start of school to explain the goals of the program. The three key players in the program are the teacher, the aide, and the school adjustment counselor. Our three main goals for the program are:
- To help children feel comfortable with the child.
- To teach children how to interact with the child.
- To instill pride in the other children that they can make a difference to the child. Read Full Article