A Scoping Review of Peer Mentoring Programs for Autistic College Students

Abstract

Many autistic college students struggle with academics, mental health, and career development. Despite a proliferation of peer mentoring programs, there is little consensus as to what approaches are effective and even less published data on the impact of such programs on student outcomes. The purpose of this review is to describe peer mentoring programs for autistic college students and understand whether they are improving outcomes. The search identified 21 articles, with half reporting student outcomes data. Most programs provided weekly one-on-one mentoring individualized to student needs and offered additional supports (e.g., social skills group). Among them, three tracked academic outcomes, three reported non-academic outcomes, and one followed both academic and non-academic outcomes.