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Does “mentoring” offer effective support to autistic adults? A mixed-methods pilot study

Nicola Martin (Department of Education, London South Bank University, London, UK)
Damian Elgin Maclean Milton (Department of Education, London South Bank University, London, UK) (Department of Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK) (Autism Knowledge and Expertise, National Autistic Society, London, UK) (Tizard Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)
Tara Sims (Department of Health Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK)
Gemma Dawkins (Department of Education, London South Bank University, London, UK)
Simon Baron-Cohen (Autism Research Centre, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK)
Richard Mills (CAAR: Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK) (Research Autism, London, UK) (Taisho Daigaku, Tokyo, Japan) (Tizard Centre, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)

Advances in Autism

ISSN: 2056-3868

Article publication date: 2 October 2017

403

Abstract

Purpose

The Research Autism Cygnet Mentoring project was a two-year pilot study, completed in 2016, which aimed to develop, trial and evaluate a mentoring scheme designed with input from autistic people, their families and supporters. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The mentoring scheme involved 12 matched pairs (mentor/mentee) meeting once per week for one hour, over a six-month period. All mentors attended a training day, led by the principles of personal construct theory and an emancipatory research ethos. The project and training involved significant involvement of autistic people in both its design and delivery.

Findings

Participants on the autism spectrum found their mentoring experience very helpful in enabling them to progress towards self-identified goals, and mentees felt empowered by the person-centred ethos and the methods employed on the project. However, a number of aspects of the mentoring project have been identified that require further investigation, including: caution over offering mentoring without formal structures, boundary setting, supervision, flexibility and the matching of mentees with mentors.

Originality/value

The project has highlighted the potential benefits of time-limited goal-orientated mentoring and the negligible evidence base underpinning current mentoring practice with adults on the autism spectrum. In order for the project to realise its emancipatory aim, there is a need for a large-scale quantitative study and a health-economics analysis to provide the necessary evidence base for mentoring to be recommended as a cost-effective intervention with clear benefits for individual wellbeing.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This project was funded and commissioned by Research Autism.

Citation

Martin, N., Milton, D.E.M., Sims, T., Dawkins, G., Baron-Cohen, S. and Mills, R. (2017), "Does “mentoring” offer effective support to autistic adults? A mixed-methods pilot study", Advances in Autism, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 229-239. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-06-2017-0013

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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