Hamilton Community Schools: LINKS
Peer to Peer Support Program
Written by Becky Myers, Hamilton Community Schools
During the 2012-13 school year, Hamilton Community Schools attended the START intensive
training and learned about peer to peer support (LINKS) along with many other strategies to
support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We began peer to peer support in the
spring of 2013 with one 4th grade student with ASD supported by 7 LINKS.
Two short years later, we have over 200 kids supporting 12
students with ASD ranging from 1st grade to 12th grade.
Each of our LINKS groups has created its own group name
based on the interest of the student with ASD. A few of the
names include: “Chernobyl Tribe,” “KFC Veterans,”
“Hamilton Secret Service,” and the “Spartans LINKS.”
During our LINKS meetings, we teach the students that
they have more in common with each other than
differences. Our staff uses video clips, quotes, skits, and
role playing to demonstrate this message and promote
problem solving techniques.
Hamilton’s LINKS program has not only gained attention and support from our students, staff,
and administrators, but from our entire community! Community members and parents have
donated supplies, time, lunches, and money to support our lunch meetings so students are able
to learn about ASD. Our teachers have embraced the program by creating LINKS schedules for the
classroom, asking questions, implementing and monitoring behavior management plans,
implementing a variety of educational strategies, and attending LINKS lunch meetings.
By attending the START intensive training, our staff was educated with the same information
and we were given time to collaborate. Our trained staff shared the information with other
teachers throughout that school year. We took the advice from START and began peer to peer
with a small group. We quickly observed the significant impact it had on all students involved.
LINKS has naturally grown because we are all committed to the same vision and outcomes for
the program. Everyone involved is becoming more emotionally intelligent, not only about
ASD, but about themselves and each other.
The following statements come from a few of the staff, students, and parents
involved in Hamilton’s LINKS program:
Melinda Bronkhorst, 4th Grade Teacher (“Jedi Masters”) – “As a teacher, I have been blessed in a
plethora of ways to be a part of the LINKS Program. I have seen my 4th grade students become
compassionate leaders and responsible friends to our classmate with ASD. Students genuinely
want to help and do what is best for him. I am so impressed with the program's goal of building
awareness about ASD. Each meeting is filled with new information or examples of people living
productive, successful lives while having ASD. My students gain valuable, new, and helpful
information to assist them in being more qualified to help our classmate. The LINKS program is
helping build the bridge to friendships between all of my students. I find myself being
emotionally caught off guard while watching videos of various people beating the odds stacked
against them. I find myself "rooting" for them and becoming emotionally attached to their
stories. It has helped me become more educated in how students with ASD think, feel, and
behave. This program opens the eyes of all the participants to the endless possibilities for
students with ASD. I am blessed to be a part of this program!”
Alisha Boeve, teacher (“Jedi Masters”) – “The LINKS program (Jedi Masters) at Bentheim
Elementary has impacted me personally, as well as our students and staff, in numerous
ways. Together, we have grown in our understanding of ASD. We have collaborated and
problem solved a variety of different situations to help our student with ASD continue to
become an active and engaged member of our school. I feel as though our LINKS program
has cultivated unique relationships in, not only our LINKS group meetings, but also as the
students go back into their classrooms. They are learning to work together, share ideas,
and support one other during difficult situations. With the support of the peer to peer support
program, our student with ASD is able to access the general education curriculum with a much
different approach. It is so exciting to see the students collaborating together, laughing,
‘cheering,’ and being a great support group for not only our student with ASD, but for
each other as well. They see things that teachers do not always see, and with their insight
and ideas, we are able to work together to create an amazing community that respects
and supports one another.”
Jason, 4th grade student with ASD (“Jedi Masters”) – Jason enjoys the LINKS lunch "parties,"
especially when we have cheese pizza. He likes all the attention his friends give him. He also loves
having friends playing with him at recess.
Dan Scoville, Bentheim principal (“Jedi Masters”) – “The LINKS program in Hamilton has been
instrumental in helping our students better understand ASD in general, and the individual needs of
our student with ASD. The LINKS program has required a lot of thought and communication, but it
has been relatively easy to implement. The student LINKS are more perceptive to the needs of
their student, and they feel empowered as to how to assist in an appropriate manner. The student
receiving support is more receptive to cues he gets from his peers than those he gets from adults
because it is their acceptance and attention he desires.”
Katie Lillmars, 6th grade teacher (“Emergency Master Builders”) – “I am experiencing LINKS for the
first time this school year. I am learning so much from many of my students, who became LINKS in
elementary school. It has been amazing to watch students come together to brainstorm, to learn,
and to suggest ideas to help us all interact in positive ways with our students with ASD. Student
LINKS have led the way in my classroom in many situations. I have been very thankful for many
different aspects of LINKS and will continue to be a proud member in the years to come!”
Andrew, 6th grade student ASD (“Emergency Master Builders”) – “I get to sit by my friends. I have
more friends now because of LINKS. It was harder to talk to new people before LINKS. I was sort of
the silent type before LINKS but now not so much. I eat lunch with more different people now. My
LINKS help me in class with things like figuring out math problems. They help me when I get
frustrated or upset. They tell me it’s going to be OK.”
Cathy, Jason & Andrew’s mom (“Jedi Masters” & “Emergency Master Builders”) – “LINKS has been
a great program for my two boys. It's been very overwhelming and humbling to see the
outpouring of help and compassion these kids have given my boys. Many go out of their way to
see my boys have someone to play with, help them with their schoolwork, or console them if
something is wrong. It makes me feel a little less stressed knowing they have friends who are
watching out for them and that they understand my children's issues and still accept them as
friends. It's also been amazing to see most of the kids in their classes have volunteered to be LINKS
friends with them. That was very unexpected. My oldest especially has really thrived with all this
help and attention, socially as well as educationally. A side benefit for my oldest has been all girls
in LINKS. His ‘guy’ friends think he is the luckiest kid in school. Not only has this greatly benefited
my sons, but it has been a great learning experience for all the kids in how to be compassionate
and respectful for those who are different and to put someone else before themselves. It has even
taught me a lot. It's been such a pleasure to get to know their friends.”
Benjamin, 6th grader with ASD (“Hungry Titanic”) – “Before LINKS I didn't have any friends and got
bullied a lot. My life was lonely. No one wanted to be my friend because they thought I was very
different. That's why I was bullied too. Now I have friends because LINKS training showed them I
am just like everyone else. We are all different. We all want to be treated fairly. They are nice to
me because they understand ASD now.”
Julie, Benjamin’s mom (“Hungry Titanic”) – “Before LINKS my son had no friends. He was bullied on
the bus and at school. He was in the resource room more than half of the school day. Appropriate
interactions with peers had always been an IEP goal that never seemed to progress. His social
development was at an utter stand still. Two short years later our lives have forever changed.
His LINKS and non-LINK classmates now understand his behavior, they are accepting of his
interests, they have learned non-verbal cues, and they have learned to accept him just as he is. He
now is in general education for a majority of the day. He is learning to communicate with his peers
without being prompted. His wrestling teammates were able to help the coaches (new to the
world of ASD) understand many of the non-verbal cues they use in school. His world has opened
up. He likes going to school, he now retells stories of his school day, including friends, detailing his
life as a typical middle school student.
START has taught me how to be a better parent. I am now able to determine if his behavior is
because of his ASD or something else. I feel more equipped to talk to others about ASD and how it
affects the lives of those who live with It. LINKS students talk to their families about the program,
and it amazes me to see how much these kids are teaching their parents. They are more accepting
of our family and the challenges that ASD creates. START and LINKS change lives!”
Taylor Dykstra, teacher (“Emergency Master Builders” & “Hungry Titanic”) – “LINKS has been a
phenomenal tool for working on social skills and behaviors of students with ASD. Between the
academic aspects of education, there is not always adequate time for teachers to address social
behaviors or communication difficulties. Students with ASD who struggle socially can learn
appropriate behaviors from their peers. Learning social skills from peers also makes the skills more
concrete and applicable for students with ASD. Another great benefit is the empathy that is
instilled in each member of LINKS. In LINKS meetings and through experiences with students with
ASD, Hamilton students have learned more about ASD and have become more accepting of others
in general. They see the gifts in each person, regardless of their social or academic ability. LINKS
has shown me how one person can drastically change the life of a student with ASD, and how a
student with ASD can drastically change the lives of many others.”
Rylan, 6th grade LINKS student (“Hungry Titanic”) – Rylan was a part of the original LINKS group
that began in the spring of 2013 with eight 4th graders supporting Benjamin. When I told Rylan
there are now 12 students with ASD being supported with about 200 links, he commented: “I think
it (LINKS) helps students with ASD and the other students. It (the program) helps them too. Other
students are helped by this because many students behave or may do similar things as the student
with ASD, so by reminding the student with ASD, it helps everyone. I like to help others. I think
LINKS has helped me be a better person. If I did not know about ASD, I may think differently about
Benjamin. I may not know how to respond to him. But now I use our cues and I get to go on
scheduled breaks with him. If you didn’t know about ASD, you might judge them. I think students
with ASD can get better with communicating and hanging out with friends. It reminds me of
Anthony Ianni, who has ASD. He spoke to our school and he said how much he improved with
communicating and reading social cues. I think this is an amazing program. Benjamin told me how
he was bullied a lot before LINKS, but now the LINKS stand up to help.”
Rylan’s mom, Michele (“Hungry Titanic”) – “Rylan has such a passion for the LINKS program and for
the child he is partnered with! I could see Rylan pursuing a career later in life helping those in need
in some capacity, due to his participation with LINKS. The LINKS program is wonderful.”