Electronic mentoring in the classroom: Where mentors and students are persons with disabilities

In recent years, we have witnessed a process of growing awareness and increased activity among persons with disabilities toward improvements in their living conditions and their full inclusion into society. Still, persons with disabilities experience difficulty in achieving the interpersonal competencies needed to develop adaptive social behaviors, to achieve and maintain close relationships, and to fulfill their potential. Mentoring appears to promote interpersonal development when it is conducted via traditional face-to-face methods or via electronic means. In particular, electronic mentoring programs that nurture relationships between persons with disabilities appear to have considerable potential for their empowerment. In this chapter we discuss the relevance, feasibility and utility of e-mentoring intervention programs designed especially for young people with disabilities.