You chose:

"Wow! Sounds great, Steve! I haven’t done any programming myself but it sounds really cool. I don’t think that you will regret taking the class! You really like computers. Programming will be a great skill to have when you are looking for jobs later on. Don’t worry if you are not very good at it yet. Remember you just started. It takes time to learn a new skill. What have you learned so far? What kinds of things are you having trouble with? Are the other students having trouble also? Let me know how it is going. If you are still having trouble we can talk more about it."

This is the correct answer.

If you chose A, congratulations. You are practicing the positive communication skills you need to be a good mentor.

A is the correct answer, because the mentor remembers to use the LAF, don’t CRY strategy.

In this example, the mentor:

• Listens to Steve and shows that he cares. The mentor writes:

"Wow! Sounds great, Steve!"



• Asks specific questions to understand what Steve is saying. The mentor writes:

"What have you learned so far? What kinds of things are you having trouble with? Are the other students having trouble also? "



• Focuses on Steve. The mentor focuses on Steve and the computer programming class that he is taking. The mentor doesn’t get distracted and talk about other things.

In this answer, the mentor remembers NOT to CRY. The mentor doesn’t criticize, doesn’t react hastily, and doesn’t yakkity yak yak about other things.

This research is supported by Grant #H133G8004 from The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and no official endorsement should be inferred.