Do you think increased peer support systems would be good?

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I'm thinking about issues that a lot of us on the spectrum have socially. My experience has been that therapists are inherently limited in their ability to guide AS highschoolers or college students socially because they lack insight into how the student is functioning and socializing day to day. Many social deficits are hard to perceive when there is one context (aka the student sits with the therapist in a quiet room and talks about themselves and their issues).

I've frequently been told growing up that my social skills were fine and it was merely my anxiety that was to blame for my problems. Therapists couldn't see my pacing, stimming, literal thinking, issues with reciprocity, problems with situational cues because they didn't see me in the contexts in which I was struggling. I myself lacked insight into my issues and couldn't accurately describe my problems, frequently until after they had gotten out of control. I still kind of live in a state of believing (accurately I think) that something is wrong with me, but not being sure what.

I think peers who could receive some training in helping out autistics would be helpful. They're more likely to see us in day to day situations, they have more insight into what our peers will think or not think. They may witness our gaffes firsthand. The immediate drawback I can think of to increased peer support and mentoring in university is

1. these peers will probably be more condescending to us than actual friends (but isn't that what a therapist is like too?)

and

2. there is a heightened chance of unprofessional behavior from teenagers and young people (gossip, etc.) However, I think a positive here is that it would be easier to hold a peer mentor or something accountable for poor behavior. I have been abused and harmed by support professionals (I believe many of us have) who were too powerful to be able to speak up against. Since these are still essentially kids we are discussing, I think it would be easier to convince a superior that they were behaving poorly. There may be situations that young people would be poorly equipped to deal with, but then they could probably alert an educated professional that someone they're helping out needs additional support.

I think it's really, really hard for many of us to self advocate and self disclose. I think the best thing an ally can do for us is intercede when we need it (which may be more effective coming from a peer) and alert us if we need to change our behavior (again, more effective from a peer). Bullying and abusive behavior may be possible, but I've seen so much of that coming from educated older professionals that I'm not too concerned about that kind of stuff from a peer. It would probably be easier to report and discipline imo.

There is a peer mentor program at my school, but it's mainly academic and for younger students to get support from older students. The peer support program socially may be less of a hierarchy based on seniority...so upperclassmen like me would feel less ashamed of needing such support.

Idk. I'm kicking the idea around. Thoughts?