Teaching to the Special Interest
Effective classroom strategies will always begin by identifying the child's present level of performance and the next level we should strive to achieve. Once this is identified, review the lesson plan for your class. How can you work the child's special interests into the lesson plan?
In preschool and early elementary this may be very easy. If the child's special interest is airplanes, he or she can color pictures of airplanes, identify the color of the airplane in photographs, read a story about airplanes. Chances are many other students in the class are also interested in airplanes and will be happy to work with them. Even if they are not as delighted with airplanes as the child with autism, it doesn't take away from the class to incorporate and even focus on airplanes for most lessons. The children are probably not very interested in counting dots either but they are always there.
As the child gets older, there will be science fairs in which he can build a model of an airplane, tell how the propeller works, add airplanes, count the pieces of the airplane, read how the engine of an airplane works and write a report, the child may present a report to the class about airplanes. If the child is hesitant about speaking to a group allow them to give the presentation to one or two people then increase the number as their comfort level increases.
In high school, the child may learn about the airport. Here he can learn what jobs are available at the airport. The class will benefit from a field trip to the airport. The child with autism can identify further aspects of the airport that he likes. Some of these likes can transfer to jobs on other locations, or the child may begin an internship at the airport with support from the high school.