I also have an autistic student in my classroom and have worked with autistic children for two years now. The first thing that I would recommend you to do this for this student is to work in the group with them at least one time. By working in the group with them, you can model positive behavior and correct negative behaviors that the student is doing. I would then give the student some type of positive reinforcement to motivate them to want to work well with the other members of the group. For example, you can give computer time or extended time doing something that the student likes to do to positively reinforce them.

I would suggest letting this students group be smaller. It could be him and just one other student. Once he was able to work with that student then add to his group. Reward positive behavior and those times he does work well with his group. Hopefully he will be his skills at working with others. Lastly set up ground rules for the groups that help correct any minor problems that may occur. I would also not assigned work that will cause him to feel that someone else does better. Let it be a team effort.

I would incorporate affective lessons that help to develop social skills. The affective lesson can be incorporated into the social studies and science lessons. A lesson could focus on one social skill at at time until the student with autism has mastered the skill. Collaborate with the students other teachers so that he is receiving the affective lesson in each subject and is allowed to work on the social skill throughout the day.

First of all it is important to remember that students with autism have issues with social interaction and are often times very introverted, it is the nature of the disability. To begin I would work one on one with the student while the rest of the class is working in groups, reinforcing positive behaviors and working through negative behaviors. If the student needs time alone do not push him/her to keep working with you or a partner because this will only continue the anxiety of working with someone else. As the student becomes comfortable working with you, introduce him/her to a student that will work well with the autistic student. Gradual release can be very beneficial in cases like this. Stay positive and be patient.

I would continue to put the student in groups but monitor the student and make sure that he handles situation the right way by redirecting his behavior instead of having him look at it as losing make it have a positive light and make the student feel like they are not losing anything.

I have had students like this that we understand will have meltdowns and have found that they usually work better on their own and if there is group work if they have a question or want to collaborate there is a group that they can jump into when they would like to. Pushing them to collaborate will only make their meltdowns occur more often and typically increase in severity. I have found that letting them work on their own and letting them interact on their own accord has helped greatly.

One thing I would always make sure this student has it a session prior to cooperative learning with an aid about what his/her job in a group is and why it is important it is. This might make the transition into cooperative learning smoother. I would also try to make his group small, two additional people in the group tops. Our job as teachers is to help all students develop in all areas.