Claire Droney has been working with people with autism since 2004. First, as a special class teacher and then as an advisory teacher for children with autism in mainstream schools.

We all need a little incentive to do difficult tasks, but the nature of the reward depends on personal taste - what rocks my boat probably won’t rock yours.

Autistic speaker John Simpson has said, ‘nothing can motivate me like my special interest.’ In this video we look at realistic ways to encourage students with autism to do less-preferred tasks at school, often using a simple ‘first/then’ strategy.

The key is to find what really motivates your students. Past student rewards have included:

• 5 minutes googling washing machines
• Printing out 5 pictures of favourite water bottles
• Walking to the teachers car park to look at and record 5 licence plate numbers
• Reading a favourite graphic novel for 5 minutes
• Standing on the school landing looking at the cranes for 5 minutes

Download the coaching card for this video or watch the rest of the series.