An effective way of working with children who have autism, is to present the activity via a visual means. You can achieve this by using symbols, pictures or even writing down the instructions. For pupils I worked with, the less auditory input, even for those who could respond to verbal instructions, the more interested they were in the task and the more easily they engaged in the activity itself.
And while it can seem onerous to create the materials necessary (taking photos, printing them out and possibily even laminating them), doing so is worth it in the long run. You will and should use the photos more than once. You use them when you are doing the activity, you can use them afterwards to talk about what you did and you can involve your pupils in creating a display of the finished product, along with all the steps (pictures) taken.
The principles I follow when creating a sequenced photo activity are apparent by the photos themselves. The first photo is of all the materials needed for the activity, and the rest of the photos outline each step required.
