Children on the autism spectrum can find the long-term goal of sorting items challenging. Certain life skills, such as distinguishing between colors, between items to be eaten, between clean and dirty items (e.g., clothes, dishes, rooms, etc.), or between different sized items or figures, are important building blocks for language development, as well as for other skills and situations that require your child to categorize things related to their surrounding environment or related to themselves. 

The following  strategies may help your child make progress towards the long-term goal of sorting items:

• Set standards using examples. When helping your child work on mastering a short-term goal, such as sorting dirty and clean items after mealtime, use examples to set standards. What does dirty look like? What does clean look like? Be sure to show your child examples of what exactly “clean” and “dirty” mean. A reference is important for understanding. For example, if working on meeting the target of “sorting clean and dirty cutlery after mealtime” while working towards mastering the short-term goal of “sorting clean and dirty items after mealtime,” show your child two pictures, one of a clean spoon and one of a dirty spoon. Explicitly state which one is clean and which one is dirty. Point out what makes the clean spoon clean and what makes the dirty spoon dirty, encouraging your child to ask questions regarding whether it is clean or dirty. It does not only have to be a piece of cutlery. You can set standards for “clean” and “dirty” rooms or other familiar items. For other short-term goals, such as sorting colors, sorting items of clothing, sorting things you eat, or sorting big vs. small items or figures, you can also use examples to set standards. Once you have used examples to help your child understand standards, you can move on to sorting those examples. 
• Sort examples. When helping your child work on meeting a target, such as sorting dirty and clean items after mealtime, practice sorting different examples using images before having them attempt to sort real items. Once your child knows what “clean” is and what “dirty” is, provide them with pictures of examples of clean and dirty items (such as pieces of cutlery, plates, bowls, cups, napkins, a dining table, or the kitchen counter), and have them sort the items as clean and dirty. You can provide your child with a few images of clean and dirty things, and ask them to divide them into a stack of clean things images and a stack of dirty things images. If your child is comfortable verbally stating whether they are clean or dirty, you can ask them to do that with the images as well. You can also have them sort through their clean and dirty clothes, or clean and dirty dishes. Reward them when they successfully sort things as clean or dirty, and if they’re uncertain, be sure to encourage them to ask questions. Provide positive reinforcement and encouragement (e.g., verbal praise). If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If your child is comfortable, you can also encourage them to verbalize why they think something is clean or dirty and gently correct or affirm their reasoning as needed. For other short-term goals, such as sorting colors, sorting items of clothing, sorting things you eat, or sorting big versus small items, you can also sort examples. 
• Use sorting mats. Sorting mats are a great tool to help your child practice sorting examples or images of items before they move on to sorting real items. You can make your own sorting mats, or you can use some of the free sorting mat resources below. Provide positive reinforcement and encouragement (e.g., verbal praise). If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement.

• Color Sorting Mats:

Color Sorting Mats by Stay Classy Classrooms | TPT (teacherspayteachers.com)

File Folder Color Sort by Leslie Greer | TPT (teacherspayteachers.com)

Toddler Time: Simple Color Sorting - I Can Teach My Child!

• Clothing Sorting Mats:

Seasonal Clothing Sorting Mats by Supporting Special Learners | TPT (teacherspayteachers.com)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sort-Summer-and-Winter-Clothes-2751622?st=8ef6d704911340a254f62b2b370dcb7d

• Size Sorting Mats:

Sorting by Size- Math center or small group game by Jessica Barber (teacherspayteachers.com)

Size Shape Sort Small Medium and Large Free by Little Monkey Scholars (teacherspayteachers.com)

• Food Sorting Mats:

Free: Healthy Food Sort: Go Foods by Lauren Hollier | TPT (teacherspayteachers.com)

FREE Fruit and Veggie Color Sorting Mats - Stay At Home Educator

• Make it fun. Encourage turn taking, and reward cooperation. Observe your child and move to a different activity if they become overwhelmed by the task. Return later to sorting items, and try to make the activity more entertaining. For example, make silly animal noises while sorting animals into big vs. small columns on a sorting mat. Consider using a song or video to begin or accompany sorting (see below). Your child is more likely to cooperate if they perceive the activity as a game or something fun. Increase the rewards to speed up the process. Use positive reinforcement to encourage your child to repeat that level of cooperation or build on it. The positive reinforcement should be an age and effort appropriate reward: a cool sticker, a piece of candy, a small toy, an extra bedtime story, extra videogame time, etc. Phase out the positive reinforcement when the skill has been sufficiently acquired. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behaviors to be supported solely by social reinforcement. 

Color Song for Kids - Color Sorting For Kids - Educational Video for Kindergarten and Preschool - YouTube

Sorting - STEAM Song l Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs - Bing video

Sesame Street: Cookie Monster's Sorting Song - Bing video

SortingSong.pdf - Google Drive

• Other Resources:

13 Simple Sorting Activities for Preschoolers - Empowered Parents

Free Printable Sorting Activities for Kids - The Activity Mom (activity-mom.com)

Sesame Street: One of These Things Sorting Song with Animals - YouTube

Learn Colors with Slide and More! | +Compilation | Colors for Kids | Pinkfong & Hogi Nursery Rhymes - YouTube

Preschool Sorting Activities (pre-kpages.com)

50 Sorting and Classification Activities for Pre-K and Kindergarten - (natureinspiredlearning.com)

Sorting Colors

For the short-term goal of sorting colors, you can choose a target such as sorting dark vs. light colors, sorting yellow vs. red, sorting blue vs. purple, or sorting images or things with black / white stripes vs. images or things with green / yellow stripes.

• Step 1: Decide what colors you would like your child to work on sorting. For example, you can choose the target of sorting yellow vs. red while working on the short-term goal of sorting colors. 
• Step 2: An initial / specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a picture (i.e., a sorting mat with a column for yellow and a column for red) or a verbal SD (such as “let’s sort yellow and red!” or “it’s yellow and red time!”).
• Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to independently sort yellow and red. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. For example, you can count how many times your child is able to sort yellow vs. red on a sorting mat independently in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc.). As another example, you can count how many times in a row your child can sort yellow vs. red on a sorting mat independently.
• Step 4: To begin the trial to monitor progress towards meeting the target (i.e., the target of sorting yellow vs. red), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behavior to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child how to put red tokens in the red column of a sorting mat, and put yellow tokens in the yellow column of a sorting mat).
• Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, count how many times in a row your child can meet the target of sorting yellow vs. red independently. Alternatively, you can track progress by recording how long it takes your child to meet the target of sorting yellow vs. red independently. Or, alternatively, you can track progress by counting the number of successful attempts at sorting yellow vs. red during a session. 
• Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of sorting yellow vs. red by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at sorting yellow vs red over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of times your child can sort yellow vs. red, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

Sorting Clothes

For the short-term goal of sorting clothes, you can choose a target such as sorting pants vs. shirts, sorting long sleeve shirts vs. short sleeve shirts, or sorting different pairs of shoes.

• Step 1: Decide what clothing you would like your child to work on sorting. For example, you can choose the target of sorting seasonal clothing while working on the short-term goal of sorting clothing. 
• Step 2: An initial / specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a picture (i.e., a sorting mat with a column for summer clothes and a column for winter clothes) or a verbal SD (such as “let’s sort summer and winter clothing” or “it’s time to sort summer and winter clothes!”).
• Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt independently to sort pictures of clothes for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times your child is able to sort clothes independently in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc.). As another example, you can count how many times in a row your child can sort seasonal clothes independently.
• Step 4: To begin the trial to monitor progress towards meeting the target (i.e., the target of sorting seasonal clothes), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behavior to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child how to put shorts, tank-tops, sunglasses, and sandals in the “summer” column of the sorting mat, and how to put long pants, coats, hats, gloves, and boots in the “winter” column of the sorting mat).
• Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, count how many times in a row your child can meet the target of sorting seasonal clothing independently. Alternatively, you can track progress by recording how long it takes your child to meet the target of sorting seasonal clothing independently. Or, alternatively, you can track progress by counting the number of successful attempts at sorting seasonal clothing during a session. 
• Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of sorting seasonal clothing by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at sorting seasonal clothing over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of times your child can sort seasonal clothing, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

Sorting Things You Eat

For the short-term goal of sorting things you eat, you can choose a target such as sorting different types of food, sorting hard vs. soft foods, sorting cold foods vs. warm foods, or sorting liquids vs. solid foods, or sorting foods into snack, meal, or dessert.

• Step 1: Decide what edible things you would like your child to work on sorting. For example, you can choose the target of sorting types of food (e.g., fruit, vegetable, grain, or protein) while working on the short-term goal of sorting things you eat. 
• Step 2: An initial / specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a picture (i.e., a sorting mat with squares or columns for fruit, vegetable, grain, or protein) or a verbal SD such as “let’s sort things you eat” or “time to sort fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins!”
• Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt independently to sort pictures of things you eat for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times your child is able to sort food types independently in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc.). As another example, you can count how many times in a row your child can sort food types independently.
• Step 4: To begin the trial to monitor progress towards meeting the target (i.e., the target of sorting food types), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behavior to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child how to put apples and berries into the fruit section of the sorting mat, broccoli and carrots into the vegetable section of the sorting mat, etc.).
• Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, count how many times in a row your child can meet the target of sorting things you eat independently. Alternatively, you can track progress by recording how long it takes your child to meet the target of sorting things you eat independently. Or, alternatively, you can track progress by counting the number of successful attempts at sorting things you eat during a session. 
• Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of sorting things you eat  by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at sorting things you eat  over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of times your child can sort things you eat , and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

Sorting Clean vs. Dirty Items After Meal Time

For the short-term goal of sorting clean vs. dirty items after meal time, you can choose a target such as sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery or utensils, clean vs. dirty napkins, clean vs. dirty plates, or clean vs. dirty kitchen tables.

• Step 1: Decide what items you would like your child to work on sorting. For example, you can choose the target of sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time while working on the short-term goal of sorting clean vs. dirty items after meal time. 
• Step 2: An initial / specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a picture (i.e., two images, one of a dirty spoon and one of a clean spoon) or a verbal SD (such as, “let’s sort clean and dirty cutlery” or “time to sort clean and dirty utensils!”).
• Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt independently to sort the clean vs. dirty cutlery after mealtime for which you prompted. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times your child is able to independently sort clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc.). As another example, you can count how many times in a row your child can independently sort clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time.
• Step 4: To begin the trial to monitor progress towards meeting the target (i.e., the target of sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behavior to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child how to decide if a spoon is clean or dirty, how to decide if a fork is clean or dirty, etc.).
• Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, count how many times in a row your child can meet the target of sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time independently. Alternatively, you can track progress by recording how long it takes your child to meet the target of sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time independently. Or, alternatively, you can track progress by counting the number of successful attempts at sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time over a certain number of sessions. 
• Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at sorting clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of times your child can sort clean vs. dirty cutlery after meal time, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.

Sorting Big vs. Small

For the short-term goal of sorting big vs. small, you can choose a target such as sorting big vs. small images of animals (giraffe vs. butterfly), big vs. small images of people (adult vs. child), images of big vs. small methods of transportation (ship vs. scooter), or big vs. small buildings (skyscraper vs. house).

• Step 1: Decide what items you would like your child to work on sorting. For example, you can choose the target of sorting big vs. small animals while working on the short-term goal of sorting big vs. small items. 
• Step 2: An initial / specific discriminative stimulus (SD) should be selected that will cue your child that the task will start. This SD can be a picture (i.e., a sorting mat with a column for big animals and a column for small animals, along with big and small sized animals to place on the sorting mat) or a verbal SD (such as “let’s sort animals by big and small” or “time to sort big and small animals!”)
• Step 3: Collect baseline level data by providing the SD from Step 2 and allowing your child to attempt to sort big vs. small items independently. The baseline level will vary according to your child and their specific abilities. As an example, you can count how many times your child is able to independently sort big vs. small animals in a given time interval (e.g., 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, etc.). As another example, you can count how many times in a row your child can independently sort big vs. small animals.
• Step 4: To begin the trial to monitor progress towards meeting the target (i.e., the target of sorting big vs. small animals), provide the SD from Step 2 and allow your child to attempt independently. When your child is successful, provide reinforcement. If the reinforcer for the behavior is a tangible item, such as a small snack or a token for a token board, ensure that it is provided with a great deal of verbal praise. Ideally, you want your child’s positive behavior to be supported solely by social reinforcement. If the behavior was not displayed, end the trial and provide the appropriate level of prompting on the following trial. For example, employ a model prompt to show your child what to do at the beginning of the following trial (e.g., model for your child how to compare the sizes of different images of animals and sort them into big and small columns on a sorting mat).
• Step 5: Collect data on how your child makes progress. For example, count how many times in a row your child can meet the target of sorting big vs. small animals independently. Alternatively, you can track progress by recording how long it takes your child to meet the target of sorting big vs. small animals independently. Or, alternatively, you can track progress by counting the number of successful attempts at sorting big vs. small animals during a session. 
• Step 6: Track how your child makes progress to meet the target of sorting big vs. small animals by comparing with either a number threshold or a percentage threshold (necessary to meet the target). For example, you can record the number of successful attempts at sorting big vs. small animals over a certain number of sessions, and compare that with the number threshold necessary to meet the target. Alternatively, you can record what percentage of times your child can sort big vs. small animals, and compare that with the percentage threshold necessary to meet the target.