DS (HFA, 5yo) in year one - on the whole is getting on really well but has big problems in recalling the instructions the teacher gives. To the extent that from sitting on the carpet to going to his table, he has no idea what to do.
He said today that he does listen, but that if he says he doesn't know what to do, his teacher will tell him off for not listening. 
(Don't think that's true, teacher knows there's more to it than 'not listening'.)
No-one can work out whether it's because he's a) not listening (see above), b) he doesn't understand, or c) he has a brain like a sieve and the words just float in and out again. His TA & ABA shadow have been reinforcing with ipad tokens when he recalls something, but I'm not sure it's behavioural anyway so don't think this will make any difference.
Is this common with ASD/AS? He is like this at home - eg puts something down and a second later would not be able to tell you where he's put it. But has fantastic memory in so many other areas.
Any ideas what is behind this, and what to do about it?