Over the past 15 years, empirical studies have described how the psychologi
cal aspects of autism differ from other developmental disorders. Studies of
general development describe a pattern of specific relative strengths and
weaknesses involving cognitive, emotional, linguistic, and motoric capaciti
es. Because much of the syndrome-specific pattern of autism is present at t
he preschool period, this has implications for the development of curriculu
m and educational strategies early on. Early intervention programs that spe
cifically target autism include a variety of educational strategies that ad
dress the unique learning profile of autism. As community preschool-program
s offer enhanced services for this group of young children, they can draw o
n a body of work generated both from the scientific work in autism and the
effective educational practices developed by model preschool programs.