Need help on teaching a child with autisim to write

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I'm a paraprofessional that is working 1:1 with an autistic child who is 12. I'm trying to find a way to get this child to write. It's like pulling teeth to get him to write two sentences (good sentences). His parents want him to write more, but he barely does that without crying episodes that take him about a half hour to get calm down and ready to work again. He gets a lot of mini breaks throughout the day. He always wants to start each sentence with "The". He gets agitated when trying to pull another word out of him to use. I usually have to give him a choice of two words. He trys to make a list or write a phrase instead. He'll do an assessment where he can apply the skills to locate a noun or a verb; when to capitalize (for example I or the beginning of a sentence) or punctuate, but when it comes to writing he forgets. I need to ask him whats missing or what makes a complete sentence for punctuation. I don't know what to do! Any suggestions?