I had a 7th grader who could not plot points. He has asperger’s and tested at a 1st grade level in math. Color coding the coordinate plane worked well for him.
As I have written previously color coding is an effective method to break a concept into smaller parts. Finding 5 on the yellow line is an easier direction to follow than finding 5 on the horizontal or x axis for many students.
The numbers in the ordered pairs are color coordinated with the axes colors. Students learn inductively that the first number in the ordered pair relates to the x or horizontal axis (yellow goes with yellow). Identifying the x-axis can be a subsequent step as the act of plotting the point is the immediate goal. In the photo you can see that the first few problems were color coded but eventually this support was faded and he continued to plot the points correctly.
The handout is found at http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/