School-age children and teenagers
Most of the internet talks as if development ends at six. School does not. If your child is struggling with reading, sitting through a lesson, friendships, homework or the teenage years, this cluster is the map.
Written by the Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center therapy team — our Speech & Language Therapist, psychology and ABA staff. This page is awaiting its clinical review.
Pick the part of school life that is hardest
School readiness
Can they sit, wait, follow a group, and ask for help — or is reception going to be a shock?
Classroom support
What to ask the teacher for: seating, extra time, visual schedules, and a sentence they can use in class.
Homework battles
When the evening ends in tears: shrink the task, time it, and find which skill is actually stuck.
Teenagers
Puberty, friendships, exams, independence — the work changes after ten, and so does the plan.
Life skills
Dressing, food, money, safety — the practical half of growing up, taught in small steps.
After school
The 4pm crash when they get home, and what comes after school years.
Leaving school
Two years before matric, not the week results come out: skills, a next step, and an honest limit.
What changes after age seven?
A toddler’s plan is play, words and sitting for a story. A school-age plan is the classroom: following a group, getting words onto paper, keeping friends, and not falling apart at homework. The child has not “failed toddler therapy”. School asked for a new set of skills.
That is why we keep seeing children through sixteen at our centre in Model Town, Multan. Speech and language work continues, but it sits beside learning support, behaviour and attention, and child psychology when feelings or exam nerves are the thing in the way.
If you are not sure which door to knock on, start with which therapy does my child need, or message us with the teacher’s exact sentence. “He cannot copy from the board” is a better starting point than “I think it is ADHD”. A short letter to the school is often the next practical step, and mainstream or special school is the placement question families ask us most.
Guides, programs and conditions for older children
- Letter to school
- Mainstream or special
- ADHD in teenage boys
- Friendships & loneliness
- ADHD overstimulation
- Questions to ask a therapist
- ADHD
- Autism
- Dyslexia
- Learning difficulties
- Handwriting
- Focus (8–16)
- Reading & writing
- Social skills
- Big feelings
- Autism & school
- Exam stress
- School refusal
- Bullying
- Leaving school
- Teenage anger
- Starting & planning
- Speech in class
- Puberty
- Girls: missed signs
- What is an IEP?
- Akasha on school readiness
- Classroom skills with Akasha
- School-readiness PDF
- About my child (teacher)
- Communication passport
- Home practice log
School-age questions parents ask
Is it too late if my child is already eight or twelve?
No. Younger brains learn faster, so earlier is kinder — but eight, twelve and fifteen still make real gains. The plan changes: we work on being understood, on reading and writing, on managing a classroom, and on the skills friendships and exams are demanding right now. See help for teenagers.
My child’s teacher says they cannot sit still or finish work. What now?
Start with what the teacher is actually seeing, not with a label. Sitting still, finishing a page and following a group instruction are skills we can teach. Read classroom support, then message us with the teacher’s words — those are more useful than a diagnosis on day one.
Do you write anything the school can use?
After an assessment we can give you a plain-language summary of goals and classroom adjustments to share with the teacher. A formal school report or IEP-style document is a separate piece of work we explain before we write it. What an IEP is and our page for schools cover the school side.
We live outside Multan. Can a school-age child still work with you?
Yes. Older children often do better on video than toddlers, because they can sit with a parent and use their own books and homework. We run online sessions across Pakistan and abroad, in Urdu or English.
How much is a consultation for a school-age child?
A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes., in person in Multan or online. Ongoing therapy fees depend on the plan and are explained before you commit. See how fees work.
Homework is a two-hour fight every night. Where do we start?
Start with homework battles — shrink the task, time it, and write one line to the teacher. If the real issue is attention in teenage boys, see ADHD in teenage boys.
We cannot decide between mainstream and special school.
That decision is this year, not for life. Mainstream or special school walks through what actually predicts a good year, and a letter to the school is often the next practical step.
Is school getting harder, not easier?
Tell us your child’s age and what the teacher has noticed. We’ll be straight about what would help — and what can wait.
MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan (near Bloomfield Hall School, Street No. 2) · Mon–Fri, 2 PM – 6 PM