Leaving school: a two-year conversation, not an April panic
The internet stops at toddler milestones. Your child is heading for matric with a nervous system that still needs a plan. This page is for the years before the last exam — and for the honest limit of what a children’s therapy centre can do next.
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.
Start with skills, not a brochure
The useful question is not “which college.” It is: can they get dressed and out of the house, make one snack, stay safe on a road or a phone, and ask for help when a plan changes? Those are life skills. Marks matter. Being able to eat and get home without a crisis matters more once the school day ends.
NICE’s guideline on transition from children’s to adults’ services (NG43) says practitioners should start planning for adulthood from year 9 — age 13 or 14 — at the latest. The autism guideline for under-19s (CG170) says local teams should reassess around 14 whether support needs to continue into adulthood. Those documents are British. The timing still holds: two years is a conversation; two weeks is a scramble.
What we can and cannot do
Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center sees children through to sixteen, in Model Town, Multan, Monday to Friday, 2pm to 6pm, or online. We can help with organisation, talking, friendships, exam nerves, and the practical half of growing up. We do not run adult autism services, vocational colleges, or hostels. When a young person needs those, we will say so rather than stretch a children’s hour past sixteen and call it a pathway.
Paperwork that sometimes helps in Punjab is a disability certificate. It is not a substitute for a next-year plan. If school is still the wrong size, read mainstream or special before you pay for another year of the same war.
The year before matric
Pick three things that would change next year. Not twenty. Getting started on work without a fight, a way to leave a noisy room, one meal they can make. Practise those on ordinary Tuesdays. Exam stress, teenage anger, ADHD in teenage boys and teenagers sit next to this page. The 4pm crash is after school — recovery first, career later.
Related: friendships, puberty, girls: missed signs, school-age hub.
Leaving school — questions parents ask
Do you still see my child after they turn sixteen?
We work with children through to sixteen. After that we will say honestly if parent coaching can still help you, and we will not pretend we are an adult clinic. The skills — dressing, a meal, a bus, a request — are the same ones on life skills.
Must they do intermediate if matric was a war?
No. Do not assume every young person goes on to the next certificate. A smaller skills-focused year, real short work experience, or staying in a familiar setting can be the kinder next step. Mainstream or special is still the size question.
Does a disability certificate help after school?
Sometimes, for particular government schemes and admissions. It is not a plan on its own. Disability certificates in Punjab explains the actual process. Do not delay life skills while paperwork moves.
My child is fourteen. Is it too early to talk about this?
It is the right time. NICE says start by year 9 (age 13 or 14). Waiting until the last term of matric is how families scramble. Talk about two or three skills that would change next year, not about the rest of their life in one sitting.
Is this the year to plan the next step?
A short, friendly conversation is the best first step. Call, text or WhatsApp us — we’ll listen and guide you, with no pressure.
MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan (near Bloomfield Hall School, Street No. 2) · Mon–Fri, 2 PM – 6 PM