Teenagers: the work that starts after ten
The internet is full of toddler milestones. Your child is in grade six with exam pressure, a changing body, and friends who notice difference. This page is for that child — and for the parent who was told to wait, and waited.
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.
What usually brings a teenager to us
Not “late talking”. It is school reports that suddenly worsen, a friendship that collapsed, sleep that fell apart at puberty, or a girl who looks fine in class and unravels at 4pm. Boys with ADHD often hit a wall when the work needs planning, not just energy. Autistic teens often hit it when social rules go unspoken and exams stack up.
We do not promise to make a teenager “normal”. We pick two or three skills that would change the next term — getting started on homework, a way to leave a noisy room, a sentence for “I didn’t understand” — and we practise those. Child psychology sits alongside speech, learning support and ABA when mood, anger or panic is the thing in the way.
Anger, shutdown and the year the work changed
Teenage anger is often a planning problem wearing a loud voice: too many steps, too little sleep, a body that changed faster than the routine. It is also, sometimes, anxiety that has nowhere else to go. We do not treat shouting as a character flaw. We find which skill is missing — starting, stopping, leaving a noisy room, saying “I didn’t get that” — and we practise that skill until it is available on a bad day.
Girls who coped by copying classmates often hit the wall here. The masking gets expensive at puberty, friendship politics and exam load. Read autism and ADHD in girls before anyone decides she is just dramatic. For the practical half of growing up, life skills and a communication passport travel better than another lecture.
Related reading: ADHD in teenage boys, friendships, life skills, after school, leaving school, teenage anger, exam stress, anxious children, classroom support, and the school-age hub.
Teenagers — questions parents ask
My daughter was never “that” autistic as a child. Can it show up in the teens?
The traits were usually there. They get missed in girls who copy classmates and hold it together at school, then fall apart at home. Puberty, friendship politics and exam load make the masking expensive. Read autism and ADHD in girls before anyone tells you she is just anxious or dramatic.
He will not come to therapy. He says he is fine.
Many teenagers will not walk into a “kiddie” room. We say plainly what the hour is for — homework that is stuck, a friendship that went wrong, sleep, anger — and we let them talk more than we talk. If they refuse, parent coaching still helps. See parent coaching.
What do you actually work on with a teenager?
Whatever is blocking the next year of their life. Often that is organisation and focus (school-age focus program), reading and writing (older literacy), social skills, exam nerves, or the sensory and routine side of puberty. Puberty, autism and ADHD is the longer guide.
Can sessions be online so they do not miss school?
Yes. Older children often prefer video from their own room. We run online therapy in Urdu or English, including after school. A consultation is still Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
Is this the year school got too hard?
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