Social Skills Development for Children
Social skills here are taught one step at a time — a greeting, a turn, a way to ask to join — not a lecture about being friendly, and not a promise to make a child typical.
Written by the Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center therapy team · medically reviewed by Dr Muhammad Suffyan, MB BS (GMC 8023727) · Last reviewed September 2026
About Social Skills
Social skills at Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center in Model Town, Multan are taught as small, visible steps: a greeting, a turn, a way to ask to join, a way to leave a game without a crash. We do not run a programme whose only goal is eye contact. Contact owner Muhammad Salman Afzal first; faculty includes Mahnoor Baloch. ABA hours often sit with Noor Fatima. A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
Parents usually say he plays alone, she grabs, he does not know how to join. That is a skill gap, not a personality verdict. How Mahnoor frames this work is on her social-skills page. Older children: friendships.
Sessions run in Urdu or English, Monday to Friday. You do not need a diagnosis. We will not promise that a child will become typical, popular, or “fixed”.
Who this is for
- Autistic children who want friends but cannot start or keep a game
- ADHD, when interrupting and grabbing are the wall
- Children who play alongside others but never with them
- A goodbye, a no, or a lost game that becomes a daily crash
- Selective mutism or anxiety, when the skill is there at home and gone at school
- Teenagers who are lonely after school
What we actually teach
One peer before a group. A script for “can I play?” that the child can say, show or hand over as a card. Waiting a turn with a visible job (holding the timer). Recovering from a no. That is social skills — not a lecture about kindness.
- Greeting and getting someone’s attention without grabbing
- Turn-taking in a real game, not a worksheet about sharing
- Asking to join, and accepting “not now”
- Repair: sorry, trying again, leaving the game
- A two-person play date that has a start and an end
Who delivers the hours
Contact the owner first. Faculty speech and communication often sit with Mahnoor. Noor delivers ABA social-skills hours under that plan. Psychology for the anxiety underneath sits with Muhammad Salman Afzal. School-facing group sits can sit with Akasha. Related: ABA, autism support, child psychology.
What to practise at home this week
One two-player game with a timer. One sentence or card for “can I play?”. Stop while they still want one more turn. A sibling is a real peer, with real history — keep the burst short. See practising at home, supporting siblings, and connection and communication.
If they are fine at home and fall apart at school, we still practise here, then write a sentence the teacher can try. Classroom support and the letter to school are the next pages, not a personality lecture.
Friendships are a later job
A playdate that has a start, a game and an end is a skill. We practise with one peer before we talk about a whole class of friends. Teen loneliness is a different page: friendships for autistic teens and playdates. We will not promise popular, typical, or “fixed”.
Eye contact is not the goal
A look can be taught when it helps a child be understood — “I am talking to you.” Forcing eye contact as “normal behaviour” is not the work, and it is not in NICE’s social-communication recommendation. Stimming that is not harming anyone is not a target either. See special interests and masking.
How this programme works, in more depth
Each of these pages is one slice of the work — a session, who it is for, or what to try at home — linked back to this service.
What a session actually looks like
- 1You describe one real social moment that goes wrong — the park, the cousin, the classroom line.
- 2We pick one skill for this week and practise it with one adult, then one peer if the child is ready.
- 3Prompt, then fade. Reinforce the attempt, not a performance of “nice”.
- 4You leave with one sentence or card to try in a real place, not twenty social stories.
Take a worksheet home
Print one sheet. Fill it in this week. Bring it to the consultation — a consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
Requesting cards
Help, more, finished, stop, my turn, can I play — a faster ask than screaming.
First–then board
The hard moment, then the promised good thing — set out before the fight starts.
Social-skills home program (PDF)
One peer, one game, a goodbye that ends.
Book a consultation
Contact owner Muhammad Salman Afzal first. No referral needed. A consultation is Rs 1,500 and lasts up to 50 minutes.
The idea behind the work (in the books)
Social skills are taught as joint attention, a request, and a turn — not as a personality makeover. We do not run a branded Social Thinking, PEERS or SCERTS programme.
Mundy and Kasari — joint attention and joint engagement
Peter Mundy and Connie Kasari treat a shared look and a shared game as the floor under later friendship. A child who cannot hold a two-person game has nothing to hang a classroom of friends on. We teach one peer before a group.
Bandura — social learning
Albert Bandura showed that children copy a model more readily than a lecture. We act the greeting and the “can I play?”, then fade. A worksheet about sharing is not a model.
Prizant — Uniquely Human
Barry Prizant’s SCERTS and Uniquely Human put regulation and a reason to communicate before a performance of “nice”. We take the respect: stimming that is not harming anyone is not a target; eye contact is not the goal. We are not a certified SCERTS centre.
Tomasello — shared intentionality
Michael Tomasello describes the moment two people want the same thing and both know it. “Ready, steady, go” and a ball rolled back and forth are that moment in miniature. That is the first social-skills session, not a lecture about friends.
What the research tells us
This isn’t just our opinion — it’s grounded in published research. Here are a few findings from trusted, independent sources:
NICE CG170 recommends a specific social-communication intervention for the core features of autism: play-based strategies with parents, carers and teachers to increase joint attention, engagement and reciprocal communication, adjusted to developmental level. For pre-school children, parent mediation; for school-aged children, consider peer mediation. That is one adult, then one peer, then a group — not a noisy class as step one.
— NICE Clinical Guideline CG170 — Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management. View sourceA Cochrane review of parent-mediated early intervention (Oono et al., 2013) found strong evidence that shared attention between parent and child changes, and weaker, less certain evidence that the child’s own social and language scores change. We measure a greeting, a turn and a recovery from a no — things you can see — rather than a social-skills standard score.
— Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — Oono, Honey and McConachie (2013), CD009774. View source
Other ways we can help
Speech Therapy
Help for late talkers, unclear speech, stammering and language delay, through play your child enjoys.
Motor & Daily Skills
Motor, handwriting and self-care skills, built up through purposeful play.
ABA Therapy
ABA and positive-behaviour support for autism, ADHD and hard-to-manage behaviour.
Social Skills: your questions answered
Will you make my child give more eye contact?
Not as a goal of its own. Looking can be taught when it helps them be understood. Forcing it as “normal behaviour” is not the work. See how Mahnoor frames this.
My child is three and plays alone. Is that autism?
Often it is being three. We still help with one-step joining. A diagnosis sits with a paediatrician or psychiatrist when it is needed — not with us.
Can you put them in a large group to practise?
Not as the first move. Many children learn with one adult, then one peer, then a group. A noisy class as step one is often unkind.
They have no words. Can this still start?
Yes. Requesting can be a card, a reach or a look. See communication and social skills and autism.
They only want to play with adults.
That is a stage. We add one peer while the adult is still the safe base, then fade. Forcing a birthday party as step one is usually unkind.
Will this make them popular at school?
No, and we will not say it will. A playdate with a start, a game and an end is a skill we can teach. Popularity is not a therapy goal.
Worried about your child? Let’s talk.
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