Supporting Social Growth for Autistic Teens

Autism

Jun 26

Many autistic teens want to connect with peers, form friendships, and feel part of a community—but navigating social situations can sometimes feel overwhelming, confusing, or draining. Parents may notice their teen struggling in peer groups, misreading social cues, or avoiding certain environments altogether.

At The Speech Path, we support neurodiverse teens in building meaningful social connections by honoring their individual strengths, communication preferences, and goals. Our approach to autism speech therapy is neurodiversity-affirming and collaborative. If your teen wants help navigating social situations, we’re here to support that, on their terms.

This blog explores the common challenges that neurodiverse teens may experience related to social interactions, as well as some supports for strengthening social skills, such as visual aids, roleplaying, and PEERS® for Adolescents.

What Does “Social Support” Look Like for Autistic Teens?

While “social skills” is a common phrase parents or caregivers search for—especially when exploring speech therapy for autism—we believe in a more accurate, affirming approach focused on “social support.” This approach is grounded in helping teens build confidence, connection, and self-advocacy in social settings.

Social interactions are a building block to developing relationships and a sense of community, which in turn, foster a feeling of belonging and socioemotional well-being. Not all autistic teens experience social communication differences in the same way. Some enjoy meeting new people and connecting with friends on a regular basis.Others may find socializing to be confusing and overwhelming, and social interactions can leave them frustrated or tired despite a desire to connect with others. Many autistic teens fall somewhere in between. For instance, they may thrive in one-on-one conversations, prefer small groups, or feel most comfortable socializing with other neurodiverse peers.

Common Social Challenges

Autistic individuals may present with social communication differences in: :

Identifying and interpreting nonverbal communication cues in others
Starting conversations
Keeping a conversation going
Recognizing sarcasm and jokes
Dealing with peer pressure and bullying, which is more likely to affect neurodiverse teens

In addition, some teens with autism struggle to cope with sensory stimuli in the environment. Bright lights and loud noises, for example, can make it difficult to enjoy or focus on socializing. These aren't deficits, they're reflections of how a teen’s brain processes communication and sensory input. Our work is to create predictable, supportive environments where neurodiverse teens can safely explore strategies that align with their needs.

How Speech Therapy Can Help

Speech therapy for teens with autism should be collaborative and neurodiversity-affirming. That means the teen and their speech-language pathologist (SLP) work together to determine which social skills could be targeted in pursuit of the teen’s overall goals. At The Speech Path, autism speech therapy for teens is focused on self-directed goals.

That might include:

Feeling more confident talking to classmates
Learning how to make friends
Planning a get together
Navigating group chats or texting with peers
Dealing with bullying or peer pressure in a safe, supported way

Some therapy options include:

Individual Speech Therapy

Teens with autism can benefit from both individual and group speech therapy sessions. During these structured sessions, the SLP can explain social communication skills, such as steps to start or sustain a conversation. These sessions can cover a range of topics, from how to interpret body language to ways of protecting one’s own boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others.

Group Speech Therapy: PEERS® for Adolescents

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a structured intervention developed by researchers at UCLA. It delivers targeted social skills instruction and practice opportunities with the group leader and other teens.

By participating in PEERS® for Adolescents, teens can learn about and practice social skills such as:

Joining and exiting conversations
Having get togethers
Using text messages and other electronic communications
Dealing with gossip, teasing, rejection, and bullying
Handling disagreements with friends
…and other important social skills

The ultimate goal is for teens to learn skills they can apply in their community to build relationships with peers who have shared interests.

Helpful Elements of Speech Therapy

Visual Aids

Visual aids can be a helpful way of learning and remembering information related to a given topic. Visuals may serve as an outline or template that add structure while navigating social interactions, which may sometimes feel unpredictable or fast-paced. The visual aids can be used across common types of interactions, such as meeting someone new, asking to join a peer group in the school cafeteria, or discussing hobbies.

Another helpful visual aid is video modeling. Autistic teens may benefit from watching videos of themselves trying out the social skills learned during therapy sessions to identify their strengths and what they may want to add to their interactions. Similarly, it can be helpful to review videos depicting others engaging in social interactions to identify socially helpful and risky behaviors. Video modeling offers a predictable, structured format for learning about social expectations.

Roleplaying

Practice is essential for developing any new skill, social skills included. During individual or group speech therapy sessions, autistic teens may roleplay various social scenarios. This helps teens to grow their self-confidence, as well as become more comfortable using the skills they’ve been targeting in speech therapy.

Parent Training for Teens with Autism

Parents and guardians/caregivers play a crucial role in supporting teens with autism. It can be challenging for neurotypical and neurodiverse parents alike to break down social communication skills in a way that’s accessible to their autistic teen and affirms their teen’s social communication style or preferences.

By undergoing customized parent training sessions, parents can learn how to become effective social coaches. For example, they can work to develop a shared vocabulary around social communication skills, so it’s easier to discuss these topics. Additionally, they can receive expert guidance about how to implement various supports in their day to day lives to continue supporting their teen’s social communication.

Affirming, Individualized Support in San Francisco

Whether your autistic teen is interested in making new friends, understanding the structure of conversations, or just feeling more confident in engaging with others, we’re here to help—without forcing conformity or minimizing their identity.

The Speech Path welcomes neurodiverse teens who decide they want to enhance their social skills. Our SLPs will tailor each teen’s plan to suit their unique needs and goals. We’re pleased to offer individual and group speech therapy, as well as PEERS® for Adolescents and parent training.

Shivani Patel