Shadow teacher
The common UAE term for a one-to-one classroom assistant. The same role an LSA does. Ask any provider offering one what the exit plan is; the answer tells you most of what you need to know.
Why a shadow teacher matters.
This is the most requested and least specified service in the UAE market. Schools ask for one, agencies supply one, and in a large number of cases nobody has written down what the person is supposed to do, who supervises them, or what would make them unnecessary.
The three questions below separate a supervised intervention from a placement. A placement can still be the right answer for a family — but you should know which one you are buying, because the prices are similar and the outcomes are not.
Questions that get a real answer
- Who supervises them, how often, and against what targets?
- What is the fading plan, and when does it start?
- What happens if the school says the support is no longer needed?
Ask these of anyone, including us. What you are listening for is not the right answer — it is whether the answer is specific enough to be wrong.
Terms that usually turn up alongside it.
SLT
Therapy for communication — understanding, expression, speech sounds, and the social use of language.
GlossaryStimming
Repetitive movement or sound that regulates the nervous system — hand movements, rocking, humming, spinning
GlossaryStudents of determination
The official UAE term for children with additional needs, adopted nationally in place of the language of
Send it to us and we'll translate it.
Any report, from any provider, including ones we have nothing to do with. We will tell you in plain English what it says, what it recommends, and which parts are actually supported by the evidence in it. No charge, and it does not make you a client.