SERVICES
Special Education / Learning Support
What is the role of a Special Educator/ Learning Support Specialist?
A Special Educator is a teacher specialized in supporting students with diverse needs.
This could include children who are diagnosed with specific learning disabilities such as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia and Dysgraphia, developmental delay, intellectual disabilities, ADHD, or other challenges that affect learning, and children who are not diagnosed, but have learning gaps.
A special educator targets the individualized academic needs of the child, adapts teaching methods, resources, strategies, collaborates with parents, teachers and other therapists to help the child achieve his/ her utmost potential.
How can a Special Educator support your child?
Our Special Educators/ Learning Support Specialists are licensed by the Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA). They offer the following services:
Screening for Reading, Writing and Math Skills: A thorough screening is conducted for your child for areas such as phonological awareness, reading decoding, sight reading, spelling, expressive writing and reading comprehension (for English &/or Arabic based on need) and for numeracy skills.
An Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) is created accordingly with tailored goals to fill in any learning gaps in English, Arabic or Mathematics and help your child reach his/her utmost academic potential in that area.
Literacy Support (for English & Arabic):
Reading: Corrective evidence based intervention (such as *Orton Gillinham approach) is provided to help your child develop their reading decoding, sight reading, reading fluency and reading comprehension, using visual aids, multi-sensory approach and hand-on activities.
Writing: Handwriting, written expression, sentence structure, sequence of thoughts, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, spacing, letter direction & proportion are targeted during intervention, based on each child’s needs.
*Orton-Gillingham: is a teaching structured sequential multi-sensory approach designed to help students with reading & spelling challenges like dyslexia. It is designed to address the root causes of reading struggles to remediate the existing difficulties rather than just provide additional practice.
Mathematics Support: Based on a screening/ task analysis for all the prerequisite skills needed for numeracy skills, the mathematics intervention will target the needed skills for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division & problem solving. This could include number recognition, one-to-one concept, basic concepts like more/ less, bigger/smaller, number bonds, skip counting, place value…
School Collaboration: Upon parents’ consent, the special educator collaborates with the school, meets teachers & inclusion team, shares the Individualized Educational Plan, discusses progress, gives recommendations and all possible means of collaboration to facilitate and accelerate your child’s progress.
“Every child can learn, just not on the same day or in the same way.”
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A special educator is a trained teacher who supports students with diverse learning needs, including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. At The Valens Clinic, special educators are licensed by the Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA), and they build individualized plans covering literacy,…
Read the full answerSpecial education targets the specific way a child processes information, using evidence-based strategies for reading, writing, or math difficulties, while tutoring generally reinforces existing curriculum content. A special educator at The Valens Clinic starts with a screening to understand a child’s learning…
Read the full answerSigns include persistent difficulty with reading, writing, or math despite effort, ongoing frustration with homework, or a widening gap between a child’s ability and school performance. Teachers often notice the pattern first and flag it to parents. A screening with a licensed…
Read the full answerLiteracy support may include structured, evidence-based reading interventions targeting phonics, fluency, and comprehension. Math support focuses on building number sense and problem-solving strategies at a pace suited to a child’s needs. A special educator at The Valens Clinic tailors both, adjusting the…
Read the full answerYes, special educators at The Valens Clinic coordinate with a child’s school to align the learning plan with classroom expectations. Coordination can include sharing assessment findings, recommending accommodations, and checking in with teachers on progress. Working closely with a school helps a…
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