Glossary

Terms, explained plainly

Name: Special Minds
Address: Al Khawaneej 1, Dubai, AE
Telephone: +971 55 110 3294

No jargon in our headlines — but you'll hear these terms from schools, insurers and clinicians. Here's what they actually mean.

AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication): Any tool or system — from picture boards to speech-generating devices — that supports or replaces spoken communication for someone who finds talking difficult. Special Minds' SLTs assess which AAC approach, if any, best fits a child before building it into their programme.
ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis): A structured, evidence-based therapy that uses behavioural principles to build helpful skills and reduce behaviours that get in a child's way. At Special Minds, every ABA programme is designed and supervised by a BCBA.
ABAT (Applied Behavior Analysis Technician): An entry-level credential for technicians who deliver ABA therapy under supervision, issued by QABA — an ANAB-accredited certifying board with its own growing international recognition. It sits in the same tier as the RBT, below a BCBA, but comes from a different certifying body rather than a UAE-specific pathway.
ADEK (Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge): The regulator overseeing private schools and education standards in Abu Dhabi, including the inclusion requirements schools must meet for students with additional needs.
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder): A developmental condition affecting communication, social interaction and behaviour, appearing across a wide range of presentations and support needs — hence "spectrum."
BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst): A clinician certified to design, supervise and adjust ABA programmes. Every ABA plan at Special Minds is overseen by a BCBA, never run unsupervised.
Cerebral Palsy: A group of conditions affecting movement and posture, caused by a disruption to brain development, usually before birth. Severity and presentation vary widely.
Co-regulation: The support a calm, attuned adult gives a child to help manage big emotions or sensory overwhelm, before the child can do it alone. It's the foundation that most self-regulation skills are built on.
Developmental Coordination Disorder (Dyspraxia): A condition affecting motor planning and coordination, which makes everyday physical tasks — handwriting, buttoning a shirt, catching a ball — harder and more tiring than expected for a child's age. It isn't about effort or intelligence; the brain and body are simply working harder to do the same movement.
DIR/Floortime: A developmental, relationship-based approach that follows the child's own interests and lead during play to build emotional connection, communication, and thinking skills, rather than directing the child toward a set task.
Discrete Trial Training (DTT): A structured ABA teaching method that breaks a skill into small steps, each taught and reinforced individually before combining them.
Down Syndrome: A genetic condition caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, associated with developmental delays and, often, lower muscle tone.
Dyscalculia: A specific learning difference affecting the ability to understand numbers and mathematical concepts, unrelated to overall intelligence.
Dysgraphia: A specific learning difference affecting handwriting, spelling and the physical act of writing.
Dyslexia: A common learning difference affecting reading, spelling and word decoding, caused by how the brain processes written language.
Early Intervention: Therapy and support provided to very young children (typically under 5) showing developmental delays, when the brain's capacity to adapt is greatest.
Echolalia: The repetition of words or phrases a child has heard before, either straight away or some time later. It's a common way some autistic children communicate, and often serves a real purpose — from processing language to expressing a need.
Executive Function: The mental skills that help plan, focus attention, remember instructions and juggle multiple tasks — often an area of difficulty in ADHD.
Expressive Language: A child's ability to use words, sentences and gestures to communicate their own thoughts and needs.
FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment): A structured process of observing a behaviour across different settings to understand what triggers and reinforces it, used to build an individualised support plan.
Fine Motor Skills: Small, precise movements using the hands and fingers — writing, buttoning, using cutlery.
Generalization: The ability to use a skill learned in one setting — say, a therapy room — in everyday situations like home, school, or a playdate, without needing to relearn it there. Special Minds programmes are built to test and support that transfer, not just teach a skill in isolation.
Global Developmental Delay: A term used when a young child is noticeably behind expected milestones across several areas at once, such as motor skills, speech, and social development. It's usually identified before age five and often leads to further assessment to understand the underlying cause.
Gross Motor Skills: Larger movements using the whole body — walking, running, climbing, balance.
Hyperlexia: An early, self-taught ability to decode and read words fluently, often well before typical reading age, that isn't matched by the same level of language comprehension. It's common in autistic children and can be mistaken for advanced literacy when the real support need is understanding what's been read, not sounding it out.
IEP (Individualized Education Program): A written plan setting out a child's specific learning goals and the accommodations or support their school will provide to meet them.
IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan): A written plan for a young child's early intervention services, built around the whole family rather than just the child, setting out goals, supports, and how progress will be reviewed.
Inclusion: The practice of supporting children with additional needs to learn alongside their peers in mainstream settings, with the right support in place.
Inclusive Education Support Centre (IESC): The centres where Students of Determination are formally evaluated for UAE public school registration, with the assessment completed within 15 working days. Parents must attend the appointment and fully disclose the child's condition — the result is final for that academic year and can't be reapplied against, so there's no second attempt.
Interoception: The internal sense of what's happening inside the body — hunger, thirst, a racing heart, needing the bathroom — that helps someone connect a physical feeling to an emotion or need. It's often atypical in autistic and ADHD children, which is why hunger or overwhelm can show up as a meltdown before the child has recognised the feeling itself.
Joint Attention: The shared focus of two people on the same object or event, usually established through pointing, showing, or eye contact — one of the earliest social-communication skills and a common early goal in intervention.
KHDA: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority — Dubai's regulator for private education, which sets inclusion standards schools must meet.
LSA (Learning Support Assistant): A trained professional who supports a child individually in the classroom, helping them access the curriculum alongside their peers.
Meltdown: An intense, involuntary response to overwhelming sensory or emotional input — distinct from a tantrum, which is typically goal-directed.
MOE (Ministry of Education): The UAE's federal authority responsible for public schools nationwide, including the rules for registering Students of Determination into public school. It's a separate system from Dubai's KHDA, which regulates private schools.
Naturalistic Teaching: A teaching approach that builds skills into everyday routines and play — like snack time or a trip to the car — rather than relying only on structured, tabletop sessions.
Neurodivergent: A term describing brains that function differently from what's considered typical — including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and related conditions.
OT (Occupational Therapy): Therapy that builds the motor, sensory and daily-living skills a child needs for school, play and independence.
PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System): A structured communication system where a child exchanges picture cards to request or share things, often used to build communication skills before — or alongside — spoken language.
People of Determination: The UAE's official, government-adopted term for people with disabilities — covering physical, sensory, intellectual, and learning disabilities — introduced in 2017 to replace older language like 'disabled' or 'special needs'. It's the term used across UAE government services, and the one Special Minds uses in its own work as well.
Perseveration: Getting stuck repeating a word, question, action, or topic well past the point it's useful, even when the person wants to move on. It's different from a special interest — perseveration feels involuntary, more like a loop the person can't easily exit than a choice they're making.
Pragmatic Language: The social use of language — knowing what to say, how to say it, and when — including turn-taking, tone, and reading context. Special Minds' SLTs often target pragmatic language directly, since a child can have strong vocabulary and grammar but still struggle to use language socially.
Prompting Hierarchy: A structured order of supports, from most to least help, used to teach a new skill and then fade assistance as independence grows — for example moving from physically guiding a child's hand, to a gesture, to no prompt at all. Special Minds ABA and OT programmes plan that fade-out from day one, so children build independence rather than reliance on support.
Proprioception: The body's sense of its own position and movement — it's what lets someone judge how much pressure to use or where their limbs are without having to look.
RBT (Registered Behavior Technician): A paraprofessional credentialed to deliver ABA therapy under the ongoing supervision of a BCBA, carrying out the programmes the BCBA designs rather than creating them independently. At Special Minds, RBTs work directly with children session to session while a BCBA supervises and adjusts each programme.
Receptive Language: A child's ability to understand words, instructions and gestures used by others.
Selective Mutism: An anxiety-based condition where a child consistently doesn't speak in certain settings, such as school, despite talking freely at home. It isn't shyness or a choice — it's an involuntary freeze response that typically responds well to gradual, structured support.
SEN (Special Educational Needs): A general term for a learning difficulty or disability that means a child needs additional support to access education.
SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator): The staff member at a school responsible for coordinating support for students with additional needs — usually the main point of contact between families, teachers, and outside specialists.
Sensory Diet: A personalised set of activities designed to give a child the sensory input their body needs to stay regulated through the day.
Sensory Integration Therapy: An occupational therapy approach that uses structured, playful activities — swinging, climbing, textured play — to help the brain organise and respond to sensory input more efficiently. It's often confused with a sensory diet, but sensory integration therapy is the clinical intervention itself, delivered by a trained OT.
Sensory Processing Disorder: A difficulty processing and responding to sensory information — sound, touch, movement — resulting in over- or under-responsiveness.
Shadow Teacher: The UAE term most schools use for an LSA who works one-to-one with a child in the classroom, under clinical supervision.
SLT (Speech and Language Therapy): Therapy that supports a child's communication — understanding language, expressing themselves, and in some cases, feeding and swallowing.
Social Story: A short, simple narrative written from a child's point of view that walks through a social situation, helping them understand what to expect and how to respond.
SPEA (Sharjah Private Education Authority): The body regulating private schools in Sharjah, including how they're expected to support students with additional needs.
Stimming: Repetitive movements, sounds, or actions — like hand-flapping, rocking, or humming — that help a child self-soothe, focus, or manage sensory input. It's a normal form of self-regulation, and usually only needs attention if it's causing harm or getting in the way of daily life.
Task Analysis: Breaking a skill down into its small, sequential steps — like the handful of actions involved in washing hands or getting dressed — so a therapist knows exactly what to teach and in what order, before chaining the steps into the full routine. It's the planning behind ABA teaching methods like DTT, not a teaching method on its own.
Theory of Mind: The ability to understand that other people hold their own thoughts, feelings, and perspectives, which may differ from one's own — a skill that underpins empathy, negotiation, and reading social situations.
Token Economy: A reward system in which a child earns tokens for desired behaviours that can later be exchanged for a preferred item or activity, helping build motivation and the ability to wait for a reward.
Twice-Exceptional (2e): Describes a child who is both gifted or highly able in one or more areas and has a learning difficulty or disability in others — for example, a strong reader who also has dyscalculia. Both sides need recognising, since the strengths can sometimes mask the challenges, or the other way round.
Verbal Behavior (VB): An approach within ABA that treats language as a set of separate, learnable skills — such as requesting, labelling, or answering questions — rather than one single ability, so each function of language is taught and reinforced on its own.
Vestibular System: The inner-ear system that manages balance and spatial orientation, helping a child sense whether they're upright, moving, or off balance.
Visual Schedule: A sequence of pictures or icons showing what's happening now and next, used to reduce anxiety around transitions and build a child's independence in following a routine.
Zones of Regulation: A framework that sorts feelings and states of alertness into four colour-coded zones, helping children recognise how they feel and choose a strategy to manage it. It's often used alongside therapy and classroom support.