Special needs nanny · Dubai
Looking for a special needs nanny? Check which role you need first.
A nanny cares for your child and a SEN governess works to a plan, and many families who search for one turn out to need the other, or both.
Special needs nanny in Dubai, at a glance
Updated
- A nanny
- Trained in childcare: keeps your child safe, fed, settled and happy, and answers to your family.
- A SEN governess
- Trained in special educational needs: works one-to-one to a written plan with goals that a clinical lead reviews.
- The deciding question
- If your child's day needs goals worked towards, not only care given, the role you are describing is a governess.
- Also searched as
- SEN nanny and autism nanny are often used to mean the SEN governess role, which is the role we place.
An honest starting point
Nanny or governess: the job matters more than the word.
Parents in Dubai search for a 'special needs nanny' or a 'nanny for an autistic child' because nanny is the word they already use for help at home. Behind that search there are usually two different needs. One is care: someone kind, patient and experienced with children like yours, who keeps the household running. The other is progress: someone who works on communication, routine, behaviour and learning to written goals, and knows what to do when a strategy stops working.
Those are different jobs with different training. A good nanny with experience of autism is a real asset, but childcare training does not include running a behaviour plan, and it is unfair to expect it to. A SEN governess is trained in special educational needs and, on a managed placement with us, works to a plan our clinical team writes and reviews. That is the role we place.
Plenty of households end up with both: the nanny carries the household care and the governess carries the plan. Others keep the nanny they trust and add therapy, with parent coaching so the strategies reach the adults who run the day. If what your family needs is care rather than a plan, we will tell you, because paying for a governess you do not need helps nobody.
Which one is your family describing?
Signs you are looking for a governess, not a nanny.
The hardest hours are at home
Mornings, meals, transitions and bedtime fall apart most days, and patience and kindness alone have not changed that.
Someone has written goals for your child
A therapist, a school or an assessment has set targets, and nobody at home is trained to work on them between sessions.
Communication is the sticking point
Your child cannot yet ask, refuse or wait in a way that works, and the day has become shaped around avoiding the moments that go wrong.
Each adult handles it differently
The same moment gets a different response depending on who is in the room, and your child has learned that the rules change with the person.
School targets are not being met at home
Reading, writing or number work set by school ends in tears on both sides, because nobody at home knows how to break it down.
Other ways families arrange it
Four combinations that work in Dubai homes.
A nanny, and nothing else
Right when your child's needs are about care and supervision and there are no goals to work towards. Choose someone with relevant experience, and be clear about what the role is and is not.
A nanny, plus therapy and coaching
Your nanny keeps the household care while a therapist works with your child and shows the adults at home the strategies to use between sessions.
A nanny and a SEN governess
The nanny runs the home and the governess runs the plan, dividing the day rather than competing for it. A common arrangement for children with more complex needs.
A SEN governess alone
When family already covers the household care and what is missing is the structured, goal-led part of the day.
Two ways to arrange it
We employ her, or you do.
We employ and supervise her
The specialist stays on our books. A clinical lead writes the plan, reviews it, and changes it as your child progresses — and if the placement stops working, we replace her.
AED 15,000–30,000/mo, plus AED 1,999 to start the search
Families who want the plan and the accountability carried for them.
You employ her
We run the search, screen, interview and reference the candidates, and you hire the one you choose onto your own arrangement. One fee, once, and no ongoing relationship with us unless you want one.
AED 1,499 to open the search; the placement fee is one month of the candidate's agreed gross salary
Families who are happy to manage the role themselves.
More on SEN governess support
Related pages.
SEN governess
A trained specialist for your child at home, to a written plan.
Read moreAutism support
Everything we do for autistic children, from therapy to school support.
Read moreTherapy services
ABA, speech and language, and occupational therapy from one clinical team.
Read moreHome shadow teacher in Dubai
One-to-one support at home, or one specialist across the classroom and the afternoon.
Read moreAssessment
A behavioural and educational assessment, then a clear recommendation.
Read moreDown syndrome support
Early intervention, school support and home routines.
Read moreFrequently asked
Questions families ask.
- Do you place special needs nannies in Dubai?
- What we place is the SEN governess: a specialist trained in special educational needs who works to a written plan, which is often what families mean when they search for a special needs or autism nanny. If what your family needs is childcare rather than a plan, we will say so plainly. We would rather point you to the right hire than sell you the wrong one.
- Is an autism nanny the same as a SEN governess?
- Not necessarily. 'Autism nanny' usually describes a nanny with experience of autistic children, which is valuable, but experience is not the same as training in special educational needs or working to a reviewed plan. A SEN governess works on communication, routine and behaviour towards goals someone qualified has set. Ask any candidate what plan they will work to and who checks it.
- Can my nanny be trained to do what a governess does?
- Some nannies have the temperament for it and go on to train in special education or behaviour support; behaviour-technician training such as our own IBT course is one route specialists take. A course on its own does not turn a childcare role into a supervised one, though. The difference is the written plan and someone qualified reviewing it, and that has to be arranged, not only learned.
- We already have a nanny. Do we need a governess as well?
- Not always. If your child's needs are mainly about care, a good nanny may be enough, perhaps with therapy and parent coaching alongside. If there are goals nobody at home is working towards, or the hardest hours are the ones your nanny is covering alone, a governess for those hours is usually the gap. A conversation with us, or an assessment, will tell you which.
- Will a SEN governess help with cooking, cleaning or other children?
- The role is your child and the plan: learning, routine, communication, behaviour, and the personal care that is part of your child's goals. What else a specialist is prepared to take on is part of the match, and the hours and duties are agreed in writing before the placement starts. A governess spread across the household's chores has less time for the work you are paying for.
- Can a governess and a nanny work in the same home?
- Yes, and many households run both. It works best when the roles are clear: who covers which hours, who handles mealtimes and bedtime, and who the nanny asks when a strategy is new. When the nanny knows the key strategies in the plan, your child meets the same response from every adult in the house.
- How does the cost of a SEN governess compare with a nanny?
- We cannot quote a nanny's salary; it depends on the person and the household, and it is not our figure to give. A managed SEN governess with Special Minds is AED 15,000–30,000/mo, plus AED 1,999 to open the search, with the specialist employed and supervised by us. If you would rather employ the specialist yourself, direct hire is AED 1,499 to open the search and one month of the candidate's agreed gross salary.
- Do you sponsor visas for a nanny or governess?
- No. We do not act as a sponsor for household staff, and we do not arrange visas. Where a family employs a specialist directly, the employment arrangement is between the family and the specialist, and we will be straightforward about what we can and cannot do before you pay anything.
Further reading
Guides for this decision.
Guides
SEN governess, nanny, shadow teacher or tutor: which one do you actually need?
Four roles families are routinely told are the same thing, what each is trained to do, and how to tell which your child needs.
Guides
What is a SEN governess, and does your child need one?
The role behind the job title — what a SEN governess does, how it differs from childcare, and the children it actually suits.
Autism
A SEN governess for an autistic child: what good support looks like at home
What one-to-one home support should be doing for an autistic child — routine, communication, sensory load — and what to watch for.
Guides
A SEN governess for a child with speech delay or language disorder
How a SEN governess carries a speech therapist's targets into the day for a child with speech delay or DLD, and why matching the home language matters.
Guides
A SEN governess for a child with Down syndrome: what helps at home
What good one-to-one home support looks like for a child with Down syndrome: communication, motor skills, learning, independence and the plan behind it.
Guides
A day in the life of a SEN governess
An hour-by-hour picture of what one-to-one home support actually looks like, and what should be written down by the end of it.
Tell us about your child.
A conversation first, on WhatsApp or by phone. No obligation, and a straight answer if we are not the right fit.