How to choose an autism early intervention center in the UAE or Jordan: 12 questions to ask before you enrol

Once parents decide their child needs support, the next decision is where. In the UAE and Jordan the number of autism and early intervention centers has grown quickly, and they vary enormously in how they assess children, who delivers the sessions, how many hours a child gets and whether anyone measures results. This guide gives you a checklist you can take into any center — including ours — and explains what a good answer to each question sounds like.

Start with the assessment, not the sessions

The most common mistake is to compare centers on their session menu. A long list of services is worthless if nobody has worked out which of them your child actually needs. Ask how the center assesses a new child, how long it takes, whether it distinguishes autism from ADHD, intellectual disability and developmental delay, and how it decides on the plan.

Many centers assess by observation and parent questionnaires alone. That is useful, but it is subjective, it depends heavily on the child cooperating on the day, and it struggles with children under three. EICADD's AiDi device adds an objective measure: a 6.5-minute session that records the child's involuntary responses, needs no speech, works from four months of age and has 99.8% accuracy. The plan is built on that result and a full developmental history, not on a first impression.

The twelve questions

• 1. How do you assess a child, and what does the report tell me? A good answer names a method, a duration, and the conditions it distinguishes between.
• 2. From what age do you accept children? Centers that start at three miss the years when intervention has the greatest effect. EICADD assesses from four months.
• 3. Who delivers the sessions, and what are their qualifications? Ask for licensing and accreditation by the Ministry of Health, not just certificates from short courses.
• 4. Is every session one-to-one? Group sessions have their place, but a young child's core plan should be individual.
• 5. How many hours a week will my child receive, and why that number? The answer should come from the assessment, not from what is available.
• 6. What is in the plan besides sessions? Look for non-chemical protocols, nutrition guidance and a home program, not sessions alone.
• 7. How do you involve parents? You should be in the room for at least part of every session and leave with techniques to use at home.
• 8. How do you measure progress, and how often will I see the data? Monthly measurement against the child's own baseline is the standard to expect.
• 9. What happens if the plan is not working? A good center changes the plan; a poor one asks for more time.
• 10. Do you offer online consultations and follow-up for families who live far away or travel?
• 11. What languages do your specialists work in? A child should be supported in the language spoken at home.
• 12. Can I speak to families who have been with you for more than a year?

Red flags

• A guarantee of a cure, a fixed timeline, or a single method presented as the answer for every child.
• A plan proposed before any assessment has taken place.
• Pressure to sign a long contract or pay a large sum up front on the first visit.
• No measurement of progress beyond the specialist's impression.
• Parents kept out of sessions and given no home program.
• Specialists who cannot name their accreditation, or who change every few weeks.
• A center that cannot explain, in plain language, why your child is receiving each element of the plan.

Choosing a center in the UAE

Families in the UAE have a wide choice, concentrated in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where prices are also highest. Ajman and Sharjah are 30 to 45 minutes from most of Dubai and considerably more affordable, which matters when a child needs several sessions a week for a year or more.

EICADD's UAE center is in Ajman, open every day except Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Families from Dubai, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi attend, and families from the wider Gulf combine an assessment visit with an online follow-up plan. All specialists are licensed and accredited by the Ministry of Health, sessions are one-to-one, and the assessment uses the AiDi device.

Choosing a center in Jordan

Amman has a strong tradition of speech and behavioural specialists, but assessment for very young children remains the weak point: most centers wait until a child is three, and formal assessment can take months. Families from across Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and the Gulf travel to Amman for assessment because of its expertise and cost.

EICADD's Jordan center is in Khalda, Amman, open every day except Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It offers the same AiDi assessment, the same one-to-one sessions and the same protocols as the Ajman center, with online follow-up for families who cannot attend weekly.

The visit: what to look for on the day

Book an assessment before committing to anything. During the visit, watch how the specialists interact with your child: do they get down to the child's level, follow their interest and adjust when the child is not engaged? Watch how they treat you: do they explain, or instruct? Ask to see a sample progress report from another child (with the name removed).

Then compare the plan you are offered against the twelve questions. The center that answers most of them clearly, starts with a real assessment, includes you in the work and measures results is the one to choose — wherever it is.

Frequently asked questions

Reviewed byDr. Noraldin Al-Deri

Geneticist, autism researcher and inventor of the AiDi device