What Is a Learning Support Assistant and What Do They Do?

If your child attends school in Dubai and has autism or additional learning needs, you have almost certainly heard the term Learning Support Assistant. It appears in IEP meetings, in school communications, and in conversations about what support your child is entitled to in the classroom.

But what a Learning Support Assistant actually does, how they are different from a teacher, and how they relate to your child's ABA therapy, is often much less clear than it should be.

This guide answers those questions directly.

What a Learning Support Assistant Is

A Learning Support Assistant, commonly called an LSA, is a trained member of school staff who provides individualised support to students with additional learning needs within a mainstream or specialist school setting.

In Dubai, schools regulated by the KHDA are required to provide appropriate support for students with identified special educational needs. The LSA is one of the primary ways that support is delivered within the classroom. They work alongside the classroom teacher, supporting specific students to access the curriculum, manage the school environment, and develop the skills they need to participate as fully as possible in school life.

An LSA is not a teacher. They do not design lesson plans or hold primary responsibility for the learning of the whole class. Their focus is on the individual students they are assigned to support, within the broader classroom environment that the teacher is managing.

What a Learning Support Assistant Actually Does

The specific role of an LSA varies depending on the school, the student's needs, and the level of support specified in the student's Individual Education Plan. In general, an LSA working with a student with autism might do the following.

Providing individual academic support. Sitting alongside the student during lessons, helping them understand instructions, breaking tasks down into manageable steps, and providing the prompts they need to stay engaged and on track without taking over the task entirely.

Supporting transitions. Moving between lessons, activities, and spaces is one of the most consistently challenging parts of the school day for many students with autism. An LSA can provide advance warnings, visual cues, and physical proximity during transitions to help the student move through the day with less dysregulation.

Implementing strategies from the IEP or ABA programme. When a student has an ABA therapist working alongside the school, the LSA is often the person responsible for implementing the agreed strategies consistently throughout the school day. This might include using specific language when giving instructions, responding to communication attempts in a particular way, or following a specific protocol when challenging behaviour occurs.

Facilitating social interaction. An LSA can support a student with autism to initiate and maintain peer interactions, navigate group activities, and manage the social complexity of the school environment with guided support that gradually reduces as the student develops more independence.

Monitoring and reporting. An LSA spends more direct time with the student than almost any other adult in the school. They are often the first to notice when something is not working, when a student is struggling in a specific situation, or when a strategy needs to be adjusted. Their observations are valuable clinical information for both the school team and any external professionals working with the student.

How LSAs and ABA Therapists Work Together

When a student receives ABA therapy outside of school and also has an LSA in school, the relationship between these two sources of support is critically important.

At its best, the LSA and the ABA therapist are working from the same framework. The same strategies, the same language, the same responses to specific behaviours. The student experiences consistency rather than contradiction, which is one of the most powerful conditions for learning and generalisation.

At NeuroCore, when we work with children who also have LSA support in school, we prioritise making that connection explicit. We share relevant information with school staff, including the LSA, about what strategies are in place and why. We make ourselves available to answer questions about the clinical programme. And we actively seek feedback from the school about what they are observing, because the school environment reveals things about a child's behaviour and development that home sessions simply cannot capture.

What Makes a Good LSA

Not all LSA support is equal. The quality of the individual LSA, their training, their understanding of autism, and their approach to the student, matters enormously for the child's school experience.

A good LSA gradually reduces their support as the student develops independence rather than maintaining the same level of assistance indefinitely. They understand that the goal of their role is to make themselves less necessary over time, not more. They support the student to engage with the classroom and with peers rather than creating a bubble of one-on-one interaction that separates the student from the wider school community. And they communicate openly with teachers, parents and any external professionals to ensure everyone working with the student is aligned.

What to Do if You Have Concerns About Your Child's LSA Support

If you feel your child's LSA support is not meeting their needs, the right first step is a conversation with the school's SENCO or learning support coordinator. Ask specifically how the LSA's role is defined for your child, what training they have received in autism support, and how their implementation of your child's IEP strategies is being monitored.

If you would like support preparing for that conversation or understanding what to ask for, NeuroCore's clinical team is here to help.

If you have concerns about your child's development, consult our BCBA or your pediatrician.