Autism in the UAE: Diagnosis, Therapy and School Rights

Most autism guides tell you what to hope for. In the UAE it is worth starting with what someone is legally obliged to do. Dubai’s disability law and its implementing bylaw set out, in numbered articles with fines attached, that a school may not turn your child away for being disabled, may not charge you extra for the support he or she needs in class, and that early screening tools must be available at the clinic where you take your toddler. None of it arrives on its own — but it is written down, and can be quoted. This guide follows the route a family here takes: noticing early, getting an assessment, the card, paying for therapy, the school place, and checking that whoever treats your child is licensed. Much of the enforceable detail is Dubai’s own, because disability services in the UAE are largely run at emirate level; where Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates differ, that is flagged as we go.

The rules a Dubai family can quote

Law No. (3) of 2022 Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai replaced the emirate’s 2014 law and is what most Dubai services now hang off. Article 4 requires the concerned government entities, each within its own jurisdiction, to provide the means to enjoy “Inclusive Education at all stages”, “Habilitation and Rehabilitation” and “healthcare and medical treatment services”. Article 7 prohibits discrimination based on disability, “including preventing him from using Reasonable Accommodations or refusing to provide any services he is entitled to”. Article 11 caps fines at AED 100,000 and lets the Community Development Authority suspend an activity for up to six months or have a licence revoked.

The detail sits in the bylaw, Executive Council Resolution No. (1) of 2022. Three provisions matter most to the parent of a young autistic child:

• Screening. Article 2(4) requires the Dubai Health Authority and the Dubai Academic Health Institution to ensure “early screening tools are available to support parents in discovering any disabilities experienced by their children before starting school and up to the age of four (4) years”, and that “the provision of these tools is made mandatory at public and private primary Healthcare centres”.
• Therapy. Article 3(7) lists “physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavioural therapy programmes” among the habilitation and rehabilitation services that must be accessible, “as required for each type and degree of disability”.
• School. Article 4(c) states that “No public or private Educational Institution may deprive any person from education on the grounds of his disability, or impose any additional fees or other amounts in return for any services deemed as Reasonable Accommodations.”

The schedule attached to that resolution puts a price on breaking those rules: AED 50,000 for “Refusal to admit a student with disability, in any Educational Stage, without a reason acceptable to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai”, and AED 20,000 for “Imposing additional fees or costs in return for providing Reasonable Accommodations to a student with disability”. Article 11 of the Law adds that a fine doubles if the same violation is repeated within a year, up to that AED 100,000 cap.

Federally, the UAE government portal describes Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 as “the first law in the UAE to protect the rights of people of determination”, with Article 12 guaranteeing equal opportunities in education “in regular classes or special classes”. There is also a National Autism Policy, aimed at improving the health and well-being of autistic people and supporting caregivers.

Noticing early, and where an assessment happens

The World Health Organization notes that “Characteristics may be detected in early childhood, but autism is often not diagnosed until much later”, and estimates that in 2021 about 1 in 127 people were autistic. It adds the point that matters when a clinic is vague about next steps: “evidence-based psychosocial interventions can improve communication and social skills, with a positive impact on the well-being and quality of life of both autistic people and their caregivers.”

In Dubai the first stop is ordinarily your paediatrician or primary healthcare centre, and the bylaw’s screening clause is what to point to if you are told to wait and see.

The Dubai Autism Center describes itself as “the largest, most innovative, and comprehensive nonprofit organization in the United Arab Emirates serving children with Autism Spectrum Disorders”, founded in 2001. Its legal basis is unusually explicit: Decree No. (26) of 2021 confirms it as a non-profit, non-governmental foundation with legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy, and gives it the function of providing “the clinical services required for diagnosing, detecting, and assessing the Autism Spectrum Disorder for all the children referred to the DAC for assessment, registration, and intervention”. It groups its work as TAQYEEM (assessment and diagnosis), TADAKHOL (intervention), TAAHEEL (rehabilitation), education and TADREEB (training), and gives +971 4 398 6862 for enquiries.

Families in Abu Dhabi have a different front door. The Zayed Authority for People of Determination, established under Abu Dhabi’s Law No. (2) of 2004, offers preliminary evaluation of suspected disabilities in babies as well as full assessment appointments booked through the TAMM platform, and issues assessment reports and individual educational plans for students of determination enrolled in its own centres. The UAE government portal summarises its role as offering “assessment and evaluation of the health of people of determination in order to diagnose the type and the level of disability/limited ability”. Whichever route you take, ask for the written report.

The card, and the document behind it

In Dubai, Article 9 of the 2022 law has the CDA issue “special cards to the persons registered on the database of Persons with Disabilities in the Emirate” so they can be identified and helped to access services, facilities and privileges. The CDA calls it the Sanad card. Article 13 of the bylaw sets out what the card shows — name, card number, photograph, the type and nature of disability, expiry date — and the conditions for issuing one: “The disability must be proven by a medical report issued by a medical entity accredited by the Dubai Health Authority”, it “must be amongst the disabilities listed in the Standard Classification” — the national classification adopted under Cabinet Resolution No. (3) of 2018 — and the applicant must meet any further requirements set by the CDA Director General.

That first condition is the practical one: an assessment from a centre that is not DHA-accredited may not get you a card, however good the report. Ask before you book. Other emirates issue their own cards — the government portal lists one from the Zayed Authority in Abu Dhabi and one from the Ministry of Community Empowerment, and records that Emirates Health Services “issues a medical card to people of determination entitling its holder to receive medical services through EHS”. Families in Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, where the Dubai rules described here do not apply, should start with those two federal routes: the Ministry of Community Empowerment card and the EHS medical card.

Paying for therapy

Health insurance is compulsory in Dubai. Law No. (11) of 2013 requires designated entities to enrol nationals, residents and visitors in health insurance; an employer must bear the cost of enrolling employees “and not charge such cost to Beneficiaries”, and a sponsor must do the same for the people he sponsors — so for most expatriate families the parent who sponsors the child’s visa is responsible for insuring the child. The law leaves the content of basic cover to DHA resolutions.

The bylaw goes further in principle: Article 2(5) requires the DHA and the Dubai Academic Health Institution to ensure people with disabilities are “provided with the appropriate primary and specialised Health Insurance coverage” covering preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitation healthcare. In practice, whether a particular ABA, speech therapy or occupational therapy programme is paid for turns on your specific policy. Put these to your insurer in writing before committing to a centre:

• Is developmental or behavioural therapy covered at all, and under which benefit heading?
• How many sessions a year, and is there an annual monetary cap?
• Does cover need a referral, a specific diagnosis code, or pre-authorisation for each block of sessions?
• Which centres are in network, what is the co-payment, and is the assessment itself covered or only the therapy that follows it?

Ask the centre the mirror-image questions: the fee per session, the session length, whether the initial assessment is billed separately, whether supervision or report-writing is charged on top, and which insurers it bills directly. Fees here are not published to any standard and no reliable national average exists, so take the numbers from the centre rather than an estimate. Dubai’s official city portal also states that the CDA provides financial assistance to people of determination contributing to the cost of services such as tuition, rehabilitation, caregiving or personal assistance, and that the Roads and Transport Authority provides a free personal nol card and free parking permits.

School: what a school in Dubai cannot do

The bylaw makes the Knowledge and Human Development Authority responsible, with other entities, for procedures ensuring people with disabilities “are not deprived of education at any Educational Stage”, supporting enrolment “at all stages and without Discrimination”, and ensuring reasonable accommodations are provided. It defines education as running from the early childhood stage onward, which is why the rule reaches nurseries as well as schools. The government portal notes that KHDA launched the Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework, setting standards for inclusive practice across Dubai’s education sectors.

If a private school refuses your child, or quotes a shadow-teacher or inclusion fee as a condition of admission, the two fines in the schedule — AED 50,000 and AED 20,000 — are the text to put in your email, and KHDA decides whether a refusal had an acceptable reason. Keep the request and the school’s answer in writing. In government schools, the portal records that the Ministry of Education established a People of Determination Department in 2008 and offers free supporting services, and that Ministerial Resolution No. 647 of 2020 on the policy of inclusive education directs government schools to accommodate students of determination.

Checking that a provider is licensed

Dubai regulates this tightly, and the check takes minutes. Under Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024, no facility may conduct health activities in the emirate without a DHA licence, “no natural person may practise the Health Profession within the Emirate unless he has obtained a Licence”, and no facility may engage a health professional not authorised by the DHA to work at that facility — a clinician licensed elsewhere is not covered to see your child here.

The DHA’s Sheryan portal lets anyone verify it. Its service “helps to verify the status of any registered or licensed Healthcare Professional under DHA by entering the Professional’s DHA Unique ID or License Number”, returning name, nationality, registered positions, and active and cancelled licences with facility, specialty and dates. Ask for the licence number, not just the certificate on the wall.

Behaviour-analytic credentials come from an international body rather than a UAE regulator, so check them separately. The Behavior Analyst Certification Board certificant registry shows name, location, certification type (RBT, BCaBA, BCBA or BCBA-D), status as active, inactive or expired, and any disciplinary action. A centre advertising BCBA supervision should be able to name the supervisor so you can look them up. And no credible provider promises a cure; if a programme is sold on that basis, or on detoxification, chelation or stem-cell treatment, take the claim to your child’s paediatrician before you take out your wallet.

Finding services near you

StarzMeet lists 109 providers in Dubai, the largest categories being 42 under ABA therapy, 10 speech therapy, 9 special education schools, 8 psychologists and psychiatrists, 7 adaptive swimming, and 3 each for occupational therapy and developmental and paediatric clinics. Listings in Dubai include:

• Al Noor Training Centre for People of Determination — a broader disability centre rather than an autism-specific one, offering care, training, an individualised intervention programme and a community clinic providing assessments and referrals for people of determination.
• Rashid Centre For People of Determination — a non-profit paediatric centre supporting children from age 4, with occupational, physical and speech and language therapy, behavioural support and assistive technology, in Arabic and English.
• Dubai Center for Special Needs — educational, rehabilitation and medical services for people of determination of all ages, including functional academics, a multi-sensory section, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language services.
• Safe Center for Autism — a non-profit special education centre running day and afternoon programmes with ABA, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and sensory services, using individualised education plans informed by VB-MAPP and AFLS.
• Neuropedia, Children’s Neuroscience center — a paediatric neuroscience centre for ages 0–16 combining neurology and neurodiagnostics with ABA-based behavioural therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and early intervention.
• High Hopes Dubai (Building 1) — a paediatric therapy centre for children with moderate to complex needs offering physical, occupational, speech and language, ABA, feeding, sensory integration and aquatic therapy, with parent training.
• Behaviour Enrichment – Al Barsha — comprehensive assessments and ABA, speech, feeding and occupational therapy for ages 18 months to 16 years, with school-inclusion services, telehealth and monthly goals reviewed with parents.
• Maharat Learning Center — ABA and behaviour therapy alongside speech therapy, occupational therapy, tutoring, school inclusion support and vocational programmes, with its adaptive-functioning programmes listed for ages 10 and above.

Listing details come from providers and public information; confirm availability, fees and insurance directly with each provider.

Frequently asked questions

Our paediatrician says to wait and see. Is there anything to point to?

Yes. The Dubai bylaw requires early screening tools to be available at public and private primary healthcare centres for children before school and up to the age of four, specifically to support parents in discovering disabilities. Asking for a screening tool to be used at this visit is a reasonable request. The WHO says characteristics may be detected in early childhood, but that autism is often not diagnosed until much later.

Do we need a Sanad card before starting therapy?

No. Private therapy can be arranged without one. The card matters for the services, facilities and privileges attached to it, and to get it the disability must be proven by a medical report from a medical entity accredited by the Dubai Health Authority and fall within the national Standard Classification. Applying while therapy is already under way saves time later.

A private school says it has no capacity for children with additional needs. Can it do that?

The bylaw says no educational institution, public or private, may deprive anyone of education on the grounds of disability, and the schedule sets a fine of AED 50,000 for refusing to admit a student with a disability at any educational stage without a reason acceptable to KHDA. A school may still have genuine capacity limits that apply to every applicant; what it cannot do is apply a different rule because of the diagnosis. Ask for the refusal in writing.

The school will admit our child but wants a separate fee for a learning support assistant. Is that allowed?

Article 4(c) of the bylaw prohibits imposing “additional fees or other amounts in return for any services deemed as Reasonable Accommodations”, and the schedule sets a fine of AED 20,000 for doing so. Whether a specific charge counts as a reasonable accommodation is for KHDA to determine, so raise it with the school in writing first and then with KHDA if it is not resolved.

Sources

• Law No. (3) of 2022 Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai
• Executive Council Resolution No. (1) of 2022 – Implementing Bylaw of Law No. (3) of 2022, including the schedule of violations and fines
• Law No. (11) of 2013 Concerning Health Insurance in the Emirate of Dubai
• Executive Council Resolution No. (49) of 2024 Regulating the Practice of Health Professions and Health Activities in the Emirate of Dubai
• Decree No. (26) of 2021 Concerning the Dubai Autism Centre
• Dubai Autism Center
• The Official Portal of the UAE Government – Education for people of determination, Protection, support and assistance of people of determination, Health of vulnerable groups
• National Autism Policy
• Community Development Authority – Issue Sanad Card
• Dubai.ae – services for people of determination
• Zayed Authority for People of Determination, Abu Dhabi
• DHA Sheryan – Verify Professional License/Registration Status
• Behavior Analyst Certification Board – Certificant Registry
• World Health Organization – Autism fact sheet (updated 17 September 2025)

Banner: AI-generated illustration; the people shown are not real and are not the providers listed.