Getting started · 5 min read

School shadow support, explained honestly

A shadow can include your child in mainstream school — or build dependence. How shadows should work, what they cost in Dhaka, and the exit plan nobody mentions.

What a shadow is — and isn't

A shadow (or inclusion aide) sits with your child in a mainstream classroom, adapting instructions, managing sensory breaks and pre-teaching skills so your child keeps pace with peers. Done well, the shadow's job is to become unnecessary: support is faded month by month toward independence.

A shadow is not a nanny, not a private tutor doing the child's work, and not a behavior guard. If a school demands a shadow but bars the shadow from the classroom, that's a rejection — consider a different school.

How it works in Dhaka

Costs run BDT 12,000–25,000/month depending on training and hours. The best shadows are trained and supervised by the child's own therapy team — Nodiyan and Shorno Kishoree both run shadow-training programs with monthly supervisor check-ins.

Insist on three things in writing: a fading plan with dates, weekly notes to parents, and the therapist supervising the shadow's practice.

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