Some children find a busy classroom hard going, yet will happily spend an hour getting every detail of a project just right. That kind of focus is exactly what coding rewards, and it’s what we set out to build on this spring.

From 23 April to 2 July 2026, iCodejr ran a 10-week coding programme for autistic and neurodivergent learners at Behaviour Enrichment, a paediatric therapy centre in Dubai. Ten students took part, in two groups, and our Founder and CEO Hannan Moti led the programme personally.

The programme was covered in the press in July, including an editorial in The Source Code, which called it a blueprint for accessible ed-tech. You’ll find all the coverage at the end of this post.

The programme at a glance

PartnerBehaviour Enrichment, a paediatric therapy centre in Dubai (ABA, speech and occupational therapy, plus special educational programmes)
Dates23 April – 2 July 2026 (10 weeks)
FormatIn person at the centre, 1-hour sessions twice a week
Students10 autistic and neurodivergent learners
GroupsAges 10–12 and ages 14–16
ToolsScratch and Matatalab (younger group); more advanced Scratch projects (older group)
Led byHannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr, with support from the Behaviour Enrichment team
Announced20–21 July 2026

Two groups, two starting points

The students were split by age, and each group started where it was ready to start. Sessions ran twice a week, an hour at a time, in person at the centre.

The 10–12 group began with block-based coding, using Scratch on screen and Matatalab, a hands-on coding kit where children plan a robot’s route with physical blocks. The focus was on movement, loops and early computational thinking: telling a character or robot what to do, step by step, and seeing it happen.

The 14–16 group took that foundation further with more advanced Scratch projects. These brought in harder logic, longer sequences and more planning before a project came together.

A student points to a Scratch project on the classroom screen during iCodejr's coding programme at Behaviour Enrichment
Working through a Scratch project together on the classroom screen.

Designed around how these learners work

We didn’t take a standard course and slow it down. Instead, the team built a curriculum for autistic and neurodivergent learners from the start, pairing visual, block-based tools with autism-informed teaching strategies and supports. The Behaviour Enrichment team supported the sessions.

Block coding was a deliberate choice. Children snap commands together instead of typing them, so there’s no spelling or punctuation to trip over, and every change shows up straight away on the screen or the robot. Hannan explained the thinking:

“Visual, block-based tools such as Scratch are increasingly examined as accessible platforms for children with … autism spectrum conditions, because they minimize syntax barriers, rely on visual metaphors, and allow learners to build interactive media in a highly concrete way.” — Hannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr

If your child is curious about Scratch, our Scratch course is a good place to see what children build with it.

Feedback from every session

Alongside the lessons, the team built its own session feedback and engagement-tracking system. Each session’s feedback was recorded, and the team used it to adjust the teaching week by week, rather than waiting until the end to see what had worked.

We treated this as a proper build, not a one-off class. It’s the same approach we’d want for any child: notice what’s working, and change what isn’t.

"Coding becomes a superpower"

For Hannan, the programme was about designing around strengths, not limits.

“Our mission has always been to make high-quality coding and STEM education inclusive, affordable, and accessible for every child—not just those who find it easy to fit traditional classrooms. Partnering with Behaviour Enrichment allowed us to design around the strengths of autistic learners: their love of structure, focus on detail, and capacity for deep engagement. Coding becomes a superpower when we remove barriers and build with accessibility in mind.” — Hannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr

An iCodejr instructor works with a student on a Scratch project at the classroom screen at Behaviour Enrichment
Step by step at the screen, one student at a time.

What Behaviour Enrichment saw

Behaviour Enrichment already ran future-skills lessons for its students, from Microsoft Office and Canva to AI tools. Coding was the next step. Rajashree Balasubramanian, COO of Behaviour Enrichment, described it like this:

“At Behaviour Enrichment, we believe that there are no limits to what students of determination can achieve.”

“Our partnership with iCodejr builds on this foundation by introducing coding into our ecosystem. This has added a structured and motivating learning channel that aligns beautifully with our therapeutic goals. We have seen the confidence that students gain as they bring their ideas to life through code, and the clear, predictable nature of block-based programming has been especially reassuring for many of our learners.” — Rajashree Balasubramanian, COO, Behaviour Enrichment

Rajashree also had kind words for our team, calling them “highly skilled, patient, and encouraging”. Thank you to Rajashree, the Behaviour Enrichment team and, most of all, the ten students who gave coding a go.

What's next

We’d like this to be the first of many. iCodejr plans to work with more schools, therapy centres and non-profits to co-design coding programmes that sit alongside ABA, speech and occupational therapy, and to build a model that others in the UAE can use too.

Families can ask about a programme like this too, including sessions at home. If you think it could suit your child, tell us a little about them and we’ll talk it through with you.

This work sits alongside our other community projects, such as Code Battle, our free inter-school hackathon, and Arab Kids Code.

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