Case study · Emirsfoundation · Netherlands
SuperChild runs institute-wide at Emirsfoundation — every group, every day.
Emirsfoundation is a youth-care organization in the Netherlands — part of the Dutch publicly funded child care and treatment system (jeugdzorg). It serves children with autism, severe learning difficulties (Dutch classification: ZML) and intellectual disability (Dutch classification: LVB).
It was one of the first organizations to adopt SuperChild structurally. Not a pilot, not a side project — institute-wide, across every group, embedded in the daily program.
SuperChild runs as a structural practice layer: short, predictable, measurable sessions with trial-by-trial data capture — always supplementary to staff-led treatment, never instead of it.
- 50,194
- completed learning trials
- 23
- children supported
- ~1,000
- staff hours saved
A quick glossary
Dutch care terms, in ABA language.
This case study spans two systems. Here is how the Dutch youth-care vocabulary maps onto the ABA practice you know — so the results below read cleanly.
- Youth carejeugdzorg
- The Dutch publicly funded system of child care and treatment. Group-based by default — structural 1-on-1 therapy is rare.
- ZML
- Dutch classification for children with severe learning difficulties.
- LVB
- Dutch classification for intellectual disability (typically mild intellectual disability).
- Learning trial
- What the Dutch source counts as a “development intervention”: one discrete, logged practice opportunity — a presented task plus the child’s response. Equivalent to a trial in trial-by-trial ABA data.
- Skill level
- A step of ascending difficulty inside a skill program, each with its own mastery criterion — comparable to mastery criteria within a skill program in ABA practice. Each level holds 5–50 trials.
- Group support workergroepsbegeleider
- Direct-care staff running a care group — comparable in function to a behavior technician, not an RBT or BCBA credential.
The challenge
Six targeted learning trials per child, per hour.
For children with autism, ZML or LVB, predictability and continuous repetition of targets are critical. Language, reciprocal communication, learning-to-learn skills — things neurotypical children absorb incidentally — must be deliberately taught, trial by trial, at high frequency.
Group-based by default. Dutch youth care almost never funds structural 1-on-1 support; children are served in care groups.
Two staff per group. A typical care group runs on two direct-care staff.
Unpredictable dynamics. The moment one or two children need intensive attention or emotional regulation, teaching time for the rest of the group collapses.
In practice, this yields an average of about six targeted learning trials per child, per hour. Meaningful skill acquisition needs a far higher trial density — and the budgets and staffing to deliver it through 1-on-1 support do not exist in the current care landscape.
Inside the daily program
Clinical control stays with the care team. The repetition doesn't have to.
SuperChild is a digitally supported practice method delivered on tablets, structured around a simple hierarchy:
- 1Target
A target is built up from component skills — visual matching, listener responding, task execution, reading.
- 2Skill
Each skill contains roughly 10 levels of ascending difficulty. Each level holds 5–50 targeted trials.
- 3Level
As a child masters levels, the underlying skill consolidates — and the overarching target comes within reach.
Behind it runs a locally hosted, privacy-safe European AI model, operating through two roles.
The AI Pedagogue builds the program
Converts each target into skill programs of roughly ten levels. The lowest level is designed to run errorless, to build confidence; the highest level probes independent mastery.
The AI Guide runs the sessions
Runs live 15–20 minute sessions: presents tasks, captures every trial, and delivers immediate reinforcement through reward videos and a token system. It advances the child to the next level automatically once the previous one is mastered.
Staff keep clinical control
Every session is visible on a live dashboard; staff step in only when a child gets stuck or frustrated. Afterward, staff work the practiced concepts into real situations — at the table, during play, tidying up, with peers. SuperChild replaces no treatment; it makes treatment more intensive, more targeted and better substantiated.
Built for the group setting
Multiple children practice simultaneously, each at their own level — around 15–30 minutes per child per day at Emirsfoundation. One staff member circulating the room now supports far more targeted practice than waiting for 1-on-1 turns ever allowed.
The results
What structural, institute-wide deployment produced.
Aggregated results from the structural, institute-wide deployment at Emirsfoundation — not a trial period. For reference: ~100 trials per hour is the ceiling of what a human can deliver 1-on-1; in group care, one staff member across ~8 children delivers ~50 trials per hour in total.
children supported across multiple groups
completed learning trials in ~187 hours of effective session time
trials per child per hour — 44× the ~6 typical in standard group care
aggregate trial accuracy, calibrated to each child’s zone of proximal development
skill levels mastered by the children collectively
staff hours it would take to deliver the same trial volume by hand
Every trial is captured. The dashboard shows staff and treatment coordinators exactly where each child stands: which skills are mastered, where progress has stalled, and what the next step is.
Conversations about development shift from impressions to hard data — between colleagues, with parents, and in accountability to funders.
From director to group floor
What the people running it say.
Alongside the usage data, staff were surveyed through a structured questionnaire. The scores confirm SuperChild works operationally on the group floor — not just on paper.
overall satisfaction with SuperChild
child engagement during sessions
practical fit in the group routine
would recommend to other groups
contribution to child development
supporting children more effectively in less time
What staff valued most
Clarity and structure. Children understand what’s expected faster and start with less instruction.
Playful motivation. The game-like format strengthens intrinsic motivation and repetition.
More independence. Children stay actively engaged without constant prompting; workload drops, scalability grows.
Visible progress. Staff see progress on targets in daily practice, consistent with the measured data.
In their words
Straight from the group floor.
What convinces me is that we suddenly offer a multitude of development opportunities in the same amount of time, without deploying extra people. This is an enrichment of care at a scale that simply wasn’t humanly possible.
Because the children work independently with SuperChild, we as supervisors get room to work on more development goals at the same time — for more children at once.
As a parent it does me a lot of good to see how my twins are developing positively. Thanks to SuperChild at Emirsfoundation they get the guidance and opportunities they need to grow, build more confidence, and develop their talents.
Beyond Emirsfoundation
The starting point for a wider rollout.
The results at Emirsfoundation became the starting point for wider adoption. SuperChild now runs structurally at multiple organizations across the Netherlands — in day programs (dagbesteding: structured daytime care-and-activity settings) and outpatient, community-based services (ambulante trajecten).
Where it fits
- Fits the majority. Practice data shows SuperChild suits most children within the autism and LVB population.
- Not all — ~4%. For roughly 4% of children, deployment proved less suitable — for example, when the visual token economy did not function as a reinforcer for that child.
Compliance
- Privacy-safe by design. Runs on a European AI model, hosted locally.
- ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified. Supporting safe scaling within the Dutch care landscape.
On the roadmap
- More targets and practice programs
- An AI pedagogue for intake and deeper developmental insight
- Predictive analytics
- A parent dashboard
- Alignment with validated assessments such as VB-MAPP and ABLLS-R
What stays human
SuperChild does not replace pedagogical or clinical expertise. Digital practice support intensifies work on targets — as reinforcement of human-led treatment, never a replacement for it.
The data makes development easier to discuss: between colleagues, with parents, and in accountability to funders. Clinical control and judgment stay fully with the professional throughout.
Next step
See what structural deployment looks like for your organization.
Bring one group's current targets and we'll show you what their practice density could look like — alongside your existing staff-led care, never instead of it.