Who we are

A team that researches, builds and ships.

Edsistive exists to make inclusive education work in Pakistan — from diagnosing learning disabilities, through the support a child receives in class, to the systems institutions run behind it. We take an R&D approach: study the problem properly, then ship a product a family, a teacher or a clinician can actually use.

Our story

We started with a gap, not a product.

We began with autism and dyslexia. In Pakistan both are hard to diagnose and hard to manage — specialist assessment is expensive and often distant, so families wait, teachers guess, and the years where early support matters most pass by.

We surveyed clinicians, parents and teachers to understand why diagnoses are missed, then built tools to close the distance: screening, remediation, clinical systems and free public platforms.

What we learned there applied far more widely, and the work grew into the whole inclusive education space — ADHD, language and learning differences, and the institutions that serve them. In 2024 we opened NEST Institute, our sister centre, so families could get the care alongside the technology rather than hunting for it separately.

Peer-reviewed

Our work is published and reviewed by other researchers

University-backed

Built with Chisel Research Lab at LUMS

In use

Products running in schools and clinics today

Free

Public knowledge portals, open to anyone

Core beliefs

What we hold to.

Six commitments that decide what we build, what we refuse, and how a project is judged when it is finished.

Empathy

We believe in understanding the problem through a customer-focused lens.

Inclusivity

We believe in making education accessible to people with special needs.

Innovation

We use innovative methods to make our programs and solutions more effective.

User experience

We conduct meticulous research and rigorous testing to ensure a seamless user experience.

Dedication

We believe in continuous improvement and conduct ongoing research on existing products.

Well-being

We believe in prioritizing the mental health of our users.

How we work

Research first, then something usable.

Every product follows the same path. It is slower than shipping from a brief, and it is why the tools hold up in a Pakistani classroom rather than only in a demo.

Listen

Focus groups with the families, teachers and clinicians who live with the problem.

Study

Research designed, run and submitted for peer review before anything is built at scale.

Build

A working tool shaped by the findings, tested with the people it was designed for.

Stay

Ongoing research on products already in use, because the first release is never the last word.

Core team

The people who build it day to day.

Researchers, technologists, designers and psychologists. Small enough that everyone has been in a classroom or clinic with the people we build for.

Founder and Head of Research

Dr. Suleman Shahid

Suleman founded Edsistive and leads its research. He works at the intersection of technology and special education, has published internationally on assistive technology for children, and sets the research agenda every product is built from.

CTOBilal ArshadLeads engineering across every product, from the screening tools to the systems institutions run.

Head of LearningMeher ZaidiShapes learning journeys across every program, from early foundations to the skills institutions need.

Head of Clinical R&DMomina YahyaGuides clinical research across every study, from early trials to the protocols institutions adopt.

Director/AdvisorQazi Muhammad AtiqSteers strategy across every initiative, from early planning to the decisions institutions rely on.

Sister centre

We don't work alone.

In 2024 we opened NEST Institute — Neurodevelopment Evaluation, Support and Transformation, our sister centre that runs screening, diagnosis, therapy and long-term guidance as one connected service. We build the tools; NEST provides the care around them.

More about NEST →

Partner institutes

Nothing we build was built in a lab alone.

Schools, universities and clinics host the research that shapes our tools, trial the prototypes, and tell us plainly when something does not work in a real classroom. These are the institutions we have worked with.