paraprofessional vs assistant

paraprofessional and assistant both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
paraprofessional	Yes	No	No	No
assistant	Yes	Yes	No	No

As nouns, assistant is a hypernym of paraprofessional; that is, assistant is a word with a broader meaning than paraprofessional:

paraprofessional: a trained worker who is not a member of a profession but who assists a professional
assistant: a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose

Other hypernyms of paraprofessional include help, helper, supporter.

paraprofessional (noun)	assistant (noun)
a trained worker who is not a member of a profession but who assists a professional	a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose

paraprofessional (adjective)	assistant (adjective)
	of or relating to a person who is subordinate to another