News and Events

Introducing the Catalight Language Guideline
Words are important. In telling a person’s story, we want to make sure that person’s preference on how they’re portrayed is upheld. It’s necessary, however, to have a baseline direction for language use for articles, copywriting, news, presentations, social media and...

Study: Autistic Children May Need Fewer Hours of Treatment Than Previously Thought
Each year, tens of thousands of parents and caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face vital decisions: What kind of treatment should my child receive? Who should deliver their care? How many hours of care does my child need to make progress? A...

New Regulations Would Change the Landscape of Mental and Behavioral Health Coverage
In what may be the most significant updates to mental health parity laws since the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), the federal government in July 2023 proposed a new rule defining actions health insurers must take to ensure patients have...

Applied Behavior Analysis and Modern Autism Care
Modern care for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has expanded beyond the traditional "gold standard" of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) over the past few years. It's a move driven by several key factors: research demonstrating ABA is most effective with a subset of...

7 Powerful Tips for Planning Playdates for Children with Autism
Playdates are an important part of childhood. They’re an opportunity to have fun, build friendships, and try new activities. For kids with autism and other developmental disabilities, playdates can be both a challenge and an opportunity to develop their social skills....

Catalight Honored as a Healthy People 2030 Champion from Department of Health and Human Services
Citing the company’s bold vision for the future, Catalight was recently named a Healthy People 2030 Champion by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Catalight is one of the...

How Should You Celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month? By Being You
The thing about Kyler Sipat is he’s just like any other 20-year-old. He’s a big sports fan, loves working out and being active but sleeps in when he can. He plays video games and keeps up with the latest Taylor Swift news. He’s quick to pick up his guitar to strum a...

A Fun Halloween for Children with Developmental Disabilities
Halloween is a fun time for kids to dress up and explore their favorite interests, stories and characters. At the same time, the experience can be overwhelming for children with developmental disabilities. Scary costumes, flashing lights, loud noises and other sensory...

Highlights from the First Session of Catalight’s Three-Part Webinar Series “Flexible Modalities of Care: One Size Doesn’t Fit All”
Care options for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) have expanded in recent years. The expansion is driven by a variety of factors: policy focused on equal care and coverage, a deeper understanding...

Equity in Behavioral Health
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), health equity is a state in which everyone has an equal opportunity to be as healthy as possible. That includes physical as well as behavioral health. However, achieving health equity has long faced...

Learn More About Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities
Did you know over seven million people in the U.S. have an intellectual disability (ID)?[1] Within in this group, about one or two percent of the individuals have what we call profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD).[2]Today, we’re going to take a...

The Term Neurodiversity Is Good, But Not Good Enough
Twenty-five years ago this month, the word neurodiversity appeared in print in a September 1998 article in The Atlantic. Judy Singer, an Australian social scientist, introduced the word in reference to autism. In 2000, Kassiane Asasumasu, an activist for the...

Telehealth: Is it Right for Parents and Children?
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of telehealth for autism and other developmental disorders has exploded. Now that we are mostly post-pandemic, many parents are asking: “Is telehealth still the right choice for my child’s treatment?” There is no single...

‘We’ve Got To Do More’: Providers Seek To Close Gap In Mental Health Care For Neurodiverse People
People with autism are four times as likely to experience depression in their life than typically-developing peers. Despite the increased risk, people with autism or other neurodiversities often face significant obstacles when seeking mental health care. Barriers like...

Catalight Career Advancement Services Offers a Look Into Accommodations for the Neurodivergent
Catalight recently launched a Career Advancement Services program to serve neurodiverse candidates seeking employment. The new program offers participants a fully integrated set of services to support them along their career journey, from initial assessments to...

50 Years of Change: Looking at the Laws that Protect and Advance People with Autism
Over the last 50 years, we’ve come a long way in protecting and advancing the rights of people with autism and other disabilities. Take a look at some of the laws that have increased their ability to access healthcare, education, employment and housing. Plus, discover...

What’s in a Name? The History of Autism Spectrum Disorder
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), autism spectrum disorder is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S. It’s also one of the most talked about in the media and by families across the country. But where did the term...

Words Matter
Language is the primary tool we use to understand and relate to each other. Using inclusive language to refer to people in communities different from our own, reflects our respect for and understanding of that community. A few words can mean the difference between a...

Virtual Support, Real Progress
Telehealth has gone through a major transformation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once narrowly used, it was widely adopted during the lockdowns of 2020. Many families turned to telehealth to continue essential care for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and...

Preparing for a Lifelong Career in Behavioral Health
If you’re interested in making a significant impact on the wellbeing of others, a career focused on supporting people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual developmental disabilities (IDDs) may be the perfect fit for you. While certain skills and...

Solving the Access Issue Once and For All
With today’s behavioral health care staffing shortages and increasing prevalence of developmental disabilities and autism, it's a major challenge to create enough capacity to be able to serve these communities. But payers’ network adequacy is a key factor affecting...

Successful Careers in ASD and IDD Care
The shortage of clinicians who specialize in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) has been in the making for years, as ASD continues to increase in prevalence. The CDC recently reported, based on 2020 data, that the...

Doing More with Less:
High Quality Care with Greater Efficiency
Staffing pressures have led to unprecedented financial challenges for behavioral health care provider organizations. Shortages of workers, coupled with wage inflation and stagnant reimbursement rates, are driving up costs in a landscape with more need than ever as...

Catalight CEO Named to Forbes 50 Over 50
WALNUT CREEK, CA – Catalight, the nonprofit behavioral health care organization, announced today that the company’s CEO, Susan Armiger, has been named to the 2023 Forbes 50 Over 50 List. The annual list honors women in four categories: Lifestyle, Impact, Innovation...

Forbes Announces 50>50 List 2023
Catalight President and CEO, Susan Armiger was recognized on Forbes’ 2023 50 Over 50: Impact list for her leadership at Catalight and for creating a more equitable world for people with developmental disabilities. Know your value. Age can be your superpower. Just ask...

5 Ways Paraprofessionals Can Drive Better Client Care
As a skilled paraprofessional, you play a key role in implementing the treatment plan for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. Helping them improve their overall wellbeing and achieve their goals is a rewarding part of your day-to-day job,...

Catalight’s Clinical Team Presents New Tool and More at National Convention
Catalight is pleased to be a part of this year’s annual convention of the American Psychological Association (APA). The team will join the largest gathering of psychologists in the world, with thousands of practitioners, researchers, educators, applied psychologists,...

Is Autism Spectrum Disorder Getting Lost in Behavioral Health Care?
A search for “behavioral health” in The New York Times and The Washington Post turned up 3,163 results in the past year, and searches for “substance use,” “opioids” and “opioid crisis” similarly turned up thousands of results. A search for “autism?” Just 213 search...

Beyond Goal Attainment
Historically, measuring outcomes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) focused specific behaviors. More than a dozen scales and measures exist to gauge these outward behaviors: examples include the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)...

Tips for Summer Trips
Summer is a season of change. The established routines of the school year have come to an end and new patterns take their place. For many families, summer vacations are the ultimate change in their routine. If you have a child with autism, this can be both an...

New Autism Research Highlights How Parents Navigate Their Child’s Autism Diagnosis
According to the CDC, the autism prevalence rate is increasing among children in the United States. Based on 2020 data, the CDC estimates that in 2023 1 in 36 eight-year-olds were identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared to 1 in 44 in 2020. ASD...

Getting Ready for Summer Camp: Tips for Parents
While kids prepare and look forward to the fun of summer break, as a parent you may be feeling stressed about months of hectic schedules, impromptu events, and later bedtimes. Let’s face it, for parents, summer’s promise of fun can quickly become a difficult and...

The Power of Parent-Led
Today, more families face the challenges of seeking support and care for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as diagnoses increase and the shortage of qualified applied behavioral analysis (ABA) paraprofessionals continues. Finding treatment in itself can present hurdles....

Awareness for All
Every parent worries about their children. How will they do in school, how do I keep them healthy, how do I help ensure they have a better life? Today, 1 in 36 families will discover they also must learn about how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will affect their...

Study Suggests Parents Benefit When They Lead Care for Autistic Children
Families raising a child with autism often face significant challenges in ensuring their child receives proper care. Recent research shows a common treatment for autistic children may offer added benefits when led by parents, rather than paraprofessionals. Parents who...

One Size Doesn’t Fit All
A diverse array of needs requires new thinking and new treatment options to better support people with developmental disabilities. Given the expanding autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis and the introduction of parity laws to better support people with...

Catalight on the World Stage
For the first time since 2019, the world's premier autism research conference was back in person, this year in Stockholm, and I attended with my colleagues Dr. Linsey Sneed and our CEO Susan Armiger. We were reminded of how important it is – both for us as researchers...

How Technology Solutions Support people with Intellectual and Developmental disabilities (IDD)
The prevalence of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is on the rise1 and so is our interest in using technology as a way to improve the quality of life of people with IDD. Today approximately 6.5 million people in the United States have an intellectual...

Catalight Selected to Deliver Two Presentations at International Society for Autism Research (INSAR 2023)
WALNUT CREEK, CA – Catalight, the nonprofit behavioral health care services provider and network manager, today announced that its researchers will be making two presentations at the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR 2023), to be held in Stockholm from...

Paraprofessional-Mediated ABA: Do hours matter anyway?
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With the rates of ASD continuing to rise (Maenner et al., 2023) and all 50 states requiring behavioral health treatment for people with ASD...

Does my young child need ABA every day?
Applied behavior analysis or ABA is an intensive behavioral treatment for autism and related developmental disabilities. ABA has been shown to improve the communication and social skills of young children and decrease challenging behaviors. The fact that ABA is...

Overcoming Stigma to Create More Inclusive Communities
April is Autism Awareness Month and World Autism Day was April 2, 2023. These observances create important opportunities to break down existing biases and build more inclusive communities where all people are valued for their unique abilities. While greater awareness...

Conversations on value
test While more than half of all overall healthcare payments today are still based on fee-for-service1, the trend toward value-based care (VBC) has accelerated in recent years as legislators and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have enacted...

The Importance of Telediagnostics in ASD Diagnosis and Treatment
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges and opportunities for psychologists conducting diagnostic evaluations for people with suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While there had been research on telediagnostics for ASD, at the start of the pandemic...

The Importance of Telediagnostics in ASD Diagnosis and Treatment
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges and opportunities for psychologists conducting diagnostic evaluations for people with suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While there had been research on telediagnostics for ASD, at the start of the pandemic...

Seeing the big picture
For clients with developmental disabilities and their families, it can be challenging to find the right level of care and support—especially with today’s current practices. Often, they are faced with a disjointed care journey and inconsistent outcomes. Traditional...

Values-Driven Culture and Care
Six years ago, after working for a large healthcare organization for 20 years, I made the decision to leave and join Catalight and I have never looked back. Catalight, a non- profit, supports individuals with developmental disabilities including autism by removing...

Catalight Expands Pilot Study in Partnership with Awake Labs
Awake Labs has announced the expansion of its pilot program with Catalight, a California-based social enterprise working to create a more equitable world so people with developmental disabilities can choose their own path. The expanded pilot goal is to assess the...

Learn How to Manage Your Money and Live Within Your Means
If you are looking for employment and following these articles, they could help you gain traction in finding a job. Since we started this series, I have assisted several neurodiverse candidates in finding employment. I can tell you firsthand that people are finding...

How Do You Bridge the Gaps With Education and Training to Enhance Your Employment Opportunities
Earlier this year, I started publishing articles about finding employment for neurodiverse adults. As we are now in the middle of National Disability Employment Awareness Month #ndeam, I wanted to remind everyone that there is a lot of work to do, even in a booming...

Tips to Help Your Child Reach Their Developmental Milestones
Have you ever worried about your child’s development? If so, you’re not alone. Parents often become alarmed when their child doesn’t learn and grow in the ways they expect. The good news is that you’re in the best position as a parent to help your child reach...

Employee Accommodations for the Neurodiverse
Can you believe there are twice as many job openings as people are looking for work? The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced in June 2022 that job openings totaled 10.7 million. But, of course, the 5.9 million people looking for work do not include the millions of...

Navigating Your First 100 Days of Employment
Congratulations, after all your hard work, a company is reaching out with an offer to start work. You now face many decisions about salary, benefits, accommodations and work schedule – to mention a few. This article will cover how to navigate these critical decisions...

Making Meaningful Career Connections With Neurodiverse-Friendly Employment Services
For individuals on the spectrum, finding meaningful employment is getting more accessible thanks to the support of more than 40 neurodiverse-friendly employment service companies. These organizations are entrepreneurial and laser-focused on bringing together job...

Top Trends in Behavioral Health for Payers
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New Behaviors in Behavioral Health: 7 Powerful Transformations Happening Right Now Shaping Autism and Developmental Disabilities Care
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Access, Quality and Value: Payer Strategies Leading to New AQV in Behavioral Health
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Flexible treatment options offer families peace of mind
Challenge For far too long, limited modalities of care have created a one-size-fits-all approach. This has taken choice away from clients and their caregivers and limited access to different populations. Because every client has their own unique needs, they deserve to...

Delivering efficient care, so families have more time to focus on what matters most
Challenge From the moment a caregiver suspects their child has a developmental disability to the start of treatment, can be a long, time-consuming process requiring coordination across disparate groups of service providers. For many families, these barriers to care...

A scalable network to meet the demands of today while helping payors prepare for tomorrow
Challenge In between delivering exceptional member experiences and staying up to date on new laws and regulations, it can be difficult for payors to keep pace with all of the changes in the market. What they need is a proven partner that can help them create, scale...

Navigating Applicant Tracking Systems for the Neurodivergent Job Seeker
There is a lot of great news for neurodivergent candidates looking for work. First, the Labor Department released the February 2022 employment numbers showing there are 11.3 million job openings in the U.S. If you are looking for one of those jobs, know that your...

An innovative digital solution for caregivers to help support managing care in everyday life
Challenge Managing the complexities of developmental disabilities can be overwhelming — especially for caregivers. Without the right tools and resources, it’s challenging to connect with providers, find support from like-minded people in the community and access the...

Proven leader in behavioral health provides timely access to care
Challenge For clients with developmental disabilities and their families, it can be challenging to find the right level of care and support — especially with today’s current practices. Often, they are faced with a disjointed care journey and inconsistent outcomes. But...

Finding a Lifetime of Employment on the Spectrum
I have spent the past several years providing career coaching to neurodiverse adults in hopes of assisting them in finding that job that will propel them into a lifetime of employment. It has been one of the most rewarding and difficult challenges I have faced since...

New Catalight Foundation Designed to Transform Home and Community-Based Care
The Catalight Foundation, a new non-profit organization headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, launched today. As a new foundation, Catalight will focus on providing capacity building support to organizations in the home and community-based services space. The...