Article | December 8, 2023Introducing the Catalight Language Guidelines 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 other forms of communication. As such, we’ve developed the Catalight Language Guidelines to serve … Read article
Article | October 31, 2023How Should You Celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month? By Being You Kyler Sipat, a 20-year-old with Down syndrome, is a fun-loving, sports fan and guitar player who embodies the spirit of youthful independence. During Down Syndrome Awareness Month, he celebrates his personality and breaks down stigmas, showing that his condition is just one aspect of his vibrant life. Read article
Article | October 26, 2023A Fun Halloween for Children with Developmental Disabilities Tips on how parents can create a memorable Halloween for the whole family. Read article
Article | October 11, 2023Learn More About Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities Explore the lives of over seven million Americans with intellectual disabilities, focusing on the one to two percent with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), and learn about the available treatment options and support for them and their families. Read article
In the news | October 3, 2023The 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 neurodiversity movement, coined the term neurodivergent to refer to any person whose development was nontypical. Movements … Read News
Article | September 14, 2023Words 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 compliment and an insult, sympathy and disdain, or clarity and … Read article
Article | May 23, 2023Catalight 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 and clinicians and for Catalight as a … Read article
Article | May 23, 2023One 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 intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DDs), we are seeing a wide range of needs and an opportunity to … Read article
Article | May 22, 2023How Technology Solutions Support people with Intellectual and Developmental disabilities (I/DD) The prevalence of intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) is on the rise1 and so is our interest in using technology as a way to improve the quality of life of people with I/DD. Today approximately 6.5 million people in the United States have an intellectual disability. Technology solutions vary from ‘low tech’ (paper calendar) to ‘high … Read article
Article | April 24, 2023Paraprofessional-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 (Straub et al., 2022) the demand for evidence-based intervention options for families continues to rise, … Read article
