News

A spotlight on all things Catalight 

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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 (I/DDs) may be the perfect fit for you. While certain skills and experiences are needed to work with this diverse group of individuals, there are many paths …

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Successful Careers in ASD and I/DD Care

The shortage of clinicians who specialize in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DDs) has been in the making for years, as ASD continues to increase in prevalence. The CDC recently reported, based on 2020 data, that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the United States has risen to an all-time …

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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 results in the same time period. The fact that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is getting …

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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 lead the treatment see increased confidence in their parenting ability according to a study of 152 families with …

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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 and clinicians and for Catalight as a …

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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 intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DDs), we are seeing a wide range of needs and an opportunity to …

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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 (Straub et al., 2022) the demand for evidence-based intervention options for families continues to rise, …

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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 considered intensive is often interpreted as meaning very high ABA  hours or daily ABA. If you …

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