ABA Monthly Newsletter – March 2025
Summary of the Month
There is only one place to start and that is with the CDC’s newly released report on autism prevalence, which are at 1 in 31 eight-year-olds, up noticeably from the previous surveillance. The last month also brought about ABA-focused investments, multiple new center openings, and continued M&A activity. The month also saw a policy reversal at the BACB on DEI requirements, ongoing TRICARE reimbursement issues, and research developments. CentralReach was acquired … Below is a categorized recap of the latest happenings in ABA, autism care, and related behavioral health. |
Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism-Focused News
CDC Autism Prevalence Survey Results
CDC’s just released survey of the ADDM Network, puts U.S. autism prevalence at 1 in 31 eight‑year‑olds (32.2 per 1,000) across 16 monitoring sites, up from 1 in 36 in the prior cycle and continuing the steady rise observed since surveillance began. Boys remained 3.4 times more likely than girls to have an ASD diagnosis. For the second cycle in a row, prevalence was lowest among White children and higher among Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native children, suggesting improving but still uneven identification across communities. Encouragingly, children born in 2018 were 1.7 times as likely to receive an ASD diagnosis or school eligibility by age 4 compared with those born in 2014, a sign that early‑identification efforts are gaining ground despite the pandemic dip in evaluations seen in 2020. Median age of first diagnosis, however, still hovered just under 4 years (47 months)—well past the recommended screening window—showing room for progress in universal, timely screening. Source: CDC / Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. |
New Center Openings & Diagnostic Clinics
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Investments, Acquisitions and Reorganizations
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Regulatory and Policy
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Research & Innovative Tech
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Other ABA & Autism Updates
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Related Mental Health News
Investor sentiment continued to favor mainstream mental‑health platforms over autism and SUD services. A Behavioral Health Business outlook survey placed mental health ahead of other subsectors as 2025’s most attractive investment target, citing broad reimbursement tailwinds and sizeable platform‑build potential. Expansion momentum underpinned this optimism: SonderMind reached full 50‑state coverage while Two Chairs mapped plans for 20+ states by mid‑year, each blending virtual and in‑person care with measurement‑based models. Consolidation and investment also stayed brisk—AI‑driven chatbot firm Wysa acquired collaborative‑care provider April Health, giving it a direct reimbursement path; Valor Healthcare bought Mission Critical Psychological Services to deepen veteran‑focused offerings; and digital‑therapeutics maker Click Therapeutics raised $48.5 million to push its software pipeline in depression, schizophrenia, and SUD. Collectively, these moves signal that capital continues to flow toward scalable, tech‑enabled mental‑health solutions even as uncertainty over Medicaid policy tempers deal velocities elsewhere in behavioral health. |
For questions or feedback on this newsletter, please contact us at info@bixpli.com. Best regards, The Bixpli Team |