Catalight

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Catalight Our goal is to ensure that clients and families receive timely access to evidence-based treatment.

We believe all individuals impacted by developmental disability deserve timely access to quality treatment by an accredited network of behavioral health providers. By working with us, providers can quickly scale and respond to the growing needs of their clients today while serving as a thought partner committed to shaping the future needs of the industry. As experts in network management and the delivery of innovative — and individualized — care services, we ensure providers receive the training, resources and guidance needed to deliver consistent and effective care to help improve outcomes and meet families where they are.

Jessica Fickle has worn many hats at Catalight. From senior clinical manager to her current role as a BCBA consultant, s...
10/19/2026

Jessica Fickle has worn many hats at Catalight. From senior clinical manager to her current role as a BCBA consultant, she’s embraced every opportunity to make a difference for the families and providers she supports.

With her trusted notebook and pen in hand to help her stay organized, Jessica’s days are a mix of case consultations, family sessions and coordinating with her team to keep services running at their best.

Get to know Jessica and learn more about her journey at Catalight through the link in the comments!

Neurodivergent employees bring more than a different perspective to the table. For organizations that serve people with ...
10/14/2026

Neurodivergent employees bring more than a different perspective to the table. For organizations that serve people with disabilities, they bring lived experience no one else on the team has.

So what does that look like in practice?

In a recent Forbes Nonprofit Council article, Catalight Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Doreen Samelson, Ed.D., breaks down three things neurodivergent employees can bring to the workplace:
• Representation that brings up issues others might miss
• Creativity that comes from minds processing problems differently
• A chance for the whole team to understand how everyone works, not just neurodivergent staff.

Read the full piece via the link in the comments.

10/12/2026

Delivering meaningful outcomes and overall wellbeing to families is always our top goal. Nabla's ambient AI notetaking in multiple languages helps us focus on our patients and reduce clinician burnout.

Partnering with Nabla is just one way we're finding efficiencies through technology in order to create greater access to care and drive healthcare affordability.

Learn more about our partnership in the comments section

Forty hours a week. For decades, that number has shaped how autism care is delivered. Clinicians were trained on it. Fam...
10/09/2026

Forty hours a week. For decades, that number has shaped how autism care is delivered. Clinicians were trained on it. Families were told it. Few people asked where it actually came from.

On the latest episode of What's Up With Catalight!, Catalight Chief Clinical Officer Doreen Samelson Ed.D., discusses how it was traced it back to a 1987 study with 19 children in its treatment group – one she says one she says wouldn't even get approved by today's research standards. She and host Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D., then dig into what the research, including Catalight's own real-world data, actually tells us about hours and outcomes.

This isn't an argument against ABA. It's an argument for asking better questions.

Check out "The Dosage Effect Problem" on Apple or Spotify or follow the link in the comments.

10/07/2026

RUBI is further expanding its international reach – first stop, Paris. 🇫🇷

Catalight recently launched its RUBI training in France with a two-day introductory seminar for 18 providers from across the country. The program gives parents and caregivers practical tools to reduce challenging behaviors like meltdowns and aggression while building independence in daily routines for autistic children ages 3 to 14.

The seminar was held alongside the annual Naked Heart France Forum, which brought together autism and neurodevelopmental experts from around the world. Catalight’s Vice President of Caregiver-Mediated Solutions Karen Bearss, Ph.D., one of the developers of RUBI, led the seminars and spoke at the forum about the power of parent-mediated interventions along with the vital role caregivers play in a child’s development.


Bringing RUBI to France is another step toward expanding access to evidence-based, family-centered care internationally. By preparing local providers to bring these approaches to the families they serve, Catalight and its partners are helping proven models of support reach further across communities, countries and all borders.

RUBI can be learned through Catalight Academy https://www.catalightacademy.org/program/rubi?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social

Workplace conversations surrounding neurodiversity typically focus on the employee: what they need, what they struggle w...
10/05/2026

Workplace conversations surrounding neurodiversity typically focus on the employee: what they need, what they struggle with and what makes them different. The social model of disability flips that. It looks at how a person fits with their environment; it asks what the workplace can change.

So, what does supporting neurodivergent employees actually look like?

In a recent Forbes Nonprofit Council article, Catalight Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Doreen Samelson shares what she's learned leading a neurodiverse team. She skips the "superpower" stereotypes, values lived experience and makes small changes to how meetings and communication work. She leads with one simple question: "What can our company or I do to support you?"

Read the full piece via the link in the comments.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. You may ask, “How should I celebrate?”It doesn’t always need to be a big event...
10/02/2026

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. You may ask, “How should I celebrate?”

It doesn’t always need to be a big event or a formal occasion. Awareness starts simply by being around each other.

It can be in schools, at work, at the gym or in our neighborhoods and communities.

You can meet Kyler here. He has Down syndrome and his family is a graduate of Catalight’s parent-mediated service. He’s also a sports fan, guitar player, Special Olympics athlete and an all-around “cool dude.”

Representation and interaction matter throughout the year. When people learn together, work together and spend time together, there are more opportunities to see the person before the assumptions.

More opportunities to participate create more opportunities to be seen. That’s what awareness really looks like.

So, how should you celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month?

By being you and making room for everyone else to be themselves, too.

Just like Kyler. Read his full story at the link in the comments.

09/30/2026

🚨 New podcast episode out now! 🚨

A familiar face in a familiar place to say, 'more care isn’t necessarily better care.'

What's Up With Catalight! host Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D., BCBA-D sits down at our Walnut Creek, Calif., office with someone who has helped shape not only Catalight’s approach to care, but Lindsey’s own career: her longtime mentor, Doreen Samelson EdD, MSCP (she/her).

In “The Dosage Effect Problem,” Doreen and Lindsey take on the persistent assumptions that more intervention hours lead to better outcomes and look at what the research – including their own – actually tells us about dosage.

The latest podcast episode is out. Subscribe on Apple or Spotify or follow the link of your choice in the comments to listen now!

More hours = Better outcomes…It seems like a common sense equation. And, largely because of that, it's shaped how autism...
09/25/2026

More hours = Better outcomes…

It seems like a common sense equation. And, largely because of that, it's shaped how autism care is delivered for decades. But the evidence behind it may not be as straightforward as the field once believed.

Next week on a special episode of the What’s Up With Catalight! podcast, a familiar face to many of you takes the guest seat for the first time.

Catalight Chief Clinical Officer Doreen Samelson Ed.D., joins host Lindsey Sneed, Ph.D., to dig into “The Dosage Effect Problem” – including her new research challenging long-held assumptions about intervention intensity and what really drives meaningful outcomes.

🚨 Coming next week to Apple and Spotify – subscribe now! 🚨

Today is the day. 👏 The Elevate 2027 Call for Papers closes tonight.If you've been sitting on an idea, a study or a less...
09/25/2026

Today is the day. 👏 The Elevate 2027 Call for Papers closes tonight.

If you've been sitting on an idea, a study or a lesson learned the hard way in a clinic or at a kitchen table, this is your last chance to bring it to a global stage.

Elevate is Catalight's virtual conference on the future of autism and other I/DD care. This year's theme, 'Advancing Practice With Purpose', centers on work that is evidence-based, empathy-guided and built for real-world impact.

Clinicians. Researchers. Caregivers. Advocates. If you're moving this field forward, we want to hear from you.

Proposals are due tonight by midnight PDT!
Submit yours now: catalight.org/elevate

Address

2730 Shadelands Drive
Walnut Creek, CA
94598

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

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