04/16/2026
The autism services landscape is no longer just a growth story—it’s a pressure story.
Autism prevalence is now 1 in 31 children, which continues to drive demand at a level the system is still trying to keep up with. At the same time, the business side of autism services is undergoing significant strain—reimbursement pressures, workforce instability, increasing regulatory scrutiny, and the aftereffects of rapid private equity expansion.
In recent years, private equity firms have acquired hundreds of autism service providers across the U.S., accelerating growth—but also, in some cases, prioritizing scale over sustainability. We’ve already seen what can happen when those models are pushed too far: after the acquisition of Center for Autism and Related Disorders, more than 100 sites were closed, and the company ultimately filed for bankruptcy.
At the same time, states are tightening oversight and reimbursement, and access to care is being disrupted in certain regions as providers contract or close. All of this is happening while more families than ever are seeking services.
This is the reality of the field right now.
And when there is pressure to be profitable in a system that directly impacts people’s lives, the risk is that decisions begin to drift away from clinical integrity and long-term outcomes.
That’s not what we’ve built at Cadenza.
For 25 years, Cadenza Center for Psychotherapy and the Arts has been a psychologist-owned, clinician-led practice, grounded in thoughtful growth, clinical quality, and doing right by the families we serve. We’ve weathered multiple shifts in this field—and we’re preparing for the next one.
That’s why I’m attending.
Not as an investor—but as a leader who understands that the next phase of autism services will require more than growth. It will require durability, accountability, and a model that can hold both clinical excellence and business reality at the same time.
We’re paying attention. And we’re building accordingly.
