Episode Details

The Business of Autism...Autism is real. The needs of autistic children and their families are real. This investigation begins there, with seriousness and respect. But it asks a harder question: what happened after autism became more than a diagnosis and began functioning as a gateway to therapy, insurance reimbursement, Medicaid spending, and eventually private equity investment? The Business of Autism examines how a legitimate human need became the basis of a large and increasingly lucrative industry. From diagnostic growth and insurance mandates to ABA, high-hour treatment models, weak oversight, and clinic roll-ups, this episode traces how care, money, and incentives became tightly intertwined—and asks whether the system built around autism still serves the child first.