BALTIMORE, Md. and PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LEARN Behavioral, the leading network of providers serving children with autism and other special needs, today announces a partnership with digital behavioral health company, Cognoa, Inc., designed to improve the timeliness of care and give more children the greatest opportunity for improved outcomes. Cognoa’s solution will be deployed in nine regions within the LEARN network, including several through Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST), LEARN’s largest provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment. In total, LEARN serves more than 4,000 families annually across the country.
Prospective LEARN clients now have access to Cognoa’s Child Development app, enabling them to take a clinically validated assessment to determine their child’s risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parents can then share this information with LEARN’s clinical team and with their pediatrician, as necessary, to expedite a diagnosis so that children can receive the appropriate ABA therapy services earlier, when they can have the greatest impact.
The prevalence of ASD has increased by 15 percent over the past 6 years with an estimated one in every 59 children affected. However, the average age of diagnosis has remained relatively unchanged in over 15 years, at over four years old (according to Baio, et. al.). This falls after the primary window of brain plasticity when interventions can have the greatest impact for lifelong gains. Cognoa is clinically validated to identify signs of autism in children as early as 18 months old.
"Delays in getting an autism diagnosis mean that most children are missing out on early intervention,” said Justin Funches, President of Autism Services for LEARN Behavioral. “While many children are impacted by developmental delays, access to timely diagnosis can be difficult, complicated, and too expensive. Today, we have the opportunity to empower more parents with state-of the-art resources to identify children with delays and provide earlier treatment with our professional teams to improve outcomes. We are proud to partner with Cognoa to offer families critical access to these solutions.”
An autism diagnosis is often necessary for children to receive the appropriate behavioral therapies that can help the most. Many parents experience waitlists of a year or more before their children can be diagnosed and treated. Parents have reported visiting, on average, four to five clinicians on the way to getting an autism diagnosis. “With Cognoa, we’re able to work with parents and their pediatricians to identify children who can benefit from earlier diagnosis and services,” said LEARN’s Dr. Hanna Rue, PhD, BCBA-D, and Head of Clinical Development.
LEARN is also working with Cognoa to refine its treatment protocols for greater personalization and effectiveness. Through Cognoa and LEARN, parents also have access to evidence-based activities to do with their children at home to support their therapy and encourage greater progress.
“It is a terrible injustice that gaps within our current healthcare system often have a negative impact on children,” said Brent Vaughan, CEO of Cognoa. “We believe all stakeholders, including parents, their trusted pediatricians and therapy providers like LEARN, need to be empowered in order to bridge the enormous disparities in pediatric behavioral healthcare. The combination of an easily accessible, app-based child assessment and support, along with earlier therapy for more children, can improve the lives of children and families while lowering healthcare costs and reducing current inefficiencies.”
About LEARN Behavioral
LEARN is the leading network of providers serving children with autism and other special needs. LEARN specializes in behavioral health treatment based on the science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and is committed to providing programs and services that are family-focused, community minded, and delivered with the highest clinical integrity. The LEARN team delivers more than 2.0 million hours of services annually and is comprised of more than 4,000 passionate professionals dedicated to nurturing every child’s personal best. learnbehavioral.com
About Autism Spectrum Therapies
Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST) is a leading provider of behavioral health treatment utilizing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). AST's clinical philosophy is grounded in working collaboratively with families, insurers, and schools to deliver high-integrity, individualized treatment plans that use the latest science to guide interventions. AST is part of the LEARN Provider Network, the leading network of providers serving children with autism and other special needs. For more information, visit autismtherapies.com.
About Cognoa
Cognoa is developing AI-based digital diagnostics and personalized therapies that are designed to make earlier diagnoses and effective treatments available to more children to improve outcomes and lower behavioral healthcare costs. When more physicians are empowered to identify and begin treating behavioral conditions and developmental delays earlier, more children have the opportunity to benefit from treatments at a younger age when there is the greatest potential for improved lifelong outcomes. Cognoa currently provides the Cognoa Child Development app via partnerships with employers, payees, and ABA therapy centers to empower parents and caregivers to better support their children’s unique behavioral health and growth. Cognoa is working on the development of a Diagnostic Device intended to aid healthcare providers to deliver a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder for children at risk for developmental delays. Cognoa intends to seek FDA review and clearance that will allow the company to support diagnostic claims with robust clinical data. For more information, visit https://www.cognoa.com/.