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For Mike Suiters, building Positive Development has always been about taking the long view — creating a sustainable, high-quality model of autism care that serves families, clinicians, and payers alike. By combining evidence-based developmental therapy with technology and empathy, the company helps reshape how autism care is delivered in the US.
Positive Development blends healthcare, technology, and advocacy in its approach to autism therapy. How do you balance those pieces, and what makes your model different from traditional methods like applied behavior analysis (ABA)?
Our model is built around developmental, relationship-based care. We focus on the foundations of a child's growth, such as sensory processing, emotional regulation, and relationship building, rather than concentrating solely on modifying behaviors, which is often the emphasis in traditional ABA therapy. When you strengthen those developmental capacities, the behaviors tend to follow naturally.
One of the biggest misconceptions about autism care, especially among insurers and investors, is that families want or need extremely intensive services like ABA programs that can run 20 to 40 hours a week. In reality, many families are looking for something less intensive but equally, or even more, effective. When those options are available and covered, families choose them.
Our approach is also family inclusive. Parents participate directly in sessions, which amplifies progress and deepens the parent–child relationship. Our developmental therapy is typically less intensive, around six to seven hours a week instead of the 20 to 40 hours common in behavioral programs. Families tell us they appreciate an option that is effective, accessible, and sustainable.
From there, everything we do is about taking the long view. Our goal is to build an enduring, high-quality service that benefits families, clinicians, and payers alike and makes a real, lasting impact. That starts with the families we serve, by providing the highest-quality care and support. It extends to the staff we employ, by being a great place to work — where people feel valued and connected to the mission. And it also applies to the states and insurance plans that ultimately pay for our services, by ensuring every contract we negotiate is equitable and reflects our commitment to delivering real value.
What were the biggest challenges in building and scaling the business?
Staying true to what you are trying to build amid market fluctuations and hype cycles is never easy. During COVID-19, for example, we stayed committed to our predominantly in-person care model because we knew that was what delivered the best outcomes, even when shifting to virtual care would have been the easier path. The same has been true in the financing environment. We have focused on what makes a great company in the long run, not just what the market happens to reward in the moment.
Another challenge has been growth itself. Once you get the value proposition right for all stakeholders and reach real product-market fit, growth naturally becomes a question of people. Our ability to serve more families depends on how effectively we can recruit, train, and support great clinicians. That is a good problem to have, but it is still a complex one, and it is something we work on every day.
How does technology fit into your vision for such a high-touch, human service?
We started by investing in our clinical workflow and outcomes measurement because that was the biggest gap we saw. The tools available in the market simply were not designed for the kind of innovative care model we are delivering, one that has never really been scaled before. Our belief was that if care is standardized and measured, it will be consistently high quality, and we will be able to demonstrate that quality with real outcomes. That, in turn, allows us to innovate on reimbursement and build a stronger, more sustainable business model.
That work remains our North Star. The center of gravity for us is always clinical operations and quality. As we have grown, we have also focused on improving the overall experience of care, both for families and clinicians. Much of our technology investment now is about cutting out inefficiencies and reducing administrative handoffs so that we can move families through the system more quickly. There are far more families who need our services than we can currently reach, and technology helps us close that gap by making every step of the process faster and smoother without losing the human touch that defines what we do.
What has helped you build strong relationships with payers?
The key has been keeping it simple and fair. We have seen some antagonistic situations between payers and providers when contracts become too complicated or one-sided. Our approach is to avoid that from the start by keeping agreements clear, transparent, and equitable.
We also take a long-term view. Building these relationships takes time and patience, but that investment pays off when both sides understand the value of working together. At the end of the day, if you say you are going to be lower cost and higher quality, prove it.
How do you see autism care and developmental approaches evolving over the next several years?
I expect to see more high-quality providers so families are not waiting months or even years for care. The system is starting to recognize that autism is a spectrum, which means we need multiple options and a better understanding of which children respond best to which types of care. Developmental approaches will play a major role in that future, serving half or more of all children diagnosed while also helping reduce costs, since our model is about 50% less expensive overall.
Equally important is continuing to listen to autistic self-advocates. Their lived experiences should shape how we define outcomes and quality. At Positive Development, we are proud to have many neurodivergent team members who bring their perspectives to the work and help cocreate the future of this field.
Finally, why did you choose Goodwin as your legal partner?
The rarest and most appreciated thing for a management team or a founder is having a lawyer who can truly be a thought partner and adviser. The Goodwin team understands how to balance business realities with legal considerations and has that rare ability to see challenges through our eyes. Having a legal team that is both trusted and deeply engaged in the mission makes all the difference, and that is exactly what we have found with Goodwin.
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