AuguryCatalight’s top clinician earns gold for rethinking autism care
This article was written by the Augury Times
A recognition aimed at changing how autism care is judged
Catalight’s chief clinical officer, Dr. Doreen Samelson, has been named a Gold Winner in the 2025 Merit Awards for Healthcare, the company announced. The award recognizes Samelson’s work to move autism care away from narrow symptom targets and toward broader measures of everyday wellbeing. Catalight said the honor highlights clinical programs that focus on family outcomes, quality of life and functional gains that matter to patients. In plain terms, the prize signals that the industry is beginning to value how people live day to day, not just test scores or isolated behaviors. For families and clinicians, that shift could reshape care plans, funding decisions and public expectations.
Training, leadership and a focus on daily life: Samelson’s path
Dr. Samelson trained as a clinical psychologist and spent her early career in community clinics and university hospitals, where she saw how narrow measures could miss what really mattered to families. She joined Catalight in 2018 as a senior clinician and rose to chief clinical officer after leading integrated teams that bring together therapists, speech specialists and family coaches. Her published work and talks emphasize practical outcomes: how a child’s sleep, communication in everyday settings, or a parent’s ability to manage stress can be as important as formal test scores. At Catalight she helped design programs that track those outcomes over months, not just weeks, and that give families clear goals tied to daily life.
Colleagues describe Samelson as data-minded but patient-focused. Staff say she pushed the group to measure meaningful change rather than quick wins that don’t last. That blend — clinical training, management experience and a steady push toward real-world results — is the work the Merit Awards singled out this year.
Inside the Merit Awards: what a Gold Winner means
The Merit Awards for Healthcare are run by an industry group that looks for programs with clear patient benefit, measurable outcomes and evidence of lasting change. Judges review written entries, data and third-party endorsements before naming winners in several categories. A Gold Winner is meant to mark a leading example — not just a promising pilot, but a program that shows repeatable results and influence beyond one clinic. Past winners have included teams that changed hospital protocols and community initiatives that shifted how services are paid for. For Samelson and Catalight, the Gold label gives outside validation that their focus on wellbeing matters in practice.
What this could mean for families, clinicians and policy
Shifting the measurement of success in autism care matters because it drives funding, training and what families expect from services. If wellbeing — things like better sleep, easier family routines and more independence — becomes the main yardstick, clinics will design different programs and insurers may pay for different services. For clinicians, the change pushes toward longer-term follow-up and collaboration across specialties instead of short-term fixes aimed at a test.
Families stand to gain clearer targets that reflect daily life. That can reduce frustration when a child improves in a clinic task but still struggles at home. On the policy side, the award adds momentum to a growing argument for outcome-based payments and for investments in community support rather than only intensive, clinic-bound therapy. Critics caution that wellbeing is harder to measure and risks becoming a vague buzzword unless standards are set. Catalight’s approach — specific, tracked outcomes linked to family goals — aims to counter that risk by showing how wellbeing can be measured and improved in ways insurers and regulators can accept.
What this means for Catalight: a moment to grow
Catalight is a private provider that offers therapy, skills coaching and family support for people on the autism spectrum. The company says it partners with schools, clinics and insurers to scale programs that show real-life benefits. Winning a Gold Merit Award raises Catalight’s profile with funders, potential partners and families looking for services that promise durable change rather than quick results. For a company that sells care and training models, outside recognition can accelerate adoption and open doors to new contracts with public and private payers. At the same time, broader uptake will depend on clear reporting and the ability to show consistent outcomes across many sites.
A statement from Catalight and plans ahead
In a statement, Catalight said it was “honored” by the recognition and framed the award as proof that its model can deliver meaningful change. Dr. Samelson was quoted saying the prize reflects work to ‘center care on what families say matters most.’ The company said it will publish expanded outcome reports next year, roll out a family-goal tracking tool across its clinics and host webinars for clinicians and payers to explain its methods. Catalight added it plans to seek more partnerships with schools and insurers to test payment models tied to wellbeing outcomes. Those steps aim to turn the award into broader adoption, not just a moment of praise.
Photo: Tara Winstead / Pexels
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