Positive Development Expands Its Developmental Therapy Services to Families in South Carolina

Leading ABA alternative autism care provider brings affordable neurodiversity-affirming care to families and health plans, beginning with Charleston and the surrounding areas

MCLEAN, Va., October 20, 2026--Positive Development, the leading provider of developmental relationship-based therapy for autistic children and their families, today announced it is expanding services to Charleston, South Carolina and the surrounding area. Families and health plans now have access to a comprehensive, lower cost and lower intensity alternative to high-hour applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for autism care.

Key facts:

• What: Positive Development is delivering high-quality in-home, parent-mediated developmental therapy services in Charleston and the surrounding areas that are designed to help caregivers support their child with meaningful interaction, self-regulation and problem-solving skills

• Why: Increasing autism diagnoses and rising ABA therapy costs are driving the need for more affordable, evidence-based alternatives

• Who it helps: Autistic children and their families as well as commercial and Medicaid health plans in South Carolina

"South Carolina's health plans are looking for more affordable, evidence-based alternatives to high-hour ABA models, which is the reason why we built Positive Development – to fill a gap that offers payers and families more choice in autism care," said Mike Suiters, Co-founder and CEO of Positive Development. "Expansion here is a jumping off point as we plan to bring our lower cost developmental therapy to more families across the state."

Rising Autism Care Costs Are Driving Demand for Lower Cost Alternatives

Autism care costs as well as access to services remain top concerns for states across the U.S. In August, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an ABA Toolkit for state Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs, which called out the rapid growth in use of ABA therapy for children with an autism diagnosis ̶ citing a 421% increase in spending on ABA during a four-year period from 2021 to 2025.

CMS developed the toolkit to help state and federal stakeholders evaluate and update Medicaid coverage and payment policies in response to these utilization trends. The toolkit also highlighted that ABA is not the only Medicaid-covered care option for autism, and that states should consider alternative therapies to ensure every child has access to care that's best suited to their individual needs.

A December 2025 joint cost analysis conducted with a regional nonprofit health plan found Positive Development's model to be 68% more cost-effective than ABA therapy on an annual per-child basis. As commercial and Medicaid payers in South Carolina and across the U.S. are seeking ABA alternatives that are also value-based care approaches to autism care, Positive Development's developmental therapy is a proven solution that supports families, improves outcomes and reduces utilization costs.