Alisha Simpson-Watt, LCSW, BCBA, LBA, is the Founder and Executive Clinical Director of Collaborative ABA Services, LLC, a BHCOE-accredited behavioral health practice in Middletown, Connecticut. The practice provides interdisciplinary care for children and adolescents ages 2–18 and their families impacted by autism and other developmental and behavioral needs.
With experience spanning clinical care, behavioral health operations, and entrepreneurship, Alisha brings a provider’s perspective on navigating growth, access to care, workforce challenges, payer dynamics, and the evolving demands facing autism therapy providers. As an owner-operator, she understands the realities of balancing clinical quality, sustainability, and access while building a behavioral health organization in a rapidly changing landscape.
Alisha is also the author of It’s Okay, Mattie: A Story About Autism, Big Feelings, and Learning to Cope and the creator of CollabWait, a platform designed to increase transparency around service availability and waitlists.
Her expertise and perspective have been featured in Fortune, Business Insider, HuffPost, U.S. News & World Report, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Today’s Parent, Autism Parenting Magazine, and other national and industry media. She has also appeared as an expert contributor and panelist on autism, behavioral health, parenting, and leadership.
Through her work as a clinician, provider, entrepreneur, author, and advocate, Alisha is committed to advancing meaningful conversations about the future of autism services and building systems that better serve individuals, families, providers, and communities.
Health plans are seeking more sustainable, accountable approaches to autism care that move beyond fragmented services and sole reliance on ABA. This panel will discuss the key principles, partnerships, and strategies providers need to understand as payers prioritize individualized and whole-person care, measurable outcomes, timely access and responsible stewardship of resources.
