2025 has brought significant growth across the autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) market, with a nearly 20% year-over-year increase in service hours and an 18% increase in clients.

Insurance payments in the sector also climbed by 22.5% compared to 2024. What’s driving the growth? Primarily, an uptick in prevalence and service demand. That’s according to a new report from CentralReach, a dominant provider of autism and IDD care software.

CentralReach’s annual analysis is produced with information curated from the company’s proprietary dataset of more than 5 billion anonymized clinical and financial data points across the autism therapy space.

Data trends also indicate a notable shift to in-clinic care and clinic-based services. However, employee turnover remains a persistent issue among autism service providers, despite a 25% year-over-year increase in the number of providers. This is due to a shift toward centralizing care and improving operational efficiency.

California is leading the trend, with more than 50% of services delivered in clinic settings throughout the state in 2025.

Additionally, as hours of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) are pushed down by industry forces and emerging research suggesting more hours don’t necessarily mean better care, multidisciplinary care models are growing. Since 2020, multidisciplinary services in the space have maintained a 30% compound annual growth rate.

“ABA providers are broadening into allied therapies, adding speech, occupational and physical therapy, along with mental health services,” the report states. “By delivering services in one location, practices create a more coordinated, convenient experience for families who need multiple types of therapy, while also strengthening their own ability to scale, retain clients and drive growth.”

Despite growth across the board in autism and IDD care, the market continues to leave authorized hours on the table – thereby forfeiting potential additional care delivery and revenue growth for providers.

“One of the most persistent dynamics in the autism and IDD care market is the underutilization of authorized hours,” the report states. “On average, practices continue to deliver well below their full authorization levels.”

Other notable trends highlighted include the ongoing widespread adoption of artificial intelligence tools in the sector.

“In a market defined by tighter margins, rising expectations, and increasing complexity, Al has shifted from optional add-on to essential infrastructure,” Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach, wrote in the report summary.

Around 75% of organizations in the sector have purchased AI-enabled tools in the last year and that trend is expected to continue.