Prosper Health

My journey to getting diagnosed with autism and ADHD started on TikTok. For the first time, I saw women who looked like me share stories that mirrored my childhood. It felt like I finally found myself and a community I could be a part of. That little girl who came back from school crying and spending hours practicing to be "normal" in front of the mirror? The one who still reminds me to blink with both eyes and to smile at everyone? I could finally tell her to not change her perfectly weird mannerisms for anyone. I'm also starting to see more and more providers understand the importance of social media and community education before a doctor's visit. Dr. Emily Newton, a licensed clinical psychologist with Prosper Health, recently shared with my team: “Social media is creating opportunities for conversation, awareness, and community, which are so important. I remember early in my career, adolescents and adults would often ask for examples of celebrities or public figures with autism. I’m rarely asked that question now because social media has expanded visibility and allowed people to see themselves reflected in a much broader and more inclusive way.” As someone who needed to get evaluated by 12 different specialists to know for sure, I was so impressed by Prosper Health and their approach to neurodivergent care. It's exactly what the field needs more of. I'm curious, do you trust social media as a health resource? Where do you go for reliable information?

I'm #hiring for the owner of our creative engine at Prosper Health! We are hiring a Creative Marketing Manager to build out our influencer pipeline, manage our editors, and quickly 2x our paid social ad production from brief to launch. There’s a real shift happening right now around autism and neurodivergence. More people are exploring diagnosis later in life, and that conversation is happening online. This is your opportunity to build the creative engine for the defining consumer brand in adult autism and neurodivergent-affirming care. If you: - Are super scrappy, move quickly, and crave ownership, - Are chronically online, follow trends, and love pop culture, - Love good ads and pay attention to what works, - Are early in your career (1.5-3 years experience) but hungry for growth, - Are mission driven & want to make neurodivergent-affirming mental health care accessible... Please apply! Link here: https://lnkd.in/e8N_4nTZ

Last year quietly became my “year of health.” I tried new doctors, therapists, diagnostics, supplements, apps, and tools. Here are a few health startups I consistently recommend after a year of trying everything: Function Health: I finally know my blood type (O+) but also discovered high mercury levels and other issues my annual preventive exam missed. My friends and I loved comparing our biological age on social and sharing our unique links for some extra cash. Something to watchout for if you have a period: testing at your local Quest Diagnostics needs to be done on day 2, 3, or 4 of your cycle. So if yours is unpredictable (or if you book last minute and there are no openings), schedule a walk-in early in the morning on a weekday. Sheer Health: I worked with 20+ different providers in one year, some out-of-network. I linked my Cigna Healthcare account with this free app and it handled all my claims and superbills (there's a 10% success fee on reimbursements and money returned). They helped educate my doctors for what they needed to add/update when a claim was denied. Sheer Health is a great insurance advocate. Only thing is that they don't send a lot of reminders, so you might need to remind your provider to reply back if they forget. Prosper Health: If you’re looking for an autism evaluation, their experience is one of the most thoughtful I’ve seen for adults (I've personally been tested 9 times at different clinics). Their process is truly neuro-affirming. I loved their guides to help you prepare for your virtual assessments. There were over a dozen clinicians to choose from and I loved mine (and her cat). At the time of my eval they offered a small group of therapists for continued support, though I assume that has expanded since. Let me know if you end up using any of these health products! Also curious what other health tools people are loving right now. Are there any health companies you have found helpful this year?

We recently published new research in Neurodiversity examining outcomes for 460 autistic adults receiving care through Prosper Health. Autism-affirming individual therapy was associated with meaningful improvements in mood and anxiety. When therapy was paired with participation in a peer group with other autistic adults, improvements in social relationships were ~29% higher and quality of life ~32% higher! This reflects what our autistic community has long affirmed and why Prosper is built the way it is: neurodiversity-affirming care works, and combining clinical care with peer support leads to stronger outcomes than therapy alone. We believe this is the future of adult autism care: specialized, evidence-based, holistic, and designed around the specific needs of the individual. Grateful to Kelly Whaling, Glen Veed, and our clinical team for leading this work and contributing to the growing evidence base for adult autism care. https://lnkd.in/gNqbfpGz.

I hired someone with zero autism assessment experience. She's now outperforming psychologists who've done this for years. Dr. Sarah (not her real name) came from general clinical work. No ADOS, ADIR, GARS or other training. No autism-specific background. Just a belief that autistic adults deserve better than what the system currently offers them. Most healthcare orgs would've auto-rejected her application. We almost did too. Here's why I'm glad we didn't: 🪴  This field is brand new: Adult autism assessment as a specialty is brand new. There aren't thousands of "experienced" candidates out there. We're literally building this plane while flying it. Everyone's learning together. 🎯  Values over everything: You can teach someone the ADOS-2. You can train diagnostic criteria. But you absolutely cannot teach someone to see autistic adults as whole people instead of "problems to fix". Sarah got that from day one.  🤝 We built support for exactly this: Daily opportunities for supervision with senior clinicians. Peer consultation groups. A library of resources. Monthly case reviews. We knew we'd be hiring people new to autism work, so we made damn sure they wouldn't be doing it alone.  🚀 The results speak: Sarah's patient feedback scores are in the top 15% of our team. Her diagnostic reports are thorough and compassionate. She's confident in her assessments, and knows when to ask questions. All in 4 months.  💡 The pattern we keep seeing: Our most successful psychologists aren't the ones with perfect resumes. They're the ones who believe autistic adults have been failed by traditional approaches and want to do something different. They show up with a learning mindset, prepared to work, and to tackle this learning head-on. If you're a licensed psychologist who's interested in this work but think you're "not qualified enough," you probably are. We'll teach you the technical stuff. You bring the values and the willingness to learn. We are scaling our psychologist team, and whether you’re a seasoned psychologist or someone with a massive heart for this work, let's connect.

💡 New research from Prosper Health and the UMass Chan Medical School, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, reveals some DSM criteria are significantly more predictive of an autism diagnosis than others. In a study of 234 adults, we found: - Relationship differences were 30% weaker predictors than other social communication criteria, shattering the long-held myth that autistic adults cannot maintain relationships. - Sensory processing differences were not significant predictors of diagnosis, likely due to their broad overlap with other conditions, making them less effective diagnostic markers. These findings suggest that current diagnostic criteria that was originally developed for identifying autism in children may include items that lose differential predictive power in adults seeking first-time diagnosis. At Prosper Health, we’re not just delivering care to autistic adults, we’re defining the standard for it. We’ve already reduced the time it takes to complete an adult autism assessment by 2–3×, and research like this helps us make higher-quality diagnostics more accessible. Huge thanks to Kelly Whaling, Ph.D., Rachel Loftin, Ph.D., and Eileen Crehan for their incredible work on this study.

One Year at Prosper Health A year ago, I joined a startup serving autistic adults in 7 states. Today? We're in 20+ states and counting. The numbers that matter: 📍 7 states → 20+ states 👥 Hundreds of clinicians hired 📈 Hundreds of clients → thousands per month 🎯 Hit every major goal we set 💪 Brought on another teammate to scale even faster But here's what the numbers don't show: ❤️ The therapist who was emotional on our call because this was the first job where they could practice actual neurodivergent-affirming care without being told to focus on "compliance." 💙 The psychologist who left a hospital job because they were tired of pathologizing autism. Now they do assessments that change lives instead of checking boxes. 💚 The mom who got diagnosed at 55 while seeking services for her daughter. She said our assessment "explained my entire life." What I've learned: Healthcare recruitment isn't about filling seats. It's about finding clinicians who understand that stimming isn't a problem. That meltdowns aren't manipulation. That "acting normal" shouldn't be the goal. The best clinicians don't need to be "sold" on neurodivergent-affirming care. They've been practicing it in systems that actively worked against them. They're just waiting for a company that actually gets it. The demand is infinite. For every state we launch, there are thousands of autistic adults who've been waiting their entire lives for a clinician who doesn't try to "fix" them. What's next: More states. More clinicians. More autistic adults getting care that actually gets them. To everyone who took a call, answered an email, or joined this mission - thank you. We're changing lives. Literally. Here's to year two. 🎊

Looking for a great marketer to join our team as a Paid Social Lead!

We're #hiring - come join my team at Prosper Health in Marketing Strategy & Operations! Prosper Health is growing extremely fast, and you'll have the chance to build the defining consumer brand in adult autism and neurodivergent care. If you've mastered analytics and problem solving in consulting, but are craving more creativity, ownership, and impact, this role is perfect for you. Plus, this role is personal to me - it was the same role that kicked my dream career post-Bain. I hope it can do the same for someone else.

Tylenol ≠ Autism. Autism ≠ Disease. Autism ≠ Something to Treat. Yesterday’s federal press conference repeated harmful claims about the increasing prevalence of autism and unproven links to Tylenol, vaccines, and "preventable" environmental toxins. In addition, the conference touted leucovorin as a “breakthrough treatment” for autism, when the reality is that it may treat a metabolic condition that only sometimes occurs alongside autism. These narratives are not grounded in science and they harm the autistic community. Here’s what the evidence shows: - The largest study of 2.5M children found no causal link between Tylenol and autism. - Leucovorin can help in rare metabolic conditions, but it is not a treatment for autism. - Vaccines have been studied extensively, showing no link to autism. - Most Importantly, rising diagnoses reflect progress: better recognition, tools, and access, certainly not a crisis. At Prosper, we reject these false frames and focus on what matters: actually helping autistic and neurodivergent people live healthier, happier lives with evidence-based, affirming care. To those in the autistic community and everyone affected by yesterday’s statements: Prosper stands with you.