Sense Family Autism Care enables parents to eliminate the long wait times their autistic child would typically face when trying to access therapy. We do this by leveraging the power of the parent-child bond, and training parents to deliver care at home. In the current system, best practice is for pediatricians to screen for autism as a part of the 18-month to 2-year checkup, and the average wait for care can be up to three years after that point. As we all know, the first five years of development are critical—waiting for care during that window can be devastating and lead to lasting impacts for the child and family.

Sense empowers parents to begin therapy right away. In just 15 minutes a day, parents deliver an evidence-based sensory massage protocol that improves communication, behavior, and self-regulation in autistic children. Thousands of families have already experienced the benefits.

What sets Sense apart is that the method we train parents on is backed by 15 years of research, NIH-funded clinical trials, and 21 peer-reviewed publications—demonstrating a 34% improvement in children and a 44% reduction in parenting stress within five months.

Unlike traditional models that cost $40K–$60K per child per year, have years-long waitlists, and still fail to serve one in three children, Sense is immediate, scalable, and evidence-based. And as we scale our platform, we’ll combine the best of AI—predictive machine learning, natural language understanding, and personalized synthetic media—to co-create tailored therapy pathways for each family. The potential impact on the lives of autistic children and their families is enormous.

Sense doesn’t replace clinical care—it expands access by giving parents effective tools they can use now, without delay, and complements the traditional clinical system if and when it becomes available to the family.

What Benefits has the RAIN Catalysts Tech Accelerator Provided for You and Your Business?

Mentorship from expert leaders in the region—Intel, Microsoft, and others

Sharpening our go-to-market strategy

Moving closer to launching our MVP: a HIPAA-compliant autism screener and training platform

Gaining clarity on how to validate long-term pricing models

Connecting with advisors and funders who understand AI, healthcare, and consumer platforms

Strengthening the technical foundation for delivering personalized training at scale

We’ve also integrated learning and pivoting into our core strategy. A favorite line from an early session—“No strategy, no matter how elegant, survives first contact with the customer”—captured this well. Through the RAIN program, we’ve developed a relentless commitment to continuous improvement, recognizing how critical it will be to scale access to this therapeutic quickly for families who need it.

Our goal is to ensure we’re building the right thing, the right way—guided by parent experience on our platform, the diverse needs of families, and our research-backed data.

What have been the key takeaways so far from the RAIN Tech Accelerator, and how will they help you build and scale your business?

Clarity on readiness: We’ve refined our rollout strategy to meet families where they’re stuck—between screening and diagnosis, or diagnosis and access to therapy.

Maximizing the “why now”: With 1 in 31 kids diagnosed (CDC, 2025), one-third never receiving care, and the AMA calling for new evidence-based models, Sense is launching at a moment of urgent need.

Community: The founder cohort and peer accountability have been both grounding and motivating.

Learn more about Sense Family Autism Care