Douglas, Keynan, and Ray

As a parent to a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Douglas understands how isolating it can be to not have a community that understands the journey, tribulations, and celebratory moments. He wanted to create a platform for parents of children with ASD to connect in a meaningful way, acknowledging that the most difficult part is finding people who are the same part of the journey.

In May 2026, Spectrum Connect was founded by Douglas and Ray, who worked as a Behavior Therapist and researcher. Ray personally worked with Douglas’s son, Keynan, and had the privilege of seeing him develop from being non-verbal and having severe sensitivities to wearing shoes and socks, to him sharing words and going a whole day with shoes on! Douglas, having 17 years of tech background, was no stranger to undertaking the mission of developing software. He recognized the power and life-changing capacity a platform can have if given to the right group of people.

Spectrum Connect was designed for the parent who stays up late researching, who feels alone 
after receiving the child’s diagnoses, and who wants connection with those who can truly understand first-hand. Spectrum Connect works by first creating a parent profile. Then they provide information about their child including their diagnosis type, what makes their child happy, or what a difficult day looks like. Based on this quick questionnaire, the parent is then matched with a group of parents in a similar part of their journey and considers additional factors like geographical proximity so in-person meetings are feasible if desired. Connection is completely at the pace of the parent, whenever they get a moment, because there is no social feed and no requirement to perform.

When Douglas first witnessed his son receiving therapy from Ray, he would frequently question Ray about next steps, what other parents were going through, and what they could expect. Ray knew he couldn’t provide detailed answers because he had to maintain the privacy of other families he worked with. But Douglas was persistent in seeking community connection, and recognizing this gap, he strived to fill it.

Both Douglas and Ray are passionate about helping others and wanting to provide connection while adhering to privacy. So, Spectrum Connect is a platform that will completely maintain and protect privacy because it’s not displayed as public information, or information for anyone to access on the platform itself. Users are connected through similar circumstances, but the parent gets to decide whether they want to share further details into their child’s diagnosis with those connections.

Another key facet of Spectrum Connect is the research component. Ray, as a researcher, recognizes that parents may constantly be looking for information regarding their child’s diagnosis but might be finding misinformation when online. Therefore, they have built a “library” into the platform where researched information is readily accessible to parents without the jargon typically found in peer-reviewed documents. The goal is to help parents fully understand ASD with scientifically backed information.

As a client of Alta California Regional Center (ACRC), Keynan received Early Intervention services that Douglas stated was pivotal in the development of his child. Receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Speech, and Occupational Therapies helped Keynan overcome some of the difficulties he was facing. Even Ray recognized the indirect way ACRC impacted people’s lives. He would hear parents tell other parents, “Ask Alta, they can help you!”

Douglas and Ray have many goals for Spectrum Connect, but for now, they are focused 
on making it available by the end of this year (2026). If you are interested in joining, you 
can sign up as a user via their website.