Visit Mesa, a destination marketing organization, has a new distinction—and a new market: 32 million families affected by autism. The staff and governing board of directors of Visit Mesa completed more than 100 hours of specialized training to help families and individuals with special needs to prepare for the perfect trip. It is now raising the bar even higher by requesting partner businesses in Mesa’s hospitality community to follow their lead and become Autism Certified Centers via the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). Read about them in a recent New York Times article.
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Yes! America’s Top Attractions Are ‘Getting with the Program’
There are 3.5 million Americans are currently living with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the prevalence of autism in U.S. children is becoming the fastest-growing developmental disability, according to experts.
In response, many of the country’s largest family-friendly attractions are training staff to be knowledgeable and sensitive to the needs of autistic travelers. Some of the first attractions to become Autism Certified Centers include Mall of America, Nickelodeon Universal, Sesame Place, and Sea World.
If you have an autistic friend or family member, it’s likely you’ve become accustomed to making small but significant changes to your plans when you do things together. You may also be able to read the signs that a child is over-stimulated, uncomfortable or eager to do something over and again.
But many businesses aren’t there—yet. Any destination or attraction can take part in an IBCCES’s certification program, even training hundreds of staffers using their program. The result is that staff will be able to fully interact with visitors and appreciate neurodiversity. Certification is not simple—it can take weeks or months depending on the size of your staff—but it’s an undertaking whose time has come. Learn more at IBCCES.
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