Santa Barbara Zoo is the first zoo on the West Coast to become a Certified Autism Center (CAC), which is a designation that demonstrates the Zoo’s commitment to ensuring guests and families with children who have autism have the best possible experience. Parents with children on the autism spectrum often find vacationing and visiting new places to be a challenge due to sensory needs, dietary restrictions and safety concerns. With this certification, guests can rest assured staff and the grounds are prepared to welcome everyone, regardless of their needs.

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The number of people diagnosed with autism and other cognitive disorders is increasing, and the world is becoming more aware of how we should accommodate individuals with special needs. The travel and hospitality industry must also demonstrate that destinations and staff are equipped to offer the best experience possible, whatever an individual’s hidden disability. If not, organizations risk losing those guests to a competitor. Continue Reading →

Certification readied for April’s Autism Awareness month and start of new season

Sesame Place^®, the nation’s only theme park based entirely on the award-winning show Sesame Street^®, in conjunction with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), today announced the completion of a staff-wide autism sensitivity and awareness training at the theme park.  The completion designates Sesame Place as a Certified Autism Center (CAC) as distinguished by IBCCES, — the first theme park in the world to receive such a distinction. The certification aligns with National Autism Awareness Month and comes as the park readies for its 38^th season, opening on April 28, 2018.   Continue Reading →

When professionals who specialize in autism enter their careers, they pledge to do all they can to help those who face the challenge of this often mystifying condition. Some of them enter the world of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) through BCBA certification to take advantage of the technique’s benefits to help persons with autism shape their behavior to function better in life. There is, however, now a new program that takes a broader approach to the field of autism beyond just behavior. This new program will give a significant career advantage to both those with no prior ABA training and those with ABA experience. Continue Reading →

The need for education and professional credentials today is very different from what it was just fifty years ago, when what you needed to get a good job was a high school diploma. That diploma provided a meal ticket that enabled a worker to get a good job that supported a family, paid the mortgage, bought a car, and provided a two-week family vacation each year. At that time, only 5% of American adults earned a bachelor’s degree, while 52% held a high school diploma. Over the years, high paying jobs in manufacturing disappeared. To get the good jobs, you needed a bachelor’s. By 1990, nearly 10% of adult Americans had a bachelor’s, and the pay gap between what they earned and what high school grads earned grew dramatically. The college degree replaced the high school diploma as a basic meal ticket.

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