The Waterworks renews its Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) designation through the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), reinforcing its commitment to creating welcoming and inclusive experiences for all visitors, including autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals. To maintain this credential, staff completed updated autism-specific training and certification, strengthening their knowledge of best practices, skills, and resources to provide accessible and supportive experiences across the cultural center.

Training provides staff with clear, standardized protocols for interacting with autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals and those with other invisible disabilities. This reduces hesitation, guesswork, and the time it takes for staff to decide how to handle a situation, leading to faster and more confident interactions. Optimized resource allocation and improved operational efficiency are direct benefits often seen as a result of certification.

The Waterworks’ CAC renewal also supports St. Johns County’s Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD) journey, an initiative spearheaded by the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce. The CAD designation means visitors have multiple trained and certified options available in the area, including entertainment, recreation, and lodging.

For 25 years, IBCCES has been a leader in providing autism, sensory and neurodiversity training and certification for professionals worldwide, including those in healthcare, education, public safety, travel, and corporate sectors. As the only credentialing board offering these programs, IBCCES provides training from subject matter experts and autistic self-advocates, along with long-term support, continuous learning, onsite reviews, and renewal requirements to ensure continued growth and lasting impact.

To further support inclusivity efforts, The Waterworks is featured on the IBCCES Accessibility App, which is free to download. This app provides individuals with a variety of disabilities real-time guidance on certified destinations, sensory-friendly spaces, and tailored recommendations. By connecting users to accessible locations worldwide, the app helps ensure seamless, enjoyable experiences for everyone.

IBCCES also provides access to resources such as AccessibilityCertified.com and AutismTravel.com, which are free online tools for families that list certified locations and professionals. Each organization listed on the site has met IBCCES certification requirements.

About St. Johns Cultural Council

The St. Johns Cultural Council is the Local Arts Agency for St. Johns County, Florida with offices in St. Augustine, America’s Oldest City. We support local artists and cultural organizations through grants, professional development programs, and other capacity-building services to enrich the lives of residents and visitors through a variety of arts, culture, and heritage experiences. In addition, SJCC produces cultural events, funds arts education projects, creates public art exhibitions, and manages two historic buildings as cultural centers for the community: The Waterworks and the St. Augustine Beach Hotel. 

The Cultural Council administers the County’s Arts, Culture, and Heritage Grant Program (funded by a portion of the County’s tourist development tax) to provide arts, culture, and heritage destination marketing services for the County’s Tourist Development Council. 

Learn more about our programs, services, and the artists and arts organizations we support at StJohnsCulture.com.

About IBCCES

Delivering the global standard for training and certification in the fields of autism, neurodiversity, and accessibility – IBCCES provides a series of certification programs that empower professionals to be industry leaders and improve the outcomes for the individuals they serve. For 25 years, IBCCES has been a global leader, setting the industry standard in autism and cognitive differences training. IBCCES works in over 125 countries and provides training in 8 languages, and its programs have been recognized around the world as the leading benchmark in training and certification.

In addition to individual certification programs, IBCCES partners with cities, destinations, and organizations on initiatives like the Certified Autism Destination™ (CAD) and Autism Certified City™ (ACC), ensuring autistic and sensory-sensitive residents and visitors feel welcomed and safe. Destinations that achieve the CAD designation have completed a specialized program that ensures a multitude of recreation, hospitality, and entertainment organizations have completed an autism and sensory-sensitivity training, certification, and IBCCES facilities review process. The ACC designation expands on that program and includes IBCCES training and certification for the public safety, education, healthcare, and workplace sectors.

IBCCES also created the Accessibility App, AutismTravel.com, and AccessibilityCertified.com – free resources for individuals with a variety of neurodiversities and disabilities, listing certified locations and connecting individuals to other resources and each other.